Top Ten National Parks: Tie for No. 8 (2nd one)
Discovering the Beauty of America's National (and other) Parks
Last time …
Big Bend National Park came in tied for number 8 on our list of favorite national parks! (Click that link if you missed it!)
Now we get to the other National Park that tied for number 8 on our list.
Let’s go!
Let’s get to our ratings for our next National Park, tied for 8th place.
Scenery:
Under-rated beauty surrounds you as you look down into one of the most unique canyon settings that you will ever encounter! In the spring of 2021, our family embarked on an unforgettable adventure driving “the loop” of all 4 of Colorado’s National Parks, as well as taking in two National Parks in Utah for good measure. It was quite the whirlwind journey, and this one almost didn’t make the cut, but we’re so glad we decided to go ahead and visit it. For scenery, this park gets an outstanding 4.5 stars!
What makes this park so special is the unique color of the rock that makes up the canyon. To me, when I think of canyons, I usually think of red rock — you know, like the Grand Canyon — but this particular canyon is composed of beautiful black igneous rock caused by volcanic activity! Really cool!
Variety:
This is one of the smaller parks that we have been to so far, but what this park lacks in size is, again, made up for in its unique scenic beauty. However, being as small as it is, the variety score for this park is fairly low at 3.0 stars.
Wildlife:
If you are looking for wildlife, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Gunnison, Colorado is an excellent opportunity to see lots of different species, such as bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, black bears, coyotes, panthers, and other smaller mammals and birds. While you may have to search a little harder (compared to other parks such as Yellowstone National Park, where animals are everywhere!), still the keen observer has a solid chance of viewing some big ticket animals! 4.0 out of 5 stars.
Camping/Lodging:
If you don’t go for a tent/RV campground, try one of the hotels in Gunnison itself, or nearby Montrose, CO. I remember being impressed with these areas, and you should have no problem finding everything that you need. 4.0 stars.
The Gunnison River flows through the steep walls of the Black Canyon. This canyon is quite a bit different than something you would see at the Grand Canyon. (We recommend seeing both!)
Other Amenities/Recreation Opportunities:
Head the short drive over to Montrose for the nearest Walmart and other necessities. For recreation, try rafting/kayaking, or go on a guided hunt or fly-fishing trip that will surely be an experience to remember! 4.0 stars.
Busyness:
It is so sad to me that some of our country’s National Parks seem to just not get as much love as some of the more famous ones. That is definitely the case with this lesser-known beauty! Coming in at just over 300 thousand visitors in 2021, Black Canyon of the Gunnison is not visited nearly enough in our opinion! (The Grand Canyon, by comparison, saw over 4.5 MILLION visitors in 2021!) But the good news for you if you choose to visit is that means small crowds! 5.0 out of 5 stars!
Statistics taken from official report from the National Park Service.
Accessibility:
Because of the rugged, mountain terrain in Colorado, be prepared to spend a lot of time driving for relatively short distances. That means what might normally take an hour in most places in the U.S. might take two hours in this area. I would say it is fairly remote. And make sure you’re very careful with your GPS directions! (More on that in a minute!!)
Montrose was quite a nice town, as I remember, so that gives this ranking a slight boost.
As far as big cities go, the closest would be:
Denver, CO - 5.5 hours Northeast
Salt Lake City, UT - 6 hours Northwest
Albuquerque, NM - 6.5 hours South
Las Vegas, NV - 8.5 hours Southwest
For accessibility, Black Canyon of the Gunnison gets 3.5 stars!
Personal Experience:
Funny story! I mentioned that you need to make sure your GPS is properly set when you head to this National Park!
So what happened was …
I apparently had set my GPS to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison area, generically speaking, rather than the actual National Park! We ended up going down these remote dirt roads that just did NOT seem quite right! I decided to ignore my gut feeling that we were headed the wrong way and just go with my “trusty GPS.” Bad call!
What followed was a TERRIFYING trip down a dirt road with the NARROWEST width I think I’ve ever seen, with sharp CLIFFS on one side. To say I was “white knuckling” the steering wheel was the understatement of my life! Thankfully, we ran into some locals who pointed us in the right direction of the actual National Park, we didn’t tumble off any mountains, and we came away from it all with a pretty funny memorable story!
Personal experience score = 7.0, with 2.0 bonus points.
Look closely and you can spot the narrow dirt roads we experienced on our little “off-roading adventure!” (Those drop-offs are steeper than they look!!)
Overall Rating:
Black Canyon of the Gunnison was amazing! Big time under-rated as far as National Parks go, you won’t regret going to see this beauty! (Make sure you see at least 2 or 3 of Colorado’s other National Parks while you are at it!) Black Canyon of the Gunnison is tied at our number 8 spot (along with Big Bend), with an average score of 4.38 stars!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park — Tied for No. 8 on our top 10 ranking!
We hope that you will come back later as we reveal our no. 7 park on our list of favorite National Parks!
Until next time,
Keep exploring, friends!
— Chase
What a cool spot! I enjoy reading these - keep it up!