Today we’re taking you to South Western Colorado to spend three days exploring Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park!

Download our FREE itinerary to follow our same route in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

It is one of Colorado’s four National Parks and is Colorado’s least visited national park. It is in western Colorado, not far from the Utah Border. The Canyon is a deep, steep-walled gorge carved through Precambrian rock by the Gunnison River.

There are two main sections of the park, the more remote North Rim and the more popular South Rim, both have views of the canyon’s dramatic drops and the striated Painted Wall cliff. There is another section called East Portal, which is a steep road that descends to the river. The park was named for its cliffs that are often darkened by shadows, making the walls appear black. The canyon itself is so vertical that the Gunnison River drops an average of 43 feet per mile, and 240 feet per mile at its steepest point at Chasm View, making some of the steepest mountain descents in North America

When is the best time to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park?

This national park is best seen from May- September. During the winter the north rim shuts down completely and the south rim is only open to the visitor center

If you are going to visit this park, you’ll also want to visit Mesa Verde National Park. Listen to our episode for details before you go!

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – Episode Transcript

0:35

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.

Today we’re going to be taking you with us to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Western Colorado.

0:53

So we have a goal of visiting all 63 national parks in the US and Black Canyon marked #52 for us.

And we’ve recently made a free Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park itinerary for you to follow along this exact trip.

And it has some tips for you guys on how we would change things as well.

1:10

Free on our website at travelsquadpodcast.com.

So I was not with you on this trip, and I am feeling a little bit left out because this is a National Park that I’ve had my eye on for a very long time.

But it’s fine.

We’re going to get into it.

I’m going to feel like I’m there.

1:27

So Black Canyon of the Gunnison, tell me about it.

Is it black?

You said it’s in western Colorado.

How did you get there?

Like what inspired you to go to this National Park other than just checking it off on your list?

So it’s actually the last National Park that we had to do in Colorado that.

1:43

You get to do in Colorado.

Yes, that you get to do in Colorado.

So Colorado has four of them and we visited one with you, Kim.

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park, which is a Verde Mesa Verde.

Went to two out of four with Kim.

1:58

And if you remember, you’re asking where it is.

Mesa Verde is on the bottom West of Colorado.

Black Canyon is north of that.

When we were going to Mesa Verde, I think this was on as a potential if you remember, but we just nixed it because we didn’t have the time.

2:15

Damn.

And after going, you can experience this park in a day, but you really should spend 2 full days to really get the feel of it.

But we should have just made that a longer trip from Mesa Verde and just continued on because we went in summer and it’s actually the perfect time to go.

2:30

So it would have worked out really well.

So if you are planning a trip to Colorado to head off Mesa Verde or Black Canyon, just keep that in mind that they’re pretty close together and you should just do both in one shot.

And so to your question, is it black?

Yes and no.

But it is so steep, the Canyon that the sun really can’t shine into certain areas.

2:51

So then it looks black when you’re really looking at it, so.

In the summer when it’s hot, it’s actually not so hot because it’s shaded.

Well, you can’t get into the Canyon because it’s so steep.

There’s like one hiking trail that can actually take you from the top of the Canyon to the bottom, and it’s really steep.

3:08

And you need permits for that.

And there’s one area within the National Park where you can drive to the bottom of the Canyon where the river is, that has carved it and the steepness and the grade of the road is at what, 16%.

So that’s really steep.

3:23

The higher number you go up, that means the road is really, really steep.

So I don’t know, I’m sure it’s very nice and cool down below in there.

And actually we did take the road down and walk along the the river’s edge and it was cooler than it was at top.

But this is famous for just being how steep it is.

3:40

Imagine a mini Grand Canyon.

I’m it’s not as long, not as wide, but sheer cliffs from side to side that you can see with really cool formations etched within the Cliff.

So that just gives you some sort of perspective of what it really looks like.

3:56

So there are two main sections of the park.

There’s the North Rim, which is more remote.

There’s not really like a gateway town.

The road to get there is like a dirt gravel road and then there’s not as many overlooks.

And then there’s the southern rim and the southern rim is the most popular part.

4:14

So we did both of them.

Southern rim has like the visitor center, over 10 different overlooks, more of the hiking area.

So it’s definitely more popular.

The road is paved all the way through and then there is a third section called the E portal.

4:30

Jamal was just talking about it.

It’s the one where the road will get you down all the way to the river.

And so if you are going and you really want to get a feel for the National Park, I would recommend going to all three sections and you can do it in two full days.

4:46

That’s exactly what we did, and this National Park is best seen from May through September.

The North Rim completely shuts down during the winter, and the South Rim is only open up until the visitor center, which is very close to the entrance of the park.

5:02

Like once you make it past the gate, and we’re talking by Rd. you can go past the visitor center in winter by snowmobile and snowshoeing, I believe.

But in terms of seeing other stuff, yeah, you’re not going to be doing that.

So there is a short season to go to this park.

I want to go snowshoeing.

5:19

I would love to go snowshoeing.

You know where we should have gone Snowshoeing.

Breckenridge.

Lebanon.

We should have to the Cedars.

We didn’t go out and do it.

I thought you were going to say Breckenridge, because we were really excited about the cross country skiing and all of us sucked at it.

So I mean, we should have just snowshoed and that would have been a little bit better, I think.

5:36

But yeah, Lebanon would have been a good spot. 2025 Baby. 2025 So we talked a little bit about what Black Canyon or the Gunston is the North Rim, South Rim, Eastern portal.

Let’s get into some tips for black.

Canyon, give me the tips.

5:52

Always.

So definitely run an SUV, especially if you’re going to go to the North Rim.

Like I had mentioned.

The road is not paved, it’s a gravel dirt Rd.

And when we actually got to our hotel the first day we parked and there was a car next to us and we’re like damn, that car is hella dirty.

6:09

And then we’re like, where did you take that?

He goes the north room.

We’re like oh shit.

And we take as a spoiler, we take ours to the North Rim, and it ended up looking exactly like that.

So yes, I would recommend getting an SUV.

And on the North Rim, there aren’t like real parking spots like you just kind of pull your car to the side of the road.

6:29

So I just think it’s helpful and nice to have an SUV while you’re in that more remote area.

And it’s helpful on that 16% grade if you go down into the Eastern portal.

I imagine you also would like offline maps with Google?

Yep.

That tip is tried and true.

We always have it.

6:45

It is here.

Download offline maps and with that same theme, Kim, download All Trails Plus and your maps of your hikes that you’re going to be doing offline so that you have it as well.

We mentioned that you can’t really get to the bottom of the Canyon well, so you’re going to be at the top rim exposed.

7:02

So bring sun protection, sunscreen, hat, water, anything to keep you protected and hydrated.

With that same theme, bring an umbrella in this region of Colorado is prone to summer thunderstorms and rain showers.

You know all about that.

7:18

Kim living in Austin now in California, that’s not really a thing, but some parts of the US, it really is.

It happens here.

So bring that sun protection, like Brittany said, and bring an umbrella because it did rain on us during a hike and I’m actually glad that we had the umbrella.

We would have been soaked.

7:34

Yeah, we actually used our mini travel umbrellas.

We put them in our hiking backpacks and they came in handy, so we’ll be sure to link that in the show notes.

And it’s also in our Amazon shop as well.

And so our last tip is, although the overlooks on both rims look super close together, the canyon’s very narrow, so it really looks close on a map.

7:56

It’s not to get from rim to rim.

It’s an hour and 45 minute drive to drive between the North Rim and the South Rim and vice versa.

First of all, how long was this trip for you?

It was a total four days of travel.

We left on a Friday, which was a travel day pretty much, and then two full days within the park and then coming back on a Monday.

8:20

You know, you take a lot of weekend trips, which is pretty normal for people with normal jobs.

But Brittany, you can kind of alter your schedule.

And Jamal, you work for yourself, so you can too.

Why don’t you take more midweek trips?

That’s a great question.

So midweek trips would require me to guarantee that I have those days off during the week.

8:41

So a lot of these trips I don’t request PTO on a Friday or a Monday on because I work 12 hour shifts.

When I work, I’m allowed to put in my schedule of how I would like it.

That doesn’t mean that they necessarily have to follow that, but two of the days in the week I’m allowed to put ours on, which means I’m requesting it off without using PTO.

9:03

So I’ll do an R for a Friday and Saturday of one week and an R for Sunday and Monday of the next week.

And that almost always guarantees I’ll get those four days off.

But if I were to request the Rs like a Tuesday and Wednesday, it’s not guaranteed that I’m also going to have Thursday and Friday.

9:22

Oh, because it’s midweek, but technically those are two different weeks, OK.

Well, and I would also say too, you’re required to work what like 2 weekends within a month, are you not?

So if you put the Rs on a weekend that she’s not scheduled to work, she’s more inclined to to get those Rs on a weekend because they’re not going to make her work every weekend.

9:44

Yeah, they can’t force me to work every weekend, so I’m safe doing it on a weekend, OK.

Otherwise we would because those midweek flights and midweek hotel prices would be a lot better.

But less crowd.

Yeah, when she was per diem, we could have done that a lot more, but she’s not per diem anymore, so it’s a little bit harder.

10:01

All right.

Day one, I imagine you’re flying into Denver, right?

The biggest airport in Colorado.

Yes, we did fly into Denver, but from Denver it’s quite a drive to Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

And is that the best airport to fly into though?

So it’s a five and a half hour drive, but there are closer ones.

10:16

But the closer ones do require layovers or they cost a lot more.

And so for what we were looking at, Denver made the most sense for us.

But you can fly into Grand Junction or Montrose, which is like right outside of the park.

So flights work out for you.

10:32

I would highly recommend flying into Montrose.

It just didn’t work out for us.

Yeah.

Montrose is the closest city to the park on the South Rim.

And as a matter of fact, when we had landed in Denver and we’re trying to go get our rental car, we heard a South West flight being called for Montrose Co.

10:49

I’m just like, well, why didn’t we book that, Brittany?

And she said it was exponentially more expensive to do that.

So we opted for Denver, but minus the price.

There was actually a hike that Brittany wanted to do along the way, not within the National Park, somewhere halfway between Denver and Black Canyon of the Gunnison called Hanging Lakes.

11:11

But it just so happens, I mean, that is a permitted hike.

They don’t release the permits well well in advance and and and trail was closed for whatever reason.

Construction, they’re doing construction on it this year and they were releasing permits week by week and they were supposed to release the permits the day before we left.

11:28

And I went to the website the day before they left and they said, sorry, we’re going to be closed for the next week for construction.

Unfortunately that didn’t work out, but it’s OK.

But we picked up our car by that time was approximately like 10:30 in the morning.

We had an early flight out of here of San Diego, plus with time change getting into Denver, approximately 1030, Brittany had just mentioned about 5 and 1/2 hour drive.

11:52

We drove to the North Rim first because we’re coming from the north.

So why would we go to the South Rim?

Let’s just go to the North Rim.

It’s going to be closer to some degree that way, right?

5 1/2 hours, drove to the town of Crawford.

We stayed at a great hotel called the Hitching Post Hotel and Farm Store.

12:10

And yeah, it sounds funny, right?

But you’re in this really isolated area.

Crawford is not like Montrose when you’re on the South Rim.

And there’s a very large population.

There are only a few buildings in this town.

The next town over is slightly larger, but it’s further away.

12:27

So we chose to be here in Crawford.

But I really liked this hotel.

Brittany, you did.

And why is that?

So it’s just like a mom and pop hotel.

It wasn’t super fancy or anything, but you actually have to go into the farm store to get your hotel key and the owners are there working their farm store And then they they’re like, Oh, you’re here to check in.

12:49

And she reaches out her hand and she shakes our hand and it’s like, it’s so nice to meet you.

Thank you for staying here.

And that’s so sweet.

She like gave us recommendation.

She said, Oh, we do karaoke at the bar tonight.

Did you do it?

We didn’t because we went out to dinner in the next town over.

But she was like telling us about like, you can go here for breakfast.

13:07

You can go here tonight and so personable.

And then she actually even said, I saw that you’ve changed this reservation a few different times.

So I’m glad you guys have finally made it.

And I was like, Oh my gosh, like they’re so small of like a mom and pop shop that like they recognized our name upon check in, which is so funny because we did book this two other times and had to cancel.

13:31

Originally we booked it last year and had to cancel because Jamal had a procedure and he couldn’t travel.

And then this year we had booked it for the weekend prior but then we got invited to a wedding and we decided to go to the wedding and and rebook this for the next week.

So she did notice.

13:47

That and you wouldn’t even be able to tell that this is a hotel.

It just looks like a country store, but the rooms are at the top level of the store because it’s kind of built on the edge of a little hill there.

And I told this to Brittany, you know, you check into hotels and she said it’s nothing special.

14:04

I’m not even exaggerating when I say this.

This is the best no frills hotel I’ve ever really stayed in.

It was like clean.

It was comfortable and and I mean, it’s not like really well done up.

It doesn’t need to be.

But in terms of like I said, no frills, yeah, you can stay in a lot of not costly hotels that just look like crap.

14:23

This did not look at at all.

The walls were painted really well, the fixtures and everything.

So I felt really comfortable in there.

I liked it a lot.

And we wanted to stay in Crawford because it’s close to the North Rim, but being super close to the North Rim, it’s still like almost a 30 minute drive.

So this is the closest you can get without like, being in the park really.

14:41

So we got in earlier than anticipated originally when we planned this trip because we couldn’t do that original hike that Brittany wanted to do.

So we said, well, instead of waiting till tomorrow and do everything that we were going to do at the North Room, let’s go in today and at least do the viewpoints instead of and we’ll save the hike for tomorrow, get an earlier start to the day.

15:02

So we checked into the hotel, dropped off our stuff, changed into some clothes that we felt a little bit more comfortable to go to the North Rim in and we started into the North Rim.

Eventually it becomes that dirt Rd.

The car got dirty, like we said.

And then they do have a visitor center here, but it’s not very well staffed and I don’t even think there was a pay station.

15:23

This is a visitor center where you go up to, it’s closed and you have to do like one of those like write in tags and like make your payment.

Of course, we have our National Park pass, so for us it really didn’t matter.

But that’s how isolated this area is and so few of visitors.

15:39

But we drove all the way to the end of the Rim Road and started at the furthest viewpoint and worked our way back.

Yeah.

And in hindsight, and I mentioned this in our itinerary, the road isn’t meant to do that.

We we’re doing it just because like we like to start the farthest and work our way back.

15:57

But when we were driving back, we noticed that all of the pull outs are to the right hand side when you’re heading in.

So I think it’s meant.

For you, which is the side of the Canyon?

Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt you.

Which is the side of the Canyon.

So if you are going just start at the very first viewpoint and just work your way to the end.

16:14

And the one at the very end is where the last bathroom is other than the one at the visitor center.

And so it works out that way.

But we things backwards because we’re us.

So we started a viewpoint called Kneeling Camel View.

We did not see what was supposed to look like a kneeling camel.

16:33

Yeah, it’s named this because apparently one of the rock formations is supposed to resemble that.

We did not see it, but nevertheless, the viewpoint was equally impressive.

I didn’t need to see the fake camel in the rock to really appreciate the Canyon that I was looking at.

And we went to.

16:49

So total we went to five different view point.

Santa Island’s peak view next.

And so it just has like these really big peaks rising from above the Canyon.

So good view there.

And then we made our way to Big Island, which has what looks like a Big Island in the middle of the Canyon.

17:07

But at all of these overlooks, they’re really short from the road.

So like two to five minute walk from the road, if that.

A lot of them have views of the river.

You can see how deep it is, how steep it is, how beautiful it is.

There’s literally really like a sheer Cliff and then you look down into the Canyon.

17:25

It’s a really beautiful sight to see.

So we just did that, drove the North Rim, saw all the viewpoints.

Kim, you asked if we took the proprietor of the hotel’s recommendation of what she said to do.

We did not because you would be very proud of us.

We went to the next town over, which was called Hotchkiss, and we got Thai food.

17:45

In that remote location, you found Thai food, huh?

You know, I feel like Thai food is one of those things where if you can find it, very rarely, even in a remote location, is it bad.

It may not be the best, but it’s palatable.

But sometimes in remote locations, you go places and you think something looks good and it’s absolutely not.

18:03

Thai is always usually a * hitter.

So we’re like, let’s go get some Thai.

Food.

You’re kind of right.

Like I don’t think I’ve ever had bad Thai food.

Well, I know where we had bad Thai.

Food.

No, it wasn’t bad.

Whose go?

Peru was bad.

It wasn’t bad.

It wasn’t bad.

Mine wasn’t.

It was OK.

18:19

Coming from the girl who thinks B Shock is good.

So I will say this, the first time I did not like B shock, but the second time we went, I was like my perspective changed a little bit.

So it’s just one of those things I like to rag on you on about.

B Shock, Jim.

But but per rump in the middle of nowhere had a good tie.

18:34

It was spicy as fuck though.

It was.

It messed up my stomach.

Someone paid for it.

Yeah, my stomach paid for it the next day right before a hike, but it was so delicious.

Way to Havasupai falls.

We stopped and got Thai and that time is middle of nowhere also good.

18:51

So this was also middle of nowhere.

It was called 476 Eatery.

They had Thai food, which is what we got, but they also had some sushi and some other options and they asked us if we had reservations.

So it does get bumping in Hotchkiss Co.

Bumping enough for reservations.

19:08

And it was really, really good.

And they actually have a grocery store in this town, some gas station.

So for everything you’ll really need, you can find it in Hotchkiss.

On our way back to the hotel, we went to the grocery store and we got these mini Ben and Jerry’s.

Have you seen them?

Really tiny mini ones.

19:23

Yeah.

Amazing.

Loved it.

And since we do a lot of like remote national parks and things, I now have this utensil kit that is reusable that I’ve been taking on all of our trips.

So I had my spoon handy.

We were watching some Netflix on the TV, eating our ice cream before we got ready for the next.

19:43

Day.

You know I saw when you posted that and I thought it looked really cute and I’m sure it comes in handy but I was also thinking, don’t you have a mess kit for monument backpacking?

I do have a mess kit, but the utensils in that I borrowed from my brother because when we went backpacking I borrowed a lot from my brother.

19:59

So that’s.

Especially where that came from.

Speaking of like mess kit and just general supplies, I just want to say this before I forget.

Do you know what got confiscated from Brittany at the airport here when we were?

They didn’t catch it in San Diego going to Denver, but they caught it in Denver going back to San Diego from Havasupai Falls and everything that she put in, she had a pocket knife that got caught on her that she left in.

20:21

Can’t bring on weapons, Britt.

They they missed it in San Diego, though, I could tell you that.

So TSA.

I know, right?

Squatty’s, we just mentioned a utensil kit that can really come in handy when you’re on some of these trips.

20:37

That is in our Amazon storefront.

We have that linked on our website as well as in our show notes.

We have a ton of other resources on our website too.

So things like an itinerary, like for this trip, tons of other trip itineraries.

We have an episode page for every single episode that has detailed information with links for every episode.

20:56

We have trip planners that you can download as templates for your own loan planning and a ton of other resources, so head on over to travelsquadpodcast.com and see what we got there for you.

So day 2, we went back to the North Rim.

We stopped at a spot called Lazy J’s for coffee.

21:12

It’s this cute little coffee shop that has a small shop like Book Corner connected to it.

I got a Chai tea latte and Jamal got a coffee.

And then while we were inside there, we noticed that they saw like breakfast burritos and some pastries.

So it’s a good spot if you’re on the North Rim.

Yeah, that.

21:27

I mean, the breakfast burritos we didn’t get to see.

They were wrapped and foil and just kind of set there for people to buy.

But again, Crawford is really remote.

So unless you’re starting in Hotchkiss, the options for food to some degree would be really limited.

We did bring some stuff with us, some beef jerky.

21:44

We went to the grocery store the night before and got like apples, bananas, a few things.

So we were good.

But had we not, I would have picked up one of those breakfast burritos.

So if you happen to stay in Crawford, go into Lazy J’s.

It’s actually a really cool coffee shop and they do have food in there that will actually fill you up versus just like simple pastries and things like that.

22:04

And then we headed back into the park.

So it’s about a 30 minute drive.

We went right to the visitor center even though it wasn’t open.

That’s where a trailhead was starting.

And we were hiking the N Vista Trail to Exclamation Point.

This is a three mile round trip hike and you get really dramatic landscapes, towering cliffs as you make your way along the trail.

22:25

And then the highlight is ending at Exclamation Point.

You’ll have a beautiful, amazing, stunning panoramic views of the Canyon.

The sheer rock faces the river below, and it’s of course where I scooted right to the edge to take a wonderful picture.

I saw that living on the edge, literally.

22:43

Literally.

Did you see Brittany’s follow up post that showed me feeling her walk in there that way in case something were to happen.

I saw this off.

Yeah, I mean, she just gets to the edge.

It’s crazy.

I I mean, you know, I’d like to think I have some excitement and adventure in me, but I don’t know how she gets close to the edge like that, but.

23:03

Someone commented saying watching me scoot close to their edge made their butt cheeks pucker.

See, so I’m not the only one.

I’m there having to watch it live.

But exclamation point, this N Vista Trail hike was really awesome.

And, you know, we talked to the day before we saw all these different viewpoints, and we’ve mentioned this in other podcast episodes.

23:22

It’s like, how many times can you see a different viewpoint of the same thing?

And it just doesn’t get old.

I mean, it’s just so impressive.

Yeah, you’re looking at the same Canyon, but the different views, the different rock formations just really enhance the experience that it just feels new when you see it.

23:38

But this is the hike that I mentioned that I’m glad we had the umbrellas because it’s it started to rain on us at this point early in the morning.

It did clear up for a beautiful day later, but we had those come in handy here while we were doing this long hike.

23:54

But after this three mile round trip hike, we made our way to the Chasm View Nature Trail.

This one is only a half mile round trip, so really quick and simple.

More so you’re parking right out of camping spot, right?

They do have a campground in that vicinity, but this trail is a circular trail.

24:13

You go through a little bit of a forested area to some degree and then you get to the canyon’s edge in this area, if I’m not mistaken.

I feel like the Canyon was a little bit more wide and open.

So it just gives you a little bit different of a view than we had seen before because it was a little bit more narrow in those areas.

24:32

So I really did appreciate that.

But this is a cool little spot to go, especially if you don’t want to do a three mile hike.

This is a good little half mile and you get your fixings of views over here.

Yeah, it’s actually so narrow in this area.

When we looked across, I was actually able to identify a car driving on the other side of the rim.

24:50

So that was pretty cool to see.

And then when we finally did get to the other side, I was able to figure out where we had been standing at Chasm View, so really close together.

But after we did both of those trails, we went ahead and made our way to Montrose.

This is the gateway of Black Canyon, of Gunnison National Park, South Rim, kind of like Gatlinburg is to the Great Smokies.

25:14

So it’s like that gateway town that you have before you enter the National Park.

Before we go to the South Rim, N Rim we know is more remote.

Did you see a lot of people on the trails?

So on exclamation point, we pretty much had the trail to ourselves on the way there.

25:30

On the way back, we probably passed six other people at the viewpoints.

The first day that we came, we only came across two people total.

Some of the viewpoints we had by ourselves.

So the most crowded trail we came came on was the Chasm View Nature Trail, and probably because it’s really short and it’s right next to the campground.

25:50

So we made our way to Montrose.

We were hungry by this point ’cause we got a few hikes on us and we hadn’t really eaten much.

So we stopped at Colorado Boy Pizzeria and Brewery.

This is a Montrose staple.

It’s located on the Main Street in downtown Montrose and they have delicious beer, pizza, salads.

26:10

We got 2 beers and then we got a sweet Calabrese pizza.

It had garlic oil, mozzarella, capicola, ham, goat cheese, red pepper flake, a Calabrese chili, and a yummy hot honey drizzle.

26:27

That sounds so good.

This one was really good.

As a matter of fact, we knew that we were going to be coming here both days because we looked at the restaurants in Montrose and there’s lots of good options.

But for whatever reason, you know, when we’re travelling, just pizza always really hits.

And so we said to ourselves, well, this one is a garlic oil, not a traditionally a red sauce.

26:48

And we were thinking like, even though that description sounds so good and even as we just read it out loud, I mean, you did the same thing, right?

Like the oohs and ahs.

It was absolutely freaking delicious.

We were like, OK, well, we probably think we might want the alternative option in red sauce one the next day because we envisioned that one being better.

27:05

And it was delicious.

We’ll get to that on day three when we talk about coming back here.

But this one was fire.

This was our favorite pizza that we had.

So if you happen to be in Montrose and come here to Colorado, oh boy, pizza and brewery.

Get the sweet Calabrese.

27:22

You won’t be disappointed.

Do you remember what beer we got?

I forget what we got but it was their Mexican lager.

It was nice light but paired really well with the pizza so definitely good.

Go in, grab a drink, grab a pizza.

I.

Didn’t want to get anything too heavy because I knew Brittany was going to want to go into the South Rim that day and probably do a hike and get ahead of schedule since we were already ahead of schedule from doing the North Rim viewpoints the day before.

27:48

Yeah, I didn’t want to drink anything heavier, but their beers are equally as good here too.

So then we did drive into the South Rim.

We went to the furthest we can go and then there is a hike there that we wanted to do.

It was called the Warner Point Trail.

It’s only a mile and a half trail round trip, but this trail is interesting because you get to see more of the landscape near Montrose.

28:09

And so you see what could, what kind of looks like sand dunes, but they’re not.

They’re like more like rolling hills and there’s more farmland.

And so it’s a completely different view.

And then you finally like kind of turn in and you get all of the amazing Canyon views.

It also has one of the parks highest viewpoints and it has great views of the Canyon.

28:28

Of course, on this trip also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed Kim, that we bought a tripod and I bought a lightweight tripod that’s actually pretty easy to hike with easy to use.

So at this point I did set up the tripod and get a few pictures of us here.

28:46

Well, that’s perfect since it was more remote and there’s not that many people on the trail to take your pick.

Yeah, and when we go on those trips, it’s like sometimes you want a couples pick or if you’re by yourself.

I know Kim, you’re scheming some solo trips in the upcoming months.

29:02

I know you got one too, but I highly recommend it.

We’ll put it in the show notes, guys.

So after we were done with the Warner Point Trail, there’s more overlooks on the South Rim.

There’s 10 to be exact.

And we all know Brittany.

Brittany wants to do them all, you know.

So we were like, well, are we going to do them all today and just leave the hikes for tomorrow?

29:22

We’re like, no, let’s do several of them now so we don’t have to do them tomorrow the next day.

So that’s what we did we at several viewpoints.

Dragon Point, Chasm viewpoint.

There is a chasm viewpoint on the South Rim as well as the North, equally opposite of each other.

29:39

Same view from a different point.

Yeah, exactly.

But you know what, also a different view at the same time because you’re on a different side.

Cedar Point, Rock Point, Cross Fissure View and Pulpit Rock.

Those ones that I just mentioned right there are the highlights of the South Rim.

29:56

All of those ones specifically we did not do that day.

We just, we did three, we did sunset view, which is a .1 mile.

And so when we say this, of course there’s the turnouts, but the road follows the Canyon edge.

But sometimes the road could only get so close to the Canyon.

30:13

So depending on where the road is, you have a little bit further hike in to get to the edge of the Cliff and the Canyon.

So sunset view only a short .1 mile from the road.

Yeah, then we went to Dragon Point.

This one it looks like 2 Dragons are painted on on the Cliff wall, so it’s really pretty to see.

30:33

So does the rock look like a dragon or was there a dragon painted on it?

It looks like a Dragon’s painted on it because of the striations in the rock.

Oh, that’s kind of cool.

Yeah, it looks like a Chinese style dragon, like the really thin long ones that you would normally associate with China and Chinese New Year’s, all that stuff.

30:53

That’s exactly what it looked like in the Rock, two of them more particularly.

And then the last viewpoint we did that day was Chatham View.

This one’s about 1/2 mile round trip.

I would definitely stop here.

We were able to look down into the Canyon and we were able to see a rock climber.

31:11

And so you can rock climb in this National Park.

But being able to like see someone in action, like up close was pretty cool.

So this is a really good stopping point.

Jamal had mentioned like how many viewpoints can we see?

There are about 10 viewpoints on the South Rim for you Squattys.

31:27

We went to all of them over the two days for you Squattys, it’s for you guys.

It was research for the podcast, of course, and Jamal mentioned the five favorite that we did.

So in our itinerary, we talked about which five that we would recommend.

31:44

And the way that we’ve done it was we kind of spread them out so you can see different viewpoints and so you’re not looking at the same thing over and over again.

Sometimes our research helps us create a better itinerary for other people that get to experience.

Yeah.

So you don’t have to do all 10 in the itinerary.

32:00

We have the five.

So there’s 10.

Doesn’t sound like they’re very hard to get to.

Why not do the other 5?

Well, you can if you have the time or if you don’t mind seeing I again.

I don’t.

Want to say the same thank.

You.

Because of course it is the same thing.

32:15

It’s the same Canyon, right?

But each viewpoint is different for a reason.

You’re looking at something a little bit different.

One maybe is at a wider angle.

One is maybe to look at the sheer Cliff or the dragon and the striations of the rocks.

And some of them aren’t super close to the car parking area, so you actually do have to walk quite a bit to get to the viewpoint as.

32:35

Well, yeah, another one, I think round trip, it was about 3/4 of a mile round trip based off of.

Yeah, yeah.

So I mean if you did all 10, some of them are a little bit further in and out there was like hiking or trail walking to get to the viewpoint could really add up.

Yeah, so we did three, the Sunset View, Dragon Point and Chasm view that day.

32:54

But don’t worry, we did hit mall and part of it was we were on a time constraint.

We were invited to have drinks at the Parlor bar at the Rathbone Hotel.

And this hotel is Montrose’s new boutique hotel and bar.

There are 18 upscale rooms, 10 of them are lofted suites.

33:14

And I would have booked here, but they were all booked up for the weekend that we were in town.

So they just opened in July, July 1st.

But it what I love about this hotel is they do have a bar up front and in the morning that bar is a coffee bar, coffee shop.

33:33

And then in the afternoon it’s a regular bar with handcrafted drinks that are delicious and amazing.

What did you have?

So I had one called Watermelon Crush and it was like a nice refreshing summer drink.

And then I had another one called Hot Girl Summer, which was like a spicy Margarita.

33:52

That one was good.

And then Jamal had some more manly drinks.

Yes, I had one called the Black Canyon Manhattan, which is very similar to an old fashioned and then I did have a old fashioned, but not a traditional one, one that they make unique.

34:07

So the bartender that they have in there, he of course they have traditional cocktails, but then he’ll add his own variation or spin on it.

Of course you could get them traditional too.

But a lot of their specialty cocktails, like their house cocktails that he has created, they use a lot of ingredients that are local to the region.

34:28

Like for example one of them used their local corn that they have to make the alcohol because they grow corn a lot in that region.

Yeah, that’s so unique.

One time me and Brittany went to a spa and they had corn tea and actually liked it.

How was it?

34:43

Was the corn boots?

It was good.

Won’t say that I didn’t like it.

And anytime I hear something that oh, it’s local from the region, I appreciate it even more.

So these are specialty craft cocktails.

It has a really good ambiance in there just as well.

And then you know that this is a business that is also helping local businesses and keeping true to the area of what’s unique for that region.

35:06

And I appreciate that a lot.

In the Rathbone Hotel, it’s actually in like a older building.

It was built originally in 19 O 9 and it was a meeting hall originally, but then in 2012 there was a fire and then it sat empty sent.

35:22

So it’s nice to see that they’ve actually like refurbished, redesigned, reused this historic building, and now it’s a beautiful boutique hotel and a parlor bar.

I wish we had more time to go back and get some more drinks, really.

Let’s go back.

35:37

I want to see Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Parlor Bar and.

We can go back to Mesa Verde too since it’s close enough I feel like because we all love Mesa Verde too, but I really enjoyed Black Canyon and Kim.

We will take you to all 10 viewpoints if you would like.

So after we got drinks at the Parlor Bar at the Rathbone Hotel, we had dinner at Ted’s Steakhouse.

35:59

This is another Montrose staple.

We made reservations for 6:00 PM.

We were thinking we would maybe do it the next day on Sunday, but we couldn’t do that because they are actually closed on Sundays.

So if you are the.

36:14

Biggest pet peeve with restaurants like a Sunday thing.

Yeah, I could understand Monday, even a Tuesday, but I would think somewhere on the weekend, even a Sunday, they would still be viable.

They know best based off of their books, I guess, you know, and if it’s making it or breaking it.

36:33

So closed on Sundays if you go to dinner at Ted’s Steakhouse.

But this is a no frills, fancy steakhouse.

It’s not like overly chic or posh, but it’s not necessarily a rundown situation either.

It’s a nice casual steakhouse and I appreciate that aspect of it.

36:51

Yeah, we got the prime rib.

Dinner came with vegetables, bread and a baked potato, and Ted himself was there busting tables and I.

Busting tables.

I asked him.

I said, are you Ted?

He said, yeah, I think I’m the world’s oldest busboy.

So he, you know, created the restaurant and now he, yeah, still runs it, greets people, buses, tables, all sorts of stuff.

37:12

So it was nice to see him.

Prime rib was bombed too.

Yes, I loved the prime rib.

Delicious.

How was the baked potato?

Baked potato was good too.

Everything was good.

Everything was good.

Yeah, it.

Didn’t list it on the menu but we ended up getting like a free dessert so don’t know if they just don’t advertise a free dessert or if Ted liked me because I asked him if he was Ted.

37:33

Ted definitely liked it.

I think the waitress liked me as what I really think it was Brittany, but you know.

Yeah, they’re just two slingers over here, aren’t you, phone?

Argument.

I have a pineapple shirt.

Yeah, pineapple shirt.

So then we just went back to the hotel and relaxed and we had day three again on the South Rim.

37:50

Had to do another hike.

This was actually our favorite hike.

It was a combined trail of three different hikes.

The Oak Flat Uplands and Rimrock Nature Trail averages to be about 3 miles when you do it.

Would recommend doing it counterclockwise.

38:07

Will take you about two hours and again more amazing Canyon views.

You think like how many amazing Canyon views can you get?

You can get a lot.

So when you start on this trail, what I really liked about it, like Brittany mentioned, it’s a hybrid that mixes several trails all together to do is 1 as a loop.

38:25

But when you start it, you start to descend into the Canyon.

And I mentioned this earlier, you can’t hike to the bottom and you really can’t.

But well, you can.

Well, yes, you can, but only the one and with permits in general though, everybody else know, right?

Because I’m sure they only give limited permits for the full Canyon exploration to the bottom at the river there.

38:46

But on this trail here, you will make your way down the Canyon to some degree within the trees and foliage, which is really cool because a lot of times we had really been on the rim and the edge.

So we start to get down and you will actually see this split off where it says you need a permit because this will lead you to the trail that goes all the way to the bottom of the Canyon.

39:08

Of course, we did not do that, continued on.

You work your way back up, so I.

Believe we didn’t do the hike down to the Canyon, are you?

Guys, OK, did you have a little too much at Ted’s Steakhouse night?

Before, I mean, I would have been able to do it, Kim, but this goes down like what, 700 feet?

It’s an 1800 feet vertical.

39:25

What’s the problem?

Some people I rather.

Use Miles and 1800.

Feet, we’ve done way more.

Come on.

And people are like a trail.

That’s deep.

That fast.

I don’t know though.

They.

Said that they were like climbing.

This is Jamal nearing 4.

No, I would do it.

39:42

I would do it small.

Is halfway to 80.

I am.

I am, but I’m not 40 yet, so don’t stay halfway.

But I really liked this one a lot because it gave you a different perspective of the Canyon, because I really felt like this one really allowed you to get up in it.

Yeah, it was a really, really nice hike.

40:00

And then it gets you to another viewpoint that we didn’t have to drive to because you actually hike to.

Instead, and then after we were done with this hike, we did do the other viewpoints that we didn’t get to yesterday.

So we did Cedar Point, Painted Wall, Devil’s Lookout, Rock Point, Crossfizer’s View, and Pulpit Rock.

40:21

And again, Jamal had mentioned our favorite 1, so I’ll just say them real quick.

If you were going to pick 5 to do just five, we would do Dragon Point, Chasm View, Cedar Point, Rock Point, and Pulpit Rock.

And what was it about the others that you could recommend passing on them?

40:40

Some of them were just like, so close together, you would barely go any distance in the road.

And it’s like, oh, you have another lookout.

And it’s like, I feel like I just saw this view.

OK.

So, you know, it’s like Tade while we’re on the Inca trail, and he’s like, same view.

40:55

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

Same view, yeah.

Just from a different side, but like I had mentioned though, to your question, Kim, Dragon Point, you get a little bit of something because you see something in the striations of the rocks.

We mentioned Pulpit Rock is one of them.

I like that because that’s actually a rock protrusion out from the Cliff, like an actual pulpit.

41:13

So you’re standing that kind of like a little precipice point and it really gives you awesome views because it’s at the corner of the Canyon.

So you could look right and left and it’s not just a straight line, opens up a little bit more.

So that’s pretty cool.

One of the five that we did not put on the must do recommend would be painted Wall.

41:32

But if you did go, I would say painted wall is also a good one because this area is actually the tallest Cliff in Colorado at this point.

It is 2250 feet from the river all the way to the top.

So it has a viewpoint for you to overlook and see that.

41:49

I mean, it’s literally a sheer Cliff, tallest Cliff in Colorado.

And it gives you some perspective.

You know, at national parks, they have signs that tell you some things.

They will show famous buildings from around the world and where it stacks up to scale against the painted wall and the only thing that surpassed it was the Burj Khalifa.

42:07

Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

So it’s not just the tallest Cliff in Colorado.

It’s like up there with the world.

It’s huge.

Well, in terms of buildings, like I said, it’s putting buildings to side to scale and major things that people would know.

42:22

So that’s a cool spot to stop at.

So then we did drive down to the eastern portal, it’s about a 20 minute drive down there.

We mentioned that it’s like a 16% grade paved Rd. all the way down, but it gets you down to the river and then there is a .8 mile primitive trail along the river does get pretty rocky.

42:45

So you can stop at any point and sit and enjoy the river, the views of the Canyon and you can turn back at any point.

There were people fishing, there was families along the river.

So it’s a nice area.

There’s a campground down there as well, so.

Yeah.

And if you’re not doing the hike to the bottom of the Canyon, this will give you a perspective at the bottom.

43:03

What bugged me out is prior to COVID, they actually used to have a boat tour down here that was about an hour and a half and only $25 a person to kind of go down the Gunnison River, but they stopped it.

And I hear that they’re looking for an alternative boat tour, but they haven’t found one yet.

43:19

So hopefully they’ll bring that back in the future.

And since we were ahead of schedule, since we had done things because the original hike I wanted to do was under construction, we got ahead of schedule.

We actually ended up spending half a day in Uray, Colorado.

43:37

Or is it oray?

We’re not entirely too sure of the pronunciation.

We heard several different people from Colorado say it differently, but it is spelled Ouray oray as I like to say.

Or is it ooray?

We’ll leave it up to you, Squatty, as you tell us.

43:53

I’m sure you will in the comments, but I heard this place has a reputation.

Yes, it does.

What’d you hear?

I heard it’s the Switzerland of America.

What do you think?

That’s what they call themselves.

And you know, I did post a story about that and my dad’s girlfriend said Switzerland of America.

44:12

I highly doubt that, but I thought it was actually pretty cool and you are in this cute little picturesque of mountain town nestled in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

You drive a road called the $1,000,000 highway and has really great views and they actually have a sign that does say Uray Switzerland of America on it so.

44:35

So you haven’t been to Switzerland yet, but what do you think?

Like do you think it could stand up?

I don’t think Switzerland has cliffs and mountains that look red, and a lot of these looked red.

But in terms of just the dramatic landscape, from photos I’ve seen of Switzerland, I could say maybe to some degree I can agree with it.

44:53

I don’t think this entire region vastly looks like it.

Right?

But you come in on the highway and it’s a highway that will eventually have stop signs and stop flights to the main road through the town.

You’re looking at buildings that were probably built in the 1800s, early nineteens.

45:09

So you have that classic feel.

So of course you’re not going to have that American style look in Switzerland.

But then you really look at the mountains around you and let me tell you this, it’s quite impressive.

The photos do it no justice.

We’ve said this a million times on lots of different things, but no justice whatsoever.

45:27

But when you’re there, like it’s beautiful.

You drive the Main Street and then you look the straight ahead to the right, to the left, and it’s just like, man, this is just like dramatic, like landscape.

It was really beautiful.

I I appreciate it a lot.

Kim, I think you would like this little mountain town because it has that beautiful Alpine scenery.

45:46

But they do have Hot Springs here as well and they also have like more of a Victorian architecture in the downtown area.

So it’s a nice cute little mountain town.

I would go back to this area.

It’s actually not so far from Telluride.

46:02

Have you heard about Telluride, Co?

I’ve heard of the place but I don’t know much about it.

Well, it’s so famous Kia’s made a car called the Telluride now, apparently.

Yeah, Kesha actually drives the Telluride.

But Telluride is on the opposite side of the mountain, so you can’t get there unless you go all the way around.

46:21

But it’s on the opposite side of the mountain here at Oray.

Did you partake in Hot Springs?

So we did not because the water is obviously natural, but they’re man made pools and it was kind of drizzling while we were there and we had some other things on our list, but we did pass by them.

46:36

When we passed by it and looked at the photos, it just looked like a public pool.

It was not very well designed, kind of like square and rectangle shape.

They had like an adult section and the kids.

But then but they had like a little play structure area it seemed like with the slide, it just didn’t feel like, ah yes, a Hot Springs type vibe.

46:56

I’m looking at a picture of very Hot Springs and it looks pretty cool.

They do have that square pool, but then they have these like WAVY shaped pools to the side.

Well, you are a hot spring girl, Kim so.

I think that’s.

Why?

So we ended up doing a small hike called the Box Canyon Falls.

47:16

And this Canyon was formed by a Creek that has carved its way through the rock, of course, creating a very steep, narrow wall.

And there’s a waterfall coming out of it.

And it’s a very dramatic and it’s powerful and you are basically along like this Canyon edge or on top of it looking down to see this.

47:37

You do have to pay to go to this hikes with only about 7 bucks or whatever.

And we did do the observation platform and then we also did the hike to the top to look over everything as well.

If you’re going to come here, I would highly recommend doing the Box Canyon Falls hike.

47:52

Really cool the overlook.

It’s a bridge over the top of the falls.

It was really windy when we were up there.

And it will actually lead you to a tunnel that they’ve carved through the rock that you can continue a trail, but you would leave the the premises of the the falls.

So you really wouldn’t want to do that unless that was the last thing that you did.

48:10

So we just turned around, went down, got even closer.

Then there’s a catwalk that follows along the Canyon above the the water that will lead you to the falls as it’s coming through the rock.

So just really cool, really unique.

And then they have a nature trail that you can take when you’re done to kind of circle around.

48:27

It’s very small but really unique perspective to see a dramatic waterfall and landscape that they have out here.

And then we went to the lookout you we were telling you about on $1,000,000 highway where they have the sign for Switzerland of America.

Really good views, you can get out, take pictures, and you have an overlook of the town as well.

48:47

And then once we were done there, we actually went into the downtown, which is only a few blocks long.

We went to Mouse’s Chocolates.

A lot of people recommended that when I asked for recommendations for this area.

And they do handmade truffles, really good handmade chocolate truffles.

49:03

So we got some treats in there and went to another shop that was like specializing beef jerky and just kind of walked and roamed the shops downtown.

And then when we were done with Oray, we worked our way back to Montrose.

I I alluded to this earlier.

49:19

For dinner we went back to Colorado Boy Pizzeria and Brewing and we got a pizza and salad for dinner that night as well as more bevies.

What kind of salad and pizza did we get?

We ended up getting a Mediterranean salad as well as I’m going to butcher the pronunciation of this, but the Salcia pizza.

49:42

How did he and I said that, but then he said something else.

I don’t know.

I can’t really pronounce it, it’s in Italian.

Had your favorite mushroom sausage goat cheese on it was really good I.

Would forego the mushroom, but that does sound really good.

It was good, but not as good as the one that we had before.

50:00

Yes, the one we had the day before.

Amazing.

So then we just spent the night in Montrose.

The next day, drove back to Denver.

We did stop into the town Golden, which is where the Chorus factory is that we didn’t do the tour at the chorus factory because we’ve done that before.

But we actually got to stop and have lunch with our friend Jen, who was part of our trip on the Inca Trail.

50:21

We met her on the Inca Trail, so she lives in Boulder.

So Golden was a great spot to meet up on our way back to the airport.

So we got to catch up with her for a little bit and then we enjoyed the Capital One Lounge and I feel like the food was better this time around than the first time we had it.

50:39

I would not disagree with that assessment, but this is the first time too that we’ve encountered a wait list on there.

We were wait listed.

They told us a longer time, we got in a lot quicker so I was.

How long did you have to wait?

I don’t think it was more than 1520 minutes when she told us, like maybe 3045.

50:56

Yeah, got in pretty quick.

I’d rather them tell me a lot longer and then get in sooner, so I’m glad that they did.

That makes me feel like, oh, wow, that wasn’t too bad.

But I agree with you, Brittany.

The food was better this time.

And that wrapped up our trip.

We were headed back to San Diego and now there’s itinerary for you guys to do this trip of your own one day.

51:16

Do you feel like you saw everything or do you feel like I wish I would have had one more day to do XYZ?

I saw every viewpoint Kim.

So I am thrilled with exactly what we did.

No wish we had more time in or a Brittany was even saying that she preliminary had plans to possibly spend the night out there if we were spending the night out there.

51:39

I know what I said about the Hot Springs and how they look not necessarily intriguing it, but it like Brittany had mentioned it started to drizzle a little bit.

Didn’t really want to get out there and I was going to say there was even thunderstorms too.

So if we were staying the night probably would have gone out a little bit later once that rain and thunderstorms had passed and probably enjoyed it.

51:59

But otherwise, if we’re talking Black Canyon, I feel like I got my fill.

Two days It is more than enough. 2 full days to experience the entirety at the park.

Well, that’s perfect.

Then Squaties, Go to travelsquadpodcast.com and download your free itinerary.

And thank you so, so much for tuning into our episode this week.

52:17

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52:37

Stay tuned for next week’s episode.

We have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you.