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PARKS
Gunnison National Forest
Colorado
At the forest's southern border, the Gunnison River continues to rip an abysmal chasm into black schist and gneiss, exposing the earth's geologic viscera in the spectacular Black Canyon of the Gunnison. To give you an idea how deep the canyon is, it could easily swallow two Empire State Buildings stacked one on top of the other at the sheer cliff wall face known as Painted Rock.
Camping at Lost Lake
Pinyon pine and gnarled juniper clings to the semi-arid landscape at the edge of the canyon as raptors soar on thermals overhead. Elsewhere in central Colorado's Gunnison, it is height rather than depth that impresses: the craggy summits of Colorado's famed Rockies scrape an azure sky as magnificent stands of blue spruce, Douglas fir, and Engleman spruce hug the lower slopes.
Hikers, climbers, kayakers, and skiers find a veritable recreational gold mine in the Gunnison, as well as a region rich in mining history in towns like Crested Butte. These are real mountains for real people, far removed from the celebrity jet set crowd in nearby Aspen and Vail.
Gunnison's airport allows a soft landing at the southern edge of the forest. Otherwise, as the crow flies, the town of Gunnison is about 150 miles southwest of Denver and 100 miles southeast of Grand Junction.
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