National Park Guide

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Field Guide

A complete planning guide to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Covers the South Rim and North Rim (and why there's no direct road between them), the sheer 2,700-foot depths carved by the Gunnison River through nearly 1.7-billion-year-old rock, the Painted Wall — Colorado's tallest cliff face — inner-canyon wilderness routes and big-wall climbing, the Gunnison Tunnel and Curecanti National Recreation Area, the park's International Dark Sky designation, the official NPS park map, and lodging and camping near Montrose.

What's inside

• ✓The Painted Wall — Colorado's tallest cliff face at roughly 2,250 feet, banded with ancient pegmatite
• ✓Two rims, no direct road: how to plan a South Rim and North Rim visit
• ✓A gorge cut nearly 2,700 feet deep into some of the oldest exposed rock in North America
• ✓Certified International Dark Sky Park with some of the darkest night skies in Colorado