Pocket Size Grand Canyon

The pocket-size Grand Canyon, as Superintendent Joan Anzelmo calls it, is on the doorstep of Grand Junction, the region's largest city. The Colorado... more

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

Pocket Size Grand Canyon

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture/faa Watermark Will Not Appear On Your Finished Photograph.

Description

The "pocket-size Grand Canyon," as Superintendent Joan Anzelmo calls it, is on the doorstep of Grand Junction, the region's largest city. The Colorado River flows north of the carved landscape that is part of the Colorado Plateau, which stretches into four states - Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

Entering the monument's west entrance near the town of Fruita, what appear to be typical high mesas from the interstate turns into an eye-opening drive up a two-lane road, full of switchbacks and anchored by sheer rock cliffs. The 4-mile-long Fruita Canyon includes Balanced Rock, a 600-ton mass atop a narrow stone pedestal

The monument's 23-mile Rim Rock Drive is an attraction in itself. "It was carved practically out of air," Anzelmo says of the road-cum-time machine whose construction revealed rock between 150 million and roughly 1.7 billion years old.

Colorado National Monument is a part of the National Park Service near the city of Grand Junction. Spectacular canyons cut deep into sandstone and even granite-gneiss-schist rock formations, in some areas, this is an area of desert land high on the Colorado Plateau, with pinion and juniper forests on the plateau. The park hosts a wide range of wildlife, including red-tailed hawks and golden eagles, ravens, jays, desert bighorn sheep, and coyotes. Activities include hiking, horseback riding, road bicycling, and scenic drives; a visitor center on the west side contains a natural history museum and gift shop. There are magnificent views from trails and the Rim Rock Drive, which winds along the plateau. Nearby are the Book Cliffs, and the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, the Grand Mesa.

Its feature attraction is Monument Canyon, which runs the width of the park, and includes rock formations such as Independence Monument, the Kissing Couple, and Coke Ovens. The monument includes 20,500 acres, much of which has been recommended to Congress for designation as wilderness.

The area was first explored by John Otto, a free spirit who settled in Grand Junction in the early 20th century. Prior to Otto's arrival, many area residents believed the canyons to be inaccessible to humans. Otto began building trails on the plateau and into the canyons. As word spread about his work, the Chamber of Commerce of Grand Junction sent a delegation to investigate. The delegation returned praising both Otto's work and the scenic beauty of the wilderness area, and the local newspaper began lobbying to make it a National Park.

The area was established as Colorado National Monument on May 24, 1911. Otto was hired as the first park ranger, drawing a salary of $1 per month. For the next 16 years, he continued building and maintaining trails while living in a tent in the park.

The park became better known in the 1980s partly due to its inclusion as a stage of the major international bicycle race, the Coors Classic. The race through the park became known as "The Tour of the Moon", due to the spectacular landscapes the race passed through on Rim Rock Drive.

This view is looking down Fruita Canyon toward the town of Fruita on a very hot evening in July with the Book Cliffs on the horizon.

Image copyright 2013 Jon Burch Photography

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July 24th, 2013