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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
A sheer, shadowed gorge of ancient rock in western Colorado
Some parts of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison see only 33 minutes of sunlight a day, which is how the gorge got its name. The Gunnison River has cut more than 2,000 feet (610 m) into dark Precambrian gneiss and schist about 1.7 billion years old, faster than the walls could erode back, leaving a canyon that is deeper than it is wide in many places. At its narrowest the canyon floor is only about 40 feet (12 m) across. The Painted Wall, streaked with pale pegmatite bands, rises 2,250 feet (686 m) from river to rim, the tallest cliff in Colorado.
The park protects the deepest 12 miles (19 km) of the canyon, where the river drops steeply through boulder-choked rapids. Ute people knew the gorge long before Euro-American surveyors arrived. In 1909 the Gunnison Tunnel, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) long, began carrying river water to farms in the Uncompahgre Valley. The canyon became a national monument in 1933 and a national park in 1999. Roads follow both rims, and only experienced hikers descend the steep, unmaintained routes to the river.