Pegmatite veins
Pale pink.
Mobilus In Mobili — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Falk Werner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · NPS Photo — Public domain · AndrewKPepper — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carpenter, Kenneth — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a national park in western Colorado, with its South Rim entrance 24 km east of Montrose by road, about 16 km from the town centre in a straight line. It contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon. The canyon became a national monument in 1933 and a national park in 1999. It holds 19 km of the Gunnison River. Its name reflects the fact that parts of the gorge get only 33 minutes of sunlight a day. The river drops an average of 6.4 metres per kilometre, one of the steepest mountain descents in North America. One historian wrote that other canyons are longer or deeper, but none combines its depth, sheerness, narrowness and darkness. Dark, sheer walls of very old rock plunge hundreds of metres to the river, striped with pale pink veins of pegmatite. The river looks like a thin green thread far below, and trees and shrubs line the rims. Visitors drive the South Rim road and stop at many viewpoints, including Dragon Point. The North Rim closes in winter. The drops are huge, so stay behind the railings and on the trails.
Pale pink.
A famous view.
Far below.
South Rim, near Montrose, Colorado, United States
No, it closes in winter.
By car along the South Rim road.