In our last blog we had started to explore Colorado and its four National Parks. Having spent a few days re-exploring Rocky Mountain NP, we were excited to travel to its other three - Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes. We hadn’t expected all three to be quite so epic!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Separated into a North and South section, the park is split by the Gunnison river, which is at the bottom of a 2,000ft canyon, that at its narrowest is only 40 feet apart. While you can see cars on the other side of the canyon, it takes 1.5hours to drive around from one side to the other.
We felt this park is a hidden gem – tons of natural beauty and no crowds. Between 8-10am we only saw 2 cars so honestly felt like we had the park to ourselves. We explored both sides, starting in the North, completing the scenic drive and hiking to a viewpoint called Exclamation Point!!!!!! Couldn’t resist… :-)
This park is different to most as it has so few safety features. You literally can walk to the edge of this sheer drop, with not a barrier/railing in sight. It has extraordinary views that look down and over the steep canyon – just need to be sensible. Mel did have to mention this to Ben on several occasions!
Once we made it to the South side and to the parks visitor center, we found out that we were there on the parks 25th birthday. Even though Mel is gluten free, she always takes a glutenous cake, so Ben can enjoy two. If that isn’t love I’m not sure what is…
Mesa Verde NP
When traveling through America, anything over 100 years old is considered historic, which still makes us laugh as we both grow up in houses that are far older than that. So exploring ancient cliff dwellings once inhabited by the Pueblo people that are >700years old is really cool.
We had actually planned to have an extra night in the Black Canyon but when doing some research 48hours before, we found out that the guided ranger tours - the only way to get up close and explore inside the dwellings, were about to close for winter. After a mad dash to cover some long miles, we were able to book two tours for the last day of the season, and my god was it worth it.
Seeing these structures carved into the cliff side up close, climbing down ladders, up and down rock faces with hand and foot holes carved into the surfaces and through tunnels barely big enough to fit us was such a unique experience! Having completed both the Balcony House and Cliff Palace tours, we’d highly recommend them to anyone visiting. While the ranger talks overlap, each building has its own charm. Cliff Palace is one of the largest and most recognisable from photo’s of the park, but we actually both preferred Balcony House, as you had to climb up five ladders and through two small tunnels on the edge of the cliff side to explore it. Mel did have a little wobble as there were some shear drops but managed to just about make it back up without too much panicking! Safe to say she could not have lived that far off the ground all those years ago!
We also hiked down along the edge of canyon to go see a large petroglyph panel, where over 30 human and animal figures and hand prints that represent the written language of the Pueblo world could be seen.
Just as the guided tours were about to end for the season, we were also lucky enough to camp in the park before it shut. Mesa Verde was designated as an International Dark Sky in 2021, so we spent some of the evening staring up at the stars. What we hadn’t quite anticipated was the desert temperatures of hot during the day but super cold at night. This is the first time we have woken up with the entire front windscreen frozen! We got up and moving pretty quick the next morning…!
Great Sand Dunes NP
This park surprised us but in a great way! You can actually only drive about 5 miles into the park unless you have a 4WD and are able to off road. So just a visitor center, a couple of pull offs for small hikes, a campground and then access to the sand dunes! The sand dunes were spectacular! The park protects the tallest sand dunes found anywhere in North America. The sand felt like you were on a beach, so much so we hiked bare foot and climbed to the 2nd tallest sand dune - ‘High Dune’ in the park, while battling 30mph winds. Once we made it to the summit, we then did what all adults in their mid-thirties should do, slide down the dunes on the sand sledges we had rented. It was SO much fun BUT we have never been this sandy in our lives! It was on our eyelids, in our underwear, in all pockets of clothing and in any crevices, it could possibly get to but it was so worth it! We had not anticipated the 3 showers to remove most of the sand, but we are still finding a few grains on us to this day…
We were also lucky enough to be in an epic campground, in another Dark Sky Park. We walked on down to the dunes after sunset to spend time watching the stars in all their glory. Ben even caught a shooting star on camera. Perfect end to the Colorado National Park section of our trip.
The Manitou Incline
To end this Colorado section of our trip we did a 2-day trip to Manitou Springs as Ben had found a hike he wanted to do… but when he says a hike, it’s a 2,744 step climb up gaining 2000 ft of elevation! It’s called the Manitou Incline, a once railway track that now consists of steps made entirely of railway ties - see link. Although its only 1 mile in length, the ascension averages 41% incline (68% at its highest). You have to have a permit which meant a 5:45am get up for us (thanks Ben!). It was challenging but very rewarding and it reminded us of the Koko Crater Stair Hike in Hawaii, just 2.5 times as many steps!
What’s Next?
We have decided to continue to head East, hitting some of the National Parks more remote and difficult to get to easily from the West Coast, so over the next 2 days we have 14 hours of driving to get us to Gateway Arch National Park in Missouri, followed by Indiana Dunes in you guessed it Indiana. From there it’s a little bit of a mystery, but that's part of the fun, figuring it out as we go.
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