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This spread, from left: Steve Flowers; J.C. Leacock>Did You Know?
There are approximately
145 known rock climbing
routes in the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison,
several of which snake
up the Painted Wall. Be
forewarned that these
multipitch traditional
climbs are known for their
loose rock and once-
you-begin-you-can’t-go-
back routes. Translation:
Beginners need not apply.
>If You Go
Check out the dizzying
heights of the Painted Wall
from a viewing area along
South Rim Road. The
Painted Wall viewpoint is
sometimes inaccessible
during the winter; call the
park in advance to find
out if the road has been
plowed. The park entrance
fee is $20 per vehicle and
covers seven calendar
days. nps.gov/blcaNearly every inch of the 48-mile-
long Black Canyon of the
Gunnison provides the rareied
views one expects in Colorado. But
the 14 miles of the gorge protected
by Black Canyon of the Gunnison
National Park defy expectations.
Staggeringly deep and nigh impen-
etrable (for everyday recreationists
and acrophobes), the chasm owes
its existence to the churning Gun-
nison River, sometimes visible far
below. But visitors don’t have to
strain to see the Painted Wall; at
2,250 feet, the tallest vertical clif in
Colorado commands observation.
he immense Precambrian gneiss
and schist rock wall exhibits gen-
erous brushstrokes of granitelike,
pink-hued pegmatite.Although it’s located within
one of the world’s most
dramatic landscapes—Utah’s
Arches National Park—60-
foot-tall Delicate Arch seems
to know just how captivating
it is. A free-standing doorway
of reddish sandstone, Delicate’s
preternatural beauty has been
wooing onlookers—Native
Americans, 19th-century
homesteaders—from its high
perch since time immemorial.
But those who have yet to see
her should remember: Gravity
and erosion make the park’s
2,000-some ins, spires, and
arches impermanent. Wall
Arch—which stood 71 feet
wide and 33 feet high—
collapsed in 2008.>Did You Know?
The 15-by-17-foot cottonwood
log cabin that sits near the
trailhead to Delicate Arch was
built in 1906 by John Wesley
Wolfe, a Civil War veteran who
homesteaded a 100-plus-acre
parcel of land north of what
was then the tiny hamlet of
Moab. Wolfe’s daughter, Flora,
took one of the earliest known
photographs of Delicate Arch.
>If You Go
There are three ways to
experience the grandeur
of Delicate Arch. The first
is the Lower Delicate Arch
Viewpoint, where you can
walk about 100 yards from
a parking lot to see the rock
sculpture from a mile away.
The Upper Delicate Arch
Viewpoint requires a half-
mile trek but provides a more
unobstructed view. Or hike
three miles (round trip) from
the trailhead at Wolfe Ranch to
stand inside the arch’s 46-by-
32-foot opening. The park
entrance fee is $25 per vehicle
and covers seven calendar
days. nps.gov/archPAINTED
WALL
Black Canyon
of the
Gunnison
N.P.CO
DELICATE
ARCH
Arches
N.P. UT