National Park Service Colorado U.S. Department of the Interior National Monument Visitor Guide © R OB K U R TZMAN Welcome, or welcome back, to Colorado Exploring the Monument National Monument! Every day we have the opportunity to greet visitors from around the C ONGRATULATIONS , YOU HAVE DIS C OVERED ONE OF WESTERN C OLORADO ’S HIDDEN GEMS . C OLORADO world, as well as our local community, and N ATIONAL M ONUMENT, THE 2 5 T H UNIT ESTABLISHED IN OUR NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM , LIES ON THE listen to their stories about their first, and EASTERN EDGE OF THE C OLORADO P LATEAU AND C ONTAINS THE BREATHTAKING RED RO C K C ANYONS THAT perhaps lasting impressions, of the abruptly MAKE THIS REGION UNIQUE . D IS C OVERING THE MONUMENT WAS HALF THE FUN . N OW YOU GET TO DE C IDE arising, reddish-orange backdrop to this HOW YOU WILL SPEND YOUR TIME HERE . Grand Valley and Interstate 70 corridor. GO FOR A DRIVE store. See page 3 for a detailed map and Saddlehorn Campground is first-come, Colorado National Monument holds many Cruise the historic Rim Rock Drive suggested activities in and around the first-served with a camping fee of $20/ meanings to many people. To some, it is a place of quiet contemplation or refuge from and enjoy steep canyon walls, towering visitor center. night. Free backcountry camping daily hustle and bustle. To others, a smile monoliths and balanced rocks along permits are available at the visitor at seeing a yellow-headed collared lizard the way. As its name implies, the TAKE A HIKE center. Check page 3 for more or a blooming cactus on a springtime hike. 23-mile road travels along the rims of Whether you’re a mountain goat or a camping information. Whether you discovered the monument on the park’s major canyons. The entire first-time hiker, you’ll have no problem a ranger-guided event, or perhaps ‘by drive through the park takes around finding a suitable trail here. The park’s EARN YOUR BADGE accident,’ chances are you were struck an hour. There are 19 overlooks with 45 miles of trails range from short Children of all ages can become official by the awe-inspiring scenery that also interpretive signs, so make sure you walks to all-day treks through rugged Junior Rangers. Grab an activity guide drew our early founder, John Otto, over budget time to stop and take in the canyons. See pages 4 and 5 for a map at the visitor center and learn how you one hundred years ago. About these views. Some of our favorite overlooks and detailed hiking information. can help protect the park while you canyons Otto had said, they “feel like the are Cold Shivers Point, Ute Canyon learn about and explore its resources. heart of the world to me.” View, Grand View, Independence RIDE YOUR BIKE More for kids on page 7. Compelling stories such as Otto’s exist Monument Overlook and Book Cliffs Experienced riders should try the within all of our 400+ units within the Grand Loop, a challenging 33-mile ride JOIN A RANGER View. See pages 2 and 3 for road safety National Park Service. The state of Colorado across Rim Rock Drive and back along Learn about the monument from an tips and a list of accessible overlooks. alone has 18 of these “national treasure county roads. If you’re looking for an expert at a ranger-led porch talk, walk boxes” either set aside by Congress or STOP BY THE VISITOR CENTER easier ride, start at the visitor center or or evening program. See page 3 for proclaimed by the president (national parks, Just four miles from the West (Fruita) Cold Shivers Point and ride across the more information on ranger programs. monuments, historic trails, historic sites, and Entrance, the visitor center is a great top of Rim Rock Drive. See page 4 for preserves are some of these types of units). place to start your adventure. Learn more information on bicycling. No matter what you choose to do, Our mission? To preserve these areas and more about the park’s geology, ecology we hope you enjoy this amazing their meanings forever. Throughout this and human history through SLEEP UNDER THE STARS national treasure and visit us again. visitor guide, learn more about what makes interactive exhibits and videos. Spend the night in the frontcountry at this place such a grand sense of space! Shop for monument merchandise, Saddlehorn Campground or among Thanks for taking time out of your busy red rocks on a backpacking trip. The lives to experience your national park areas. field guides, t-shirts and more in the Thank you, TRIP PLANNING INFORMATION ARTICLES MAPS Lisa Eckert Road & Tunnel Information .................................2 Geology & History ...............................................2 Visitor Center/Campground Area ..........................3 Lisa Eckert Visitor Services ....................................................3 Climate & Ecology ...............................................6 Hiking Trails ..........................................................5 Superintendent Hiking & Safety .............................................4 & 5 Night Sky ............................................................7 Colorado Plateau ..................................................8 Weather .............................................................6 For Kids ..............................................................7 National Park Service Shaping the Land U.S. Department of the Interior H ANK S C HO C H C HIEF R ANGER , RETIRED Colorado National Monument Visitor Guide Independence Monument Published By Colorado National Monument Association, Praying Pipe a non-profit organization that supports Hands Organ interpretive and educational programs at Colorado National Monument L Mailing Address IZ B A Colorado National Monument RR ETT 1750 Rim Rock Drive Fruita, CO 81521 YOU MIGHT MA RVEL AT TH E DR AMAT IC In the mid-1980s , an intact slab of Entrada Sandstone E-mail landscape of Colorado National Monument and wonder, (25 feet wide, 40 feet tall, and 15 feet thick!) fractured [email protected] how did these intricate canyons and massive rocks come down onto Rim Rock Drive, closing the road for several to be? The answers are found before you, some larger months until engineers devised a way to safely remove Phone and more dramatic than others. that 400-ton chunk of solid rock without further 970-858-3617 ext. 360 damaging the historic roadway beneath it. Flash floods, one of the most exciting forces behind Fax Number these chaotically carved canyons, are both wondrous Water also can work in quieter, more subtle ways to shape 970-858-0372 and frightening. These rapid events move and break the land. Raindrops react chemically with carbon Website large amounts of rock altering our landscape in hours. dioxide from the atmosphere forming a weak acid that www.nps.gov/colm Witnesses to these dramatic storm surges are privileged attacks and destroys soft calcium carbonate cement, to a show of thick brown liquid torrents spilling off the natural binding glue in most local sandstones. The National Park Service cares for the towering cliff rims into the canyon depths. This wondrous special places saved by the American people scene is active weathering and erosion right before you. On the microscopic level water migrates slowly through so that all may experience our heritage. porous sandstone. This groundwater may contain various Water, the most effective agent of weathering and erosion, salts. When the water reaches the surface and evaporates, works on a variety of scales, from the microscopic to the salt crystals are created. These crystals can displace, pry massive. Imagine a brief, intense downpour. Now slow loose, and liberate individual grains of sand or sometimes exfoliate thin sheets of rock, a process known as sapping. things down. As those first droplets spatter on exposed slick-rock and bare earth, the tiny impacts begin to dislodge Several decades ago, NASA sent a team of geologists to the Rim Rock Drive bits of sand, silt, and clay. As the rain persists, droplets join monument to study groundwater sapping in large together forming sheet-wash, growing until the mass flows drainage features; they wanted to replicate features that The 23-mile Rim Rock Drive is one of the downhill with gravity. The water gains momentum and could be found on Mars, a distant planet so conspicuously grandest scenic drives in the American strength as it joins other small streams, while also picking devoid of running waters. To find examples of this West. While it offers a once-in-a-lifetime up burdens of abrasive particles along the way. With only interesting process, look for residual deposits of opportunity to experience this spectacular thin soils and sparse vegetation to impede it, the running salty evaporates on damp canyon headwalls landscape; its hairpin turns, steep grades water continues to grow, forming tiny rivers which quickly where seeps and springs are evident. and unstable rock formations can make merge strength to fill and scour the usually-dry stream this historic road dangerous. Please use channels. Eventually, the flood waters find their way Wind also contributes to the creation of the landscape. caution while you drive or ride your bicycle, into the central drainages of the larger canyons, where Swirling winds, laden with grit and tiny sand particles, and always share the road. together they are often capable of uprooting trees abrasively erode holes in the rock layers creating nice places and moving boulders as large as automobiles. for birds to build nests, or hand holds for rock climbers. Staying Safe while you Drive • Obey all posted speed limits. Another form of physical weathering and erosion often Plants and animals also have their part to play. Roots of • Watch for rocks in the road. Never occurs during the early spring and late fall when days are plants probe and pry and secrete chemicals that hasten the attempt to move rocks or boulders. To mild and nights frosty.