Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Near Montrose, Colorado
Montrose, Colorado is considered the gateway to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Montrose and the KOA that we stayed at made for a nice stop for a few days to explore the area and the National Park. The KOA that we stayed at was one of the better ones that we’ve seen. It had nice long pull throughs, plenty of room for our 45 foot motor home and our tow behind and nice grass between the sites. The very bright rainbow that appeared one evening made for some nice photo ops.
Our Spot In The KOA In Montrose, Colorado
Beautiful View From The KOA In Montrose, Colorado
The National Park was just a short drive up the road which made it very convenient.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
The “Black” in Black Canyon gets it’s name because it’s so deep, so sheer and so narrow that very little sunlight can penetrate it.
Fun Fact: According to the NPS info, in just 48 miles in the Black Canyon the Gunnison River loses more elevation than the 1500 mile Mississippi River does from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The power of the fast falling enables the river to erode tough rock.
The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile in the National Park. It drops 480 feet in one 2 mile stretch. Fast, debris-laden water carving hard rock made the canyon walls so deep.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
We had a great day for hiking this area. We took the South Rim Road from the Visitor’s Center that takes you along the rim, winding up to an elevation of over 8200 feet. There are many over look areas and areas you can get out and hike to various points of interest. Some you can even rappel down to the water if that’s your thing. That’s a little too much for me though.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
It was such a nice day that David got his Quadcoptor out and did some flying. Not much though as the wind picked up and as you can imagine, between the higher elevation and the wind tearing up the cliff walls, that can make for some hard flying. The elevation plays a factor as it makes it more difficult to get lift, thinner air and all. The motors are working harder as well and therefore the batteries do not last as long. So you must really watch your time that you spend in the air.
David Got The Quadcoptor Out And Did Some Flying
David Got The Quadcoptor Out And Did Some Flying
David did manage to capture some nice video footage despite the wind.
You also have the issue of the deep canyons, for if your battery start to run low, the programming on the quadcoptor tells it to start to slowly descend to land. If over a canyon at that time, it’s over. So short flights and a constant eye on power is and was a must. There was so much more we would have loved to fly but could not risk it.
So if you find yourself in this area of Colorado, Montrose and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park are worth the stop.
All in all, we hope you enjoy this wonderful view of the Black Canyon National Park with a hello to those we met on the trails.
Thanks for the great video! Definitely an RV park and National Park that are going high on our to-do list!
Glad you like the video. David enjoys flying the quadcopter and being able to bring you these videos.
The nice thing about this National Park is that it’s not one of the more “popular” ones. So it can be less crowded and let’s face it, the less people and crowds makes for a more enjoyable experience, in my book at least.
After my knee and shoulder replacement we are ready to get some miles on our Allegro Bus. Heading west in March. Will put this on our list
R&E
Hope all is well with you both. Glad to hear you’ll be able to get back on the road and enjoy your bus like we are enjoying ours.
Awesome video. I really enjoy sharing your adventures.
And we enjoy bringing our adventures and videos to you guys. Thanks!
I assume it was one of those National Parks that allows you to fly Drones?
The parks, as I have read, are at the discretion of the rangers. Only two of the parks, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, seem to be actively dealing with them as they are the only ones, that I have seen in the news, that have issued citations. Were we where there really was no one around. Have there been others..I am sure some have asked someone to not fly but not issued any tickets or at least they have not been picked up in the news.
Good to know this. Your video was excellent by the way. What Quadcopter do you fly?
Hi…I have two. A custom XAircraft X650 with items needed to fly and shoot video added to it. It is the main UAV we fly and what was used for this video. Also have a DJI Phantom Vision 2+ which we use for quick deployment to get shots when getting the X650 out is too much to deal with.