Touring the Colorado National Monument

My adventures to and from Las Vegas for my birthday took me to a great many interesting and wonderful places. I’ve been considering how I should write about it all as I saw and did so many things that it’s really quite impossible to put it down in one post unless I want it to be the length of a book. And, as a matter of fact, many volumes of books have been written about where I’ve gone, combined and singularly, that I think it really is only fair to each place, as well as to the reader, to talk about them individually. So, that is what I shall do chronologically by starting with the Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction.

The monument is centered around a scenic drive from Fruita to Grand Junction, or the other way around, that was built in the early 1900s on the edge of a canyon. It has held my curiosity for some time, as many things do on the other side of the state, so I was excited to snatch the opportunity to check it out, however briefly, on my way out of Colorado. And what I saw certainly did not disappoint me in the least.

I took the drive from Grand Junction to Fruita, as I was going from east to west, but think it can really be done in either direction without any disappointment or loss in the scenery. There are a handful of trails in the park too, but as I was pressed for time I unfortunately didn’t have time to do more than a mile along the rim by the visitor’s center. I don’t think this lessened my visit in the least as I saw all the highlights of the small park in the short, but incredibly beautiful, drive.

Besides, if I was serious about hiking in the park I’d be there one Fourth of July for the climb up the Independence Monument (right). It definitely is more of a climb than a hike, true, but it is the most identifiable park activity as it has been a tradition for many years now. While I think it’s a fun and interesting one, I know it’s certainly not for me and that I’m happy to settle with what I saw on this trip, and might see on subsequent ones when I’m in the area.

Before I left the park I stopped in at the visitor’s center for a quick peek at the museum. They had a nice display about the building of the road as well as the history of the park, particularly pertaining to the dinosaurs. It’s quite small, but I found it well worth the look despite the time crunch I had to continue on and get over to Moab, Utah as I had planned to spend the night there before continuing on my way.