Trip to the Colorado National Monument
Riding along the edge of the plateau
At the larger town of Grand Junction, located in the Colorado River Valley, you will find an interesting protected area – the Colorado National Monument. The plateau is terminated by a number of canyons and interesting rock formations. The most famous part is the north of the protected area with Monument Canyon. There are hiking trails, but most visitors explore the area thanks to the Rim Rock Drive scenic road
Colorado Monument from below
Rim Rock Drive crosses the entire national monument from east to west. The area has two entrances East (Grand Junction) Entrance and West (Fruita) Entrance. We found it better to go from east to west, so the best was in the end, but of course it depends where you continue
Dogs Tooth - Dog tooth
The road rises from the Colorado Valley up to the plateau. The place with several serpentines is called Dogs Tooth
Cold Shivers Point
The first „official“ viewpoint is Cold Shivers Point over Columbus Canyon
Columbus Canyon
The first canyon you will pass – Columbus Canyon – compared to other canyons in the American West – is not so interesting
Red Canyon Overlook Panorama
Another prospect – Red Canyon Overlook – is much better. In general, however, the local canyons are not very dramatic in themselves. The rock formations at their edges are especially interesting
Rock formations from Red Canyon Overlook
Due to erosion, several interesting rock towers were built here
Upper Ute Canyon Overlook
There is also a hiking trail through Ute Canyon – no shade and no sunburst – it must be a tiring trail
Coke Ovens Overlook
We get to the western part of the protected area, which is located around the Monument Canyon. This is the most interesting thing
Monument Canyon View
Monument Canyon View is an absolutely great view of the rock towers
Grand View
A little further on is probably the most famous Grand View
Rock towers from Grand View
The Kissing Couple formation is one of the most famous rock towers
Independence Monument View
The rock tower of the Independence monument, definitely lives up to its name. Then there are a few more, not so good prospects before you go back to the Colorado River. The whole scenic road is over 40 kilometers
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