Interstate 70 from Denver to Grand Junction is a cross-section of the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Rising from 5,280 feet in elevation at Denver to over 11,000 feet at the Continental Divide, the highway weaves through forested canyons, below 14,000 foot peaks, through massive tunnels, beside world-class ski resorts, past historic mining towns and hot springs, and along the mighty Colorado River. This is what most people think of when they visualize Colorado. Nearing Grand Junction though, as the rest of the landscape becomes more rocky and barren, unexpected peach orchards and vineyards flank the highway. These are the source of delicious Palisade peaches and Colorado wines. Less than twenty miles from the Utah state line, Colorado National Monument seems more like Utah than Colorado. Colorful rocks and geological formations are the attraction here.
We took a getaway weekend trip to visit this area, but first we had to navigate Friday night ski traffic in driving snow. The drive to the Eisenhower tunnel which usually takes little more than an hour turned into three hours. After that and a bit of snow on Vail pass, the roads dried out and we made it to the western slope. Rising early on Saturday to blue skies, we wanted to get a hike in with our dog Luna, but the Monument trails do not allow dogs. Alltrails.com recommended a dog-friendly alternative next door in Devil’s Canyon, part of the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. This proved to be an excellent choice, giving us an up-close experience of the area landscape. Aside from a few other hikers/dogs and a couple on horseback, we had the trail to ourselves. The trail makes a six-mile loop, but we went only a couple of miles, enough to get a fantastic panoramic view of the canyon before turning back because of snow/ice and the increasing steepness of the trail. Plus, we wanted to allow time to visit the Monument.
Rimrock Drive bisects the Colorado National Monument, taking 23 miles to wind up to the top of the plateau, around the rim of the canyons, and back down the other side, connecting the east and west entrances only 8 miles apart as the crow flies. Coming from the Devil’s Canyon trailhead in Fruita, we started from the west entrance which was closer to the visitor’s center and the most popular overlooks. We stopped at Balanced Rock, Independence Monument, Grand View, Monument Canyon View, Coke Ovens Overlook, and Artists Point. Then realizing that we had yet to get our picture together, we retraced our drive back to Independence Monument and went back out the west entrance without completing the drive to the east entrance. By this time the wineries of Palisade were calling our names, and we felt like we had seen the best side of the Monument.
Notwithstanding our Friday night drive in the snow, winter was an excellent time to visit Devil’s Canyon and the Monument. Both of them would be very hot in summer, although we were fortunate to have a clear, warm day in February. I would not want to drive a snow-covered Rimrock Drive with its serpentine turns and thousand-foot drop-offs. Morning or Evening light would be a better time to visit the Monument as we felt like our photos failed to capture the depth and colors, although the snow added some interest. We would love to return to Palisade in late summer or fall to see the vineyards and peach trees full of fruit, but we enjoyed the wine-tastings and brought back several bottles. On Sunday we stopped for breakfast at the one-of-a-kind Shooter’s Grill in Rifle, Colorado, and enjoyed a beautiful drive back to Denver in time for a Superbowl party. A great Grand Junction getaway.
Pathways 