If you’re like me, when you think of Colorado, you think of mountains. Your first thought probably isn’t about red rock plateaus and canyons. Those are some of the main features at Colorado National Monument, located just outside Grand Junction in western Colorado.
During our visit to the park, we drove the scenic route through the park and hiked a short ways into one of the canyons.
Scenic Driving
Rim Rock Drive is the name of the 23-mile scenic road that passes through the park from west entrance to the east entrance. There are plenty of pull-offs with overlooks for photos, and there are also several hiking opportunities along the drive. The road has several tunnels, twists and turns, and some steep drop-offs, so drive cautiously. We drove all the way across the park on Rim Rock Drive, stopping frequently at pull-offs for photos and a few quick hikes.
Hiking
There are many hiking opportunities within the park. Quite a few shorter hikes are located at pull-offs along Rim Rock Drive. There are also longer backcountry trails.
Coke Ovens Trail
- Quick Facts
- Length: 0.5 miles (one way)
- Elevation Gain: 180 ft
- Trailhead/Parking: Monument Canyon Trail parking area along Rim Rock Drive
- Link to NPS Site
We were driving through the park just before sunset. This was a great short hike to get a little ways off Rim Rock Drive. Even though the hike was short, it gave us a taste of what it was like to get down into the canyon.
To read more about shorter hikes within the park, check out this link to the Colorado National Monument NPS site: Short Hiking Trails – Colorado National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov). A link to backcountry trails can be found here: Backcountry Hiking Trails – Colorado National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).
Camping/Lodging
Saddlehorn Campground is located inside the park. It is a basic campground without hookups for RVs. We seriously considered staying inside the park, but in the end, we opted to stay at a KOA not too far from the east entrance. Many of the sites would not accommodate RVs because of their steeper grade or their shorter length.
Wish List
On a future trip to the park, I’d like to take time to do some more hiking. I was hoping we would have time to hike in the Devil’s Kitchen area on this trip, but we weren’t quite able to squeeze it in. Devil’s Kitchen is located near the east entrance to the park.