Colorado National Monument

 

Colorado National Monument is named after the river rather than the state, and covers a relatively small area of eroded red rock formations and canyons just south of the Colorado near Grand Junction. This large city, near the Utah border, is surrounded in most directions by impressive multi-colored rocks; the orange/brown layered Book Cliffs dominate the town from the north, and extend westwards for nearly 200 miles to the Manti-la-Sal mountains of central Utah.

Immediately southwest of town, tributaries of the Colorado river have carved through the edge of the high Uncompahgre Plateau that borders the Colorado for some distance, and the most scenic area, about 10 by 5 miles, is contained within the national monument. This contains four main canyons, cutting into the plateau for several miles, with several smaller ravines, isolated towers and pinnacles, and many other sandstone formations.

History of the Monument

The national monument is pleasantly scenic, maybe not one of the major attractions of the Southwest, but well worth visiting for at least a few hours. The cliffs are made of Entrada/Wingate/Kayenta sandstone layers in various shades of red and white and so the canyons are similar to others in nearby states, especially Canyon de Chelly in Arizona and parts of Canyonlands in Utah. The establishment of the national monument in 1911 was largely due several years of campaigning by one man, John Otto, who explored the canyons and single-handedly built many miles of trails through the area.