Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat'l Park--advice?

[buckyball1]

...headed to Colorado Tues for a few weeks hiking around RMNP/ Indian Peaks Wilderness to acclimate, then some 14s in Fairplay/Buena Vista area

--my nephew asked me to do a hike down to the riverbed in Black Canyon--looking at things, i suspect we'd go using the "easy" route -Gunnison Route--anyone ever been there, done this?--worth driving 3 hours one way from my projected itinerary? (this is no problem if the place is as cool as a quick on-line look makes it appear

thanks
jim

 

[DougPaul]

I haven't been down to the river, but it is a spectacular canyon as viewed from either rim. IMO, it is worth visiting even if you don't go down.

A quick search brings up the NPS page on hiking the inner canyon: http://www.nps.gov/blca/planyourvisit/hikinginnercanyon.htm Hope you like poison ivy... (A Ranger told me that it was worse on the N side than on the S side.)

Doug

 

[buckyball1]

DP-thanks

--i am very susceptible to poison ivy and trust TRs reporting it to be "not bad" on the Gunnison Route are true

--hoping Black Canyon/Gunnison works out and i can post a TR of this and a few other cool hikes--beats my usual pictureless, thick woods ME bushwhacks to nowhere (thankfully probably completed)

jim

 

[DougPaul]

--i am very susceptible to poison ivy and trust TRs reporting it to be "not bad" on the Gunnison Route are true

Of course, in the context of up to 5 foot tall poison ivy bushes, "not bad" may still be worse than you want...

--hoping Black Canyon/Gunnison works out and i can post a TR of this and a few other cool hikes--beats my usual pictureless, thick woods ME bushwhacks to nowhere (thankfully probably completed)

There are lots of photo-ops from the rims (and probably more below the rims). You can have plenty of pics to view as you scratch for the next two weeks...

Doug

 

[roadtripper]

I just did the Gunnison Route a month ago. I am semi-glad that I did it, but I would NOT do it again. It is just too rough of a trail for me to highly recommend it. The footing is terrible as it is 1/2 talus slope. You have to get a free permit to hike it, and they will warn you about its difficulty. The river is nice, and the views are memorable down there, but as far as reward-to-effort ratio, it's really not that good.

Poison ivy is not an issue until you get to the actual river and start hiking along the river. We didnt' even see all that much down there to be honest.

Go hike the Blue Lakes near Ouray instead. 500x more enjoyable and scenic.