1. Photo by Renee Snoderly

2. http://www.black.canyon.national-park.com/images/areamap.jpg Photo by Renee
Snoderly

3. http://www.nps.gov/blca/planyourvisit/upload/blca_map.pdf

5. All photos on this page by Mike Snoderly

6. Second Stop- Visitor Center/Gunnison Point
About 100 yards up the road from
Tomichi Point you will find the Visitor
Center. There is ample parking and
rest facilities or you can simply hike
the short trail that links the two points.
The rangers inside are
knowledgeable about the geography
of the Black Canyon and are more
than willing to provide you with a free
map of the park and discuss in
greater detail some of the landscape
features that make up the geography
of Black Canyon.
While you are in the Visitor Center be
sure to check out the free movie on
the history of the Black Canyon.
There are some interesting
geographical tidbits about the
logistics of diverting the Gunnison
River through six miles of solid rock
View from the back patio of the Visitor Center to reach the arid mesa nearby.
PLEASE REMEMBER... Collecting rock or plant specimens
in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is illegal.
Picture by Mike Snoderly

7. Click the picture above to play the video
Exit the back door of the Visitor Center to reach the short walkway to Gunnison Point. This vantage offers
sweeping 360 degree views of the canyon. We are able to see the first signs of white colored pegmatite veins
running through the Black Canyon Gneiss. These veins were formed through an extrusion process. The
pegmatite has a much lower melting temperature than the surrounding gneiss. As the rock expanded and
cracked apart during the cooling process, pegmatite was forced into the gaps much like toothpaste through a
tube. As we head north to the next stop, these veins will become more abundant and impressive.
Video by Mike Snoderly

8. Sub-topic: Geology and Erosion
On your way back to the Visitor Center, be sure to look on your right side for some excellent geologic
samples. Visible here are tiny, glittering quartz crystals, vivid orange lichen and examples of biological
and mechanical weathering. The iPhone visible on the left is for scale.

9. Third Stop – The Painted Wall
Sub-topic: Geology
Continue for about four miles
down the road and you will see
the signs for the Painted Wall.
This is a popular attraction and
parking is limited. The darker
portions of rock visible on the
canyon wall are Black Canyon
Gneiss, a combination of
gneisses and mica schist formed
around 1.7 billion years ago in
the middle Proterozoic Era.
These metamorphic rocks were
deeply folded and subjected to
several instances of igneous
intrusion beginning about 1.4
billion years ago. This resulted
in the lighter areas of pegmatite
and granite. The area at the top
of the cliff is the Great
Unconformity, where sediments
from the middle Jurassic Era
contact the Proterozoic gneiss.
This phenomenon represents a
gap in the geological record of
about 1.2 billion years.

11. http://coyotegulch.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/gunnisontunnelnps.jpg

12. Conclusion
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park contains rich
geological treasures found nowhere else on the planet. There are
canyons that are longer, deeper or sheerer but only the Black
Canyon possesses these features in such a magnificent
combination. Through millions of years, the Gunnison River has
scoured the Proterozoic rock tirelessly and at a rate so slow it
overwhelms the mind. The sheer walls of black schist and gneiss
stand in stark contrast to the beautiful pink quartz and granite
crystalline rock. It is easy to get swept up in the amazing views
and thundering sound of the Gunnison River but we must keep in
mind how mankind has affected the environment by changing the
flow of this river. However, only with an understanding of the
geologic principles that shaped the canyon can one truly appreciate
the majesty that is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National
Park.

13. References
Author Unknown. "Black Canyon National Park." Black Canyon of the Gunnison
National Park. Gunnison - Crested Butte Tourism Association, 2008. Web. 27
Nov 2011. <http://www.gunnisoncrestedbutte.com/area-tour/national-
parks/black-canyon-gunnison>.
Author Unknown. "Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (U.S. National Park
Service)." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. National Park
Service, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.nps.gov/blca/index.htm>.
Blakey, Ronald C., and Wayne Ranney. Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau.
Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 2008. Print.
Jacobson, John. "The Gunnison National Park Visitor Center." Personal interview. 19
Nov. 2011
Jenkins, John W. The Essential Guide to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Golden, CO: Colorado Mountain Club, 2004. Print.
Spooner, Alecia M. Geography for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.