Backpacker Magazine – September 2010

Local Hikes: Grand Junction, CO

The best hikes near Grand Junction, CO.

by: Ted Alvarez

Tags:
• Adventures
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• Colorado
|

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Your Guide
Colorado Mountain Club, Grand Junction (cmc.org)

Your Hikes
» Rattlesnake Arches, Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness “You’ll find the highest collection of natural arches outside of Utah,” says the club’s Carolyn Emmanuel. See nine (plus desert bighorn sheep, collared lizards, and bald eagles) in 14 round-trip miles and 900 feet of elevation gain on the Rattlesnake Canyon/Arches loop. Go clockwise from the Pollock Bench trailhead. At mile 5.3, join the Rattlesnake Arches loop to scramble up, over, and through a 3.2-mile playground of rose-colored arcoliths. Miles from city center 21; Trip ID: 8258

» Crag Crest Trail, Grand Mesa NF Stand atop 11,237-foot Grand Mesa, the world’s highest mesa. The West trailhead’s 10.3-mile loop opens to 6.5 miles of exposed but nontechnical ridges with views of the San Juan Mountains, 300-plus alpine lakes, and the Book Cliffs. Go after August: “In June and July, mosquitoes are as big as 737s,” says Emmanuel. Miles from city center 55; Trip ID 775415



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