Round Trip Distance: 0.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 7682 - 7752 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Chasm View
Fee: $15/vehicle
Attractions: Scenic canyon overlook, campground
The Chasm View Nature trail is located in the North Rim Section of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The trail begins near the North Rim Campground and makes a half mile loop with several viewpoints and overlooks along the way. This is a great trail for families with small children. There are only a few bumps and stairs for baby strollers to deal with. The slideshow at the end of the post should give a good idea of what to expect.
The trailhead is near the beginning of the campground loop.
Following the trail in a counter-clockwise direction will take you back along the campground through pinyon and juniper trees toward the rim of the Black Canyon.
The first overlook has a few stairs leading down to it. Even though the overlook has a fenced railing children can still get around the ends of it or climb over the top. The railing makes it easier, and more comforting, to get right up next to the edge of the cliff and peer into the canyon.
It is a little over 1800 feet down to the water level. The Gunnison River has its biggest drops going through this area of the canyon plunging at the rate of 240 feet/mile.
This is also the narrowest point of the canyon at rim level. It is only 1100 feet across the canyon to the Chasm View overlook in the South Rim Section of the park.
The rugged cliffs are beautiful and awe inspiring.
The views looking upstream in direction of Crystal Reservoir are some of the longest views of the Gunnison River in the park.
On this day four rock climbers can be seen working their way up a popular route in the canyon.
Look closely and you can see the two that were leading the way. Climbing in the Black Canyon is limited to experienced expert climbers only. The rock is notoriously crumbly with few spots to place hardware.
The Painted Wall, with a height of 2,250 feet, is the tallest vertical wall in the state of Colorado.
Picnic tables and fire pits are the main amenities at each campsite in the campground as well as a vault toilet, fresh water spigot and a few bear boxes to store food in the common areas.
If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
