Sulphur Gulch Rock Art

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1 mile
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4846 - 4880 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: 39.26797, -108.25972
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs, pictographs

Sulphur Gulch is the northernmost of a half dozen or so canyons that drain into the Colorado River from the west as it flows through DeBeque Canyon before reaching Grand Junction, Colorado. At the point where the gulch reaches the river there is an island of cliffs that has a few very old petroglyph and pictographs panels of rock art that include both Archaic and Barrier Canyon Style images.

Lower Palisade Plunge

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 7.5 miles
Difficulty: Strenuous
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 4,716 - 6,200 feet
Cellphone: 0-4 bars
Time: 5 hrs.
Trailhead: Palisade Rim
Fee: none
Attractions: new singletrack

This post covers a lower stretch of the Palisade Plunge trail in the area of the Palisade Rim. The Palisade Plunge begins at the Mesa Top trailhead on the Grand Mesa where the elevation is in the neighborhood of 10,700 feet. From there it travels westward across the mesa for almost 12 miles before dropping over the rim. Once below the rim it continues for a few more miles before crossing the Lands End Road where the elevation is 9,031 feet. The trail continues to descend across the west face of the Grand Mesa until it drops over the Little Book Cliffs and makes its final plunge down to the Palisade Rim trailhead next to the Colorado River where the pavement can be followed the rest of the way to downtown Palisade.

Lower Main Canyon

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 4.6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4767 - 5077 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Coal Canyon
Fee: none
Attractions: wild horses

The Lower Main Canyon trail is located in the BLM Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area near Grand Junction, Colorado. Beginning at the Coal Canyon trailhead the trail follows an old drill road as it crosses a ridge into Main Canyon were it makes several crossings of Jerry Creek as it works its way down to the mouth of Main Canyon near the Colorado River.

YCC

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 4-10 miles
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation: 6102 - 6553 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 3 hrs.
Trailhead: Monument Rocks/Low Gap Camp
Fee: none
Attractions: Wild horses, solitude

The YCC trail is located in the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area near Grand Junction, Colorado. The trail begins on one end at Monument Rocks and ends on the other at Low Gap Camp. This post covers the first half of the YCC trail beginning at Monument Rocks. The YCC trail can be combined with the Cottonwood Canyon and Round Mountain trails to create a ~15 mile loop that would be suitable for backpackers and horseback riders.