Flume Canyon F1

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4463 - 5045 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 2 hrs. 15 mins.
Trailhead: Pollock Bench
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic trail

The F1 trail is located in the Flume Canyon/Pollock Canyon Area of the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado. The trail begins at the Pollock Bench trailhead and makes a 5 mile loop that takes it into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area. The west side of the loop travels across the open area near the mouth of the canyon to the pink and white entrada cliffs that it skirts as it heads south. After about 2 1/2 miles the trail loops back toward the north where the east branch of the F1 follows along the rim of Flume Creek Canyon until it reaches the beginning of the loop and returns to the trailhead.

Pollock Bench

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 7.4 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4469 - 5260 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 3 hrs. 15 mins.
Trailhead: Pollock Bench
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic canyon views

The Pollock Bench trail is located in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado. The trail climbs an old jeep road to an inclined mesa top where it descends to a bench that looks over the east fork of Pollock Canyon. The trail travels along the bench following the upper rim of the canyon until it loops back to the main trail. Along the way there are connections to the Rattlesnake Arches, Pollock Canyon and Flume Canyon trails.

Rattlesnake Arches

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 15.5 miles
Difficulty: Very Strenuous
Elevation: 4492 - 5581 feet
Cellphone: 1-4 bars
Time: 6 hrs. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Pollock Bench
Fee: none
Attractions: Arches, scenic canyons

The Rattlesnake Arches trail is located in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado. The trail leads to a cluster of natural arches that are all located within about 1 mile of each other. This post is for the longest of the two available routes to Rattlesnake Arches which begins from the Pollock Canyon trailhead. The shortest route is from the Upper Trailhead on Glade Park which requires a high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle to access it.

Rattlesnake Arches Upper Trailhead

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 6.2 - 8.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 5418 - 5856 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 4 hrs. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Rattlesnake Arches
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic arches and canyons
 

Rattlesnake Arches is located in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area near Grand Junction, Colorado. A trail leads from the parking area across a mesa for a half mile where it descends to a bench that it uses to travel around the cliffs until it is above Rattlesnake Canyon. In short order a series of 8 arches that are spread out over the next 1.2 miles begin appearing in the rose colored entrada sandstone cliffs above the bench. There is another arch, Window Rock Tower/Aztec Arch, that is a half mile away from the point where the trail first reaches the bench that can also be visited on the same trip.