Sapinero - Black Canyon of the Gunnison - Hotchkiss - Delta; 83.9 miles, State 92.

Gravel-surfaced and graded dirt road between Sapinero and Hotchkiss; gravel-surfaced between Hotchkiss and Delta.

Section between Sapinero and Hotchkiss closed during much of the winter.

The route is paralleled by the Denver & Rio Grande Western R.R. between Hotchkiss and Delta. Accomodations limited.

This route traverses an old Ute hunting ground where deer, elk, and bear are still found.

State 92 branches northwest from US 50 (see Tour 9) in SAPINERO, 0 miles (7,255 alt., 70 pop.) (See Tour 9c), and follows the old Black Mesa Indian trail, ascending the slopes of the Black Mesa by easy stages. Now and again (L) is a glimpse of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

At 6 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Left on this road is CURECANTI, 1 miles (7,500 alt., 25 pop.), named for a Ute who, with his twin, Kanneatches, for many years directed the Ute Bear Dance, a spring festival.

The highway traverses the edge of the Black Canyon (see below), presenting a breath-taking view of the 2,000-foot chasm cut through granite by the river. The road doubles back through groves of aspen and spruce, and across meadowlands where cattle find excellent pasturage.

MAHER, 43 miles (6,882 alt., 100 pop.), is a trading point for farmers and ranchers.

At 46.5 miles is the junction with a graded dirt road.

Left on this road to the BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON NATIONAL MONUMENT, 11 miles, established by President Hoover on March 2, 1933. It includes 10 miles of the most picturesque portion of the 50-mile gorge, the deepest in Colorado; in places it narrows to 10 feet; its walls rise a sheer 3,000 feet at their highest point.

The first white men to see and explore the Gunnison River were a party of Spaniards under Don Juan Maria de Rivera, who set out from Santa Fe in 1765 to prospect for gold in the mountains to the north. Upon touching the Gunnison near the western end of the Black Canyon, the expedition carved a cross on a tree near the river. Again in the summer of 1776 the river was visited by a smaller expedition led by the priests, Francisco Escalante and Antacio Dominguez, in search of a new route to the Spanish missions in California. Escalante called it the Rio de San Xavier, a name it bore for many years.

The Black Canyon was first noted in some detail in 1853 by Captain John W. Gunnison, who had been appointed by Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, to conduct a survey for the purpose of finding a practicable route for a transcontinental railroad. Gunnison followed the river that bears his name until the stream lost itself in the dark depths here, where he was forced to turn back.

The highway reaches one of the wildest and most rugged sections of the canyon near the center of the monument (camp and picnic grounds; spring water), 142 miles; trails lead to many points of interest along the canyon rim. Here the walls of the gorge rise 2,400 feet above the narrow canyon floor, 150 to 300 feet wide. Towers, pinnacles, spires, and other fantastic rock formations create a magnificent scene. At intervals narrow side gorges break the walls, the largest being Red Rock Canyon, which enters from the south.

Sunshine brings out the striking color of the Black Canyon, cut through a rock mass consisting chiefly of granite, with a crystalline complex of gneiss and schists, and occasional dikes of perm a the. In the granite and granitic gneiss are whites, pinks, reds, and grays; the schists are predominately black, although blue occasionally occurs. Seams and large flakes of mica are found along the canyon rim, together with veins of feldspar and quartz. The folds, veins, and seams of the canyon walls vary in thickness, texture, and direction; some are horizontal, others vertical, but most of them are curved and bent.

After autumn frosts the Black Canyon is bright with color. Against a background of dark pine and spruce are splashed the flaming red of scrub oak and mountain mahogany, the bright green of the holly-like Oregon grape, and the vivid lemon-yellow of aspens and willows. Occasionally, elk, bear, and mountain lion range the canyon rim; along the water courses, beaver, muskrat, and mink are numerous.

In the winter of 1881, Byron H. Bryant, engineer for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, led a small party through the canyon in search of a feasible rail route; except for detours at two narrow places, they followed the bottom of the gorge for its entire distance, being the first to do so.

In 1901 a party of five volunteered to explore the canyon to determine whether the waters of the Gunnison might be diverted by a tunnel from the Black Canyon to the Uncompahgre Valley for irrigation purposes. Having spent three weeks traveling 14 miles, they turned back, but in August of that year A. L. Fellows of the U. S. Reclamation Service, and W. W. Torrence of Montrose, a member of the first party, reported after a perilous trip through the canyon that the Gunnison River waters could be so diverted by a tunnel through Vernal Mesa; the project was completed in 1909 (see Tour 9b).

South of the junction US 92 descends into a farming district growing hay, grains, and potatoes.

HOTCHKISS, 60.5 miles (5,369 alt., 541 pop.), was named for G. L. Hotchkiss, who with Samuel Wade planted the first orchard in Delta County in the early 1880's. In this prosperous fruit and farming community is held the annual Delta County Fair each fall.

Hotchkiss is at the junction with State 135 (see Tour 9B).

The highway traverses a region where peach, cherry, and apple culture and dairy farming are the chief sources of income. The North Fork of the Gunnison River provides irrigation.

Southeast of AUSTIN, 75.4 miles (5,070 alt., 100 pop.), a shipping point for fruit and dairy products, the route passes many small farms growing strawberries, raspberries, currants, sweet potatoes, and celery. Honey from the bee hives along the road is an important product.

At 80.9 miles is the junction with State 65 (see Tour 5E), which unites with State 92 into DELTA, 85 miles (4,980 alt., 2,938 pop.) (see Tour 9c)y at the junction with US 50 (see Tour 9c).