Grand Junction—Colorado National Monument—Fruita; 30.9 miles, unnumbered road. Graveled road.                 

This tour leads through Colorado National Monument, by way of Rimrock Drive, a region of haunting beauty of a type unusual to Colorado. Here also are numerous dinosaur beds filled with fossilized remains.

In GRAND JUNCTION, 0 miles (4,587 alt., 10,247 Pop.) (see Grand Junction), the road branches south from US 50 (see Tour 9c), crossing the COLORADO RIVER, 0.6 miles, a muddy flow of water, sluggish except in spring. South of the river the road crosses a level plain inclosed with huge cliffs, the pasture ground of large bands of sheep guarded by overall-clad herders and their alert, shaggy dogs.

In the DINOSAUR BEDS, 4 miles, which extend more than a hundred miles along the banks of the Colorado River, bones and incomplete skeletons of the giant prehistoric saurians have been found in great numbers. One specimen of a 90-foot brontosaur, 13 feet high, removed from the beds in 1902, is in the Field Museum, Chicago. Many gastroliths, or gizzard stones—round, smooth, highly polished stones that formed part of the digestive system of the dinosaurs, have been unearthed. This region was once a torrid zone. Petrified bamboo stalks, ferns, and fossilized palm leaves have been uncovered in the same geologic stratum that yielded the dinosaur remains.

The highway crosses the eastern boundary of COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT, 4.8 miles. an 18,000-acre area created in 1911; it is seamed with canyons, honeycombed with caves and passageways, and filled with magnificent monoliths, quantities of petrified wood, and prehistoric remains. Confined behind an 8-mile fence along the face of the preserve, deer, buffalo, and elk roam at will. A wood and stone shelter house (L), 5 miles, has a fireplace and picnic facilities. Embedded in the inner walls are rare and curious stones and crystal formations found locally.

Left from the shelter house on a rough dirt road into NO THOROUGHFARE CANYON to the foot of THE DEVIL'S KITCHEN (L), 0.5 miles, a huge sandstone formation named for its resemblance to a cluster of old-fashioned square chimneys. Across the canyon (R) is the UMBRELLA ROCK, a stone toadstool about 30 feet high.

The highway passes the mouth of No Thoroughfare Canyon and begins a steep ascent, known here as The Trail of the Serpent Drive, to COLD SHIVERS POINT, 7.5 miles, on the brink of a 1,000-foot precipice overlooking COLUMBUS CANYON: a tributary to Red Canyon (see below).

At 7.7 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Left on this road is GLADE PARK, 6.3 miles (6,496 alt., 150 pop.), a store and post office.

1. Right from Glade Park a dirt road winds through a scenic region to rejoin the main road, 52 miles

2. West from Glade Park the road crosses a level section of Pinon Mesa to (R) ELA NATURAL BRIDGE, 72 miles; here the waters of Trail Canyon Creek have tunneled through the soft sandstone to form a red rock arch. At 85 miles is the junction with a semicircular drive leading past MIRACLE ROCK, 10.2 miles, a colossal boulder 80 feet high and weighing 12,000 tons, balanced on a narrow point of the underlying stratum.

South of Cold Shivers Point the route winds along RIMROCK DRIVE, on the edge of RED CANYON. The drive reaches the upper end of UTE CANYON (R), 12 miles, and skirts the rim of the gorge for several miles, overlooking cavernous depths hemmed in by sculptured walls. In May, June, and July, this section of the drive is bright with wildflowers—cacti, yucca, wild geraniums, and Indian pinks; scrub pine and cedar predominate on the mesa top.

At 16 miles is the western junction with the Glade Park Road (see above).

The highway skirts the edge of (R) MONUMENT CANYON, with nothing to be seen from the road but the canyon floor 1,000 feet below; miles of this highway have been hewn from solid rock. Weird formations of red sandstone rise from the sagebrush-sprinkled valley floor. The road passes above the SQUAW'S FINGERS (R), 18.4 miles, a formation resembling the fingers of a hand.

At 18.5 miles is the junction with a trail.

Right down this trail to the COKE OVENS, 50 yds., a row of great red and yellow sandstone masses resembling kilns or beehives.

Along the drive appear (R) CLEOPATRA'S COUCH, 19.7 miles, and MONOLITH PARADE and KISSING COUPLE, 19.9 miles INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT (R), 21.4 miles, the largest monolith in the park, juts abruptly from the flat canyon floor to a height of 1,000 feet.

At 23 miles is the junction with a circular drive.

Right on this road to PARK HEADQUARTERS, 0.1 miles, a modern four-room sandstone building in landscaped grounds; throughout the park are camp and picnic grounds. Opposite Park Headquarters it is possible to descend to the valley by a series of ladders.

Proceeding along the rim of Monument Canyon, the road overlooks PIPE ORGAN and the PRAYING HANDS, 0.4 miles

At 0.5 miles is a footpath.

Right here 200 yards to the KEYHOLE, a projecting part of tne canyon wall which terminates in a natural bridge; from the top of the bridge is an excellent view of Monument Canyon and its scattered formations.

The drive circles back to Park Headquarters, 0.7 miles

The highway descends to Fruita Canyon, passing through two tunnels that enable the road to cross over itself. Beyond DOUBLE BALANCED ROCK (R), 25 miles, the road crosses the western boundary of Colorado National Monument, 27.4 miles Vast dinosaur beds here (R) contain fossilized pink snail shells. Although these were fresh-water animals, the formation in which they are found is believed to have been laid down by a salt sea.

In FRUITA, 30.9 TTZ. (4,512 alt., 1,053 pop.) (see Tour 9c), is the junction with US 50 (see Tour 9c).