Sheer black walls of schist and gneiss plummet as much as 2,700 feet along the 53-mile stretch of narrow gorge known as the Black Canyon. The 14 miles that lie within the park are like a raw cut in the Earth's crust, exposing geologic viscera and illuminating millions of years of history. On the canyon floor, the Gunnison River rips through the gorge as it did 30 million years ago, when it began carving a chasm into the hard black rock of the Gunnison Uplift.The status of Black Canyon of the Gunnison changed from monument to park on October 21, 1999. The park service commemorated the event by adding 10,000 acres of wilderness to help protect the striking beauty and wildlife habitat of this river corridor.Read more:
http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-black-canyon-of-the-gunnison-national-park-colorado-sidwcmdev_068083.html#ixzz1uPJKtxNj
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