Heart of the World | Sunday, June 1, 2025
While Diane and I were originally planning to beat the heat this weekend by backpacking on top of the Grand Mesa, after driving up onto the Mesa Saturday morning we found that the road to our desired trailhead was still gated and closed so we decided to just return home to take a break and relax instead. Of course, I just couldn’t stay home all weekend, so I decided to head up into the Colorado National Monument very early on Sunday morning so I could continue working on my Heart of the World project by hiking the Black Ridge Trail and then competing a loop by riding my bike back to the trailhead on Rim Rock Drive. Although it seems pretty popular among road bikers, I have never really had the desire to bike any part of Rim Rock Drive before, but I thought it might be fun to try it once. I left home well before sunrise on Sunday morning and dropped my bike off at the Upper Liberty Cap Trailhead before continuing on to the other end of the trail at the Visitor Center to start the hike.
On my way to the Visitor Center I stopped at Artist’s Point and a few other pullouts to take photos in the early light of dawn.
Coke Ovens
Morning Monuments
Once I reached the Visitor Center I started hiking up the Black Ridge Trail just before sunrise.
The first light of the day struck the surrounding cliffs as I started climbing up the trail. Even though I was getting an early start it was already pretty warm out for this part of the day.
The Black Ridge Trail bathed in golden light.
Looking back across the Grand Valley to Mount Garfield, Chalk Mountain and the Grand Mesa.
The light on this small cliff and juniper caught my eye as I walked by.
Black Ridge Trail at Sunrise
Following the trail up towards the Black Ridge.
The trail crosses this narrow ridge of stone which separates Devils Canyon and Wedding Canyon.
A distant view over Devils Canyon and Mack Ridge to the Book Cliffs.
The trail leaves the Monument for a little bit but then reenters at this boundary.
I took a short detour down the CCC Trail to the Upper Monument Canyon Trailhead and then returned to the Black Ridge Trail.
Upper Monument Canyon seen from the bottom of the CCC Trail.
Starting the final descent down the Black Ridge Trail.
I stopped to check out a few relics of the historic Fruita Aqueduct which brought water to Fruita from Piñon Mesa in the early 1900s.
Once I made it down to the Upper Liberty Cap Trailhead it was time to start the bike ride back to the Visitor Center. I was a little nervous about this ride because it seems to me like riding a bike on Rim Rock Drive is just an accident waiting to happen on this a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders, lots of twisty curves and plenty of beautiful scenery to continually distract drivers. I was hoping that there wouldn’t be too much traffic this early on a Sunday morning…
Monument Canyon View
Looking up Rim Rock Drive where the Half-Tunnel Tragedy happened in 1933.
Grand View
Rim Rock Drive
The ride back to the Visitor Center only took me about 40 minutes, which included a few stops for photos along the way, and was almost all downhill which was nice. Thankfully, only two vehicles passed me going the same direction and I think I might have seen more bikers on the road this morning than vehicles. Still, I have no desire to ever ride the lower portions of Rim Rock Drive which are steeper and have many more switchbacks and blind curves. Here is a short timelapse video I made during the ride back.