Black Canyon of the Gunnison | Saturday, May 30, 2026
After floating a short segment of the Gunnison River through Delta on Saturday morning, I returned home in the afternoon to drop off my rafting gear, took a quick shower and loaded up my camping gear into the 4Runner since I had made a last minute decision to hike the Ouray Perimeter Trail first thing on Sunday morning. I figured that on my way to Ouray I could spend the rest of this evening at the East Portal deep in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison since I had not been down that way in over a decade and there was a short hiking route just downstream from the campground that I had not hiked before and was interested in checking out.
The clouds were looking nice as I drove down the switchbacks of the East Portal Road, but by the time I reached the bottom of the canyon the sky was mostly cloudy with no sunlight getting through.
I parked near the East Portal Campground and then followed the East Portal Trail into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness.
It was an easy stroll alongside the Gunnison River.
When the trail was pinched out between the canyon wall and river shortly before reaching the mouth of Deadhorse Gulch I stopped to sit down and enjoy the views for a while. I suppose I could have gone further down the canyon if I wanted to get wet, but one swim in the Gunnison River was enough for me today!
While I was resting the sun did peek out briefly to light up the opposite canyon wall.
Rocks In the River
After returning to the trailhead I continued upstream a short distance to get a closer look at the East Portal Dam.
Before driving out of the canyon I continued along the road upstream until I reached the locked gate before the Crystal Dam.
After leaving the East Portal I returned to Montrose for dinner and then headed west out of town to spend the night at the foot of the Uncompahgre Plateau so I could drive into Ouray early on Sunday morning.