After Work Adventures | Friday, September 25, 2026
I was originally planning to head on over to the Gunnison Gorge for a hike after work today, but shortly before leaving work I checked the weather and saw that there was a storm right over the area I wanted to hike in, and since the road to the trailhead goes through a lot of clay I thought it would be a good idea to skip that for today and stay a little closer to home. While I have hiked the lower Palisade Rim Trail a few times before, I have never actually hiked the upper loop before and have been meaning to do that for quite a while, so I decided to drive over to Palisade to where the Book Cliffs collide with the Grand Mesa and hike both of those loops instead.
Looking over Palisade to Mount Garfield as I followed the rim up the lower loop.
Lower Loop Trail
Sandstone & Sky
Lower Loop View
I stopped to visit the petroglyphs on the way up, but this was the only panel in good light at the time.
After leaving the petroglyphs I followed the connecting trail to the upper loop which appears to see much less traffic than the lower loop does.
The trail climbs above this little hidden valley along the way.
Looking over to the mouth of De Beque Canyon.
I followed the upper loop in a counter-clockwise direction which followed the edge of the Palisade Rim on the way up.
I really enjoyed following the trail along the rim with a big drop-off and great views.
After reaching the far end of the loop I followed a faint track over to a highpoint for a better view.
Highpoint Overlook
The east side of the loop didn’t offer nearly as nice of views and there were a lot of ups and downs along the way as the trail traversed a number of drainages.
This large black bear track was preserved right in the middle of the trail.
After completing the upper loop I stopped to take in the views from the edge of the rim before starting back down the trail.
I revisited the petroglyphs a second time on my way back and the light was much better.
One last look across the Palisade Rim bench.
The golden-hour light was nice during the hike back.
Looking across to the opposite rim of Plunge Canyon before finishing the descent to the trailhead.
Hiking both loops was about 9.5 miles with 1400 feet of elevation gain and I finished shortly before sunset. It was a nice hike for a beautiful Friday evening after work!