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Tag: gunnison forks recreation site

Gunnison Gorge: Chukar Trail to Gunnison ForksGunnison Gorge: Chukar Trail to Gunnison Forks

Gunnison Gorge: Chukar Trail to Gunnison Forks

Gunnison River: Rafting the Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Saturday, July 11, 2026 | Average CFS: 465

This year Jackson and I made it one of our top priorities to raft the Gunnison River through the Gunnison Gorge this summer, which is a local trip that has been on my to-do list for way too long! We figured with the low snowpack this past winter and lower flows coming out of the Crystal Dam upstream that this would be a good time to finally give it a shot. Initially, we were considering doing it in our packrafts since it would be easier for us to just pick a day, hike in, and go, but after having so much fun on the Upper Animas River last month we thought it might be fun to go in a paddle raft with a few friends, so we contacted Bob and Lisa who were also interested in giving it a try. At first we were planning to use Bob and Lisa’s raft, but after a little research we realized that it might be a little too big for the narrow chutes at these low flows, so Jackson rented us a smaller raft from Colorado Mesa University to use instead. He also called J & Ray Outfitters to reserve a packhorse which would get our raft and gear down the Chukar Trail to the river.

CONTINUE READINGGunnison Gorge: Chukar Trail to Gunnison Forks
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North Fork of the Gunnison RiverNorth Fork of the Gunnison River

North Fork of the Gunnison River

Paonia River Park to the Gunnison Forks Recreation Site
Independence Day | Thursday, July 4, 2019

This year for the Fourth of July I was looking to go on one last river trip before I started heading into the mountains for the summer season. Since I only had one day off from work for the holiday I wanted to go somewhere close to home and on a river that was still not running too high, which was hard to find this year! On Wednesday afternoon Jackson, Chris and I decided that we would give the North Fork of the Gunnison River a try from the Paonia River Park to its confluence with the Gunnison River. The North Fork of the Gunnison is formed just below the Paonia Reservoir by the confluence of of Muddy Creek (not that Muddy Creek) and Anthracite Creek, which originates in The Raggeds of the West Elk Mountains. Since we have already floated most of the Gunnison River from Pleasure Park to Whitewater, we thought it would be nice to work our way further up the North Fork and finally check it out.

CONTINUE READINGNorth Fork of the Gunnison River
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Archaeology on the Gunnison RiverArchaeology on the Gunnison River

Archaeology on the Gunnison River

The Gunnison River: Gunnison Forks to Highway 65
Sunday, August 28, 2011 | Average CFS: 1,360

On Sunday I met up with my friend Jackson and his wife Sarah to float a section of the Gunnison River from the North Fork to Colorado Highway 65 near Delta. It’s a pretty easy stretch of the river, which is a good thing since this was my first time in my own boat. Previously I have only ridden along in a larger raft, so this was a good learning experience for me. There were a few tricky sections that helped me work on my boating skills, but nothing dangerous.

CONTINUE READINGArchaeology on the Gunnison River
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