Getting outside on the Western Slope

People do not move here for the shopping. They move here for what is out the back door, and there is a lot of it.

The Western Slope's whole reason for being, at least the way people talk about it, is what happens outside. The region packs national parks, wilderness, world-class rivers, and one of the largest flat-top mountains on earth into a few hours of driving. Here is where to point yourself.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison

A national park, and one of the most startling places in Colorado. Over millions of years the Gunnison River cut a gorge so narrow and sheer that some of the walls plunge more than 2,000 feet almost straight down. Parts of the canyon floor get only a sliver of direct sunlight each day, which is where the "black" comes from. You can stand at the rim near Montrose and feel the drop in your stomach.

The Grand Mesa

Rising above Grand Junction and Delta, the Grand Mesa is often called the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. Up top it is a different climate entirely, cool and green, dotted with hundreds of small lakes and stands of aspen. In summer it is an escape from the valley heat; in winter it turns into snow country.

The San Juan Mountains

To the south, the San Juans are the roughest, most mineral-rich range in the state, the kind of mountains that built mining towns and then outlived them. Ouray and Telluride sit tucked into them. The high passes, the alpine basins, and the old mining roads make this some of the most spectacular and demanding country on the Western Slope.

The rivers

None of it works without water. The Colorado and Gunnison rivers carved the canyons, feed the orchards, and draw anglers and rafters from all over. Farther out, the region runs toward the redrock country around the Utah line and, in the far southwest, toward Mesa Verde and the ancient dwellings of the Four Corners.

For where to base yourself, see the towns, and what the region is for how it all fits together.