Wilderness

 

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park "preserves an area encompassing spectacular gorges, the Gunnison River, and breathtaking landscapes by protecting its natural, cultural, and wilderness integrity for public benefit, inspiration, and enjoyment."¹

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness

The 15,599-acre (6312 hectares) Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness includes 11,180 acres (4524 hectares) designated by Congress in 1976 (Public Law 94-567) and an additional 4,419 acres (1788 hectares) added in 1999 (Public Law 106-76) when the monument was redesignated as national park. Today, the park is approximately 50% federally designated wilderness, and another 10,000 acres (4046 hectares) is undeveloped backcountry.

The wilderness area is bordered by the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness, 17,700 acres (7162 hectares) to the northwest managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It was designated under the same law (Public Law 106-76) that increased the wilderness acreage of Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness.

Wilderness History

The U.S. Congress passed the Wilderness Act of 1964. This Act designated 9.1 million acres (3,682,639 hectares) in 13 states as wilderness and established these areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). These lands designated as wilderness “shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character.”²

Today, NWPS protects over 111 million acres (44,515,420) of federal public land through wilderness designation, managed by the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. The NPS is responsible for more than 44 million acres (17,806,168 hectares) of designated wilderness.

Beyond federally designated wilderness areas such as Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness, other NPS areas fall into other wilderness categories: recommended, proposed, eligible, and potential. These areas are managed to preserve wilderness character according to NPS policy rather than the Wilderness Act, a federal law.

 

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NPS

Wilderness character

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness is natural, untrammeled, undeveloped and provides outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive, unconfined recreation. It also contains other features of value such as cultural, historic, geologic, paleontological, and scientific values. These five tangible qualities of wilderness character form the foundation from which many other values are derived. The intangible qualities of wilderness, such as connection with nature and finding inspiration, can be experienced at all levels of this vertical landscape.

Cultural and historical connections to this wilderness landscape are significant. Lands now managed as wilderness are the homelands of indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Human use of wilderness areas has happened for thousands of years. Within the park's designated wilderness and non-wilderness areas, indigenous populations used resources on the canyon rims, especially pinyon trees. They may also have used the inner canyon and river, but massive historic floods have left little to no evidence of this use.

Wilderness is more than just an additional protection status. Wilderness offers social, cultural, and ecological benefits rooted in wilderness character preservation. It protects ecosystems, native plants and wildlife habitats, water and air quality, night skies, and human-powered recreation opportunities. Wilderness belongs to everyone and has different meaning and significance to each visitor.

Impacts to wilderness

Wilderness can be degraded by overuse, prohibited or unauthorized activities, spread of non-native species, or unnecessary structures and installations. Degradation can diminish wilderness character and take away from its enjoyment. Many parks create management plans that help identify goals and objectives for a wilderness area, as well as identify issues and create guidance for actions to preserve wilderness character.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness possesses unique qualities of wilderness character and opportunities that could be impaired without the foresight of good planning and future management. The park’s Wilderness and Backcountry Management Plan was completed in 2023 and establishes long-term direction to manage and protect the designated wilderness in Black Canyon of the Gunnison and backcountry in Curecanti National Recreation Area.³

 

NPS Photo/Victoria Stauffenberg

Experiencing wilderness

Wilderness is identified as one of the fundamental resources and values in the park foundation document. Although the vertical, rugged inner canyon makes up the majority of the wilderness area, the boundary reaches beyond the canyon rim. It is both accessible and remote; all visitors can experience this wilderness in different ways.

Inner Canyon

For those seeking the challenges of recreating in wilderness, the inner canyon provides exceptional opportunities for primitive, unconfined experiences. Routes, rugged and unmarked, provide access to the inner canyon. It is an arduous trek on steep, loose terrain to reach the river level; some routes drop more than 2,000 feet (609 m in a mile). Climbs in the wilderness are multi-pitch, traditional routes and recommended for only the most experienced of climbers. The stretch of the Gunnison River within park wilderness is for only the most experienced and well-equipped kayakers.

Wilderness use permits help provide high quality recreation opportunities, enhance solitude by maintaining visitor capacities appropriate for the stretch of river, and allow park managers to monitor use and impacts to the inner canyon. Wilderness use permits are required for hikers, anglers, backpackers, climbers, and kayakers.

Canyon Rim

Day hikers, without a wilderness use permit, can enter wilderness via Oak Flat Trail or North Vista Trail. These are both moderate trails that remain at or above the canyon rim. For those who do not want to venture far, wilderness can be seen from overlooks along the north and south rims of Black Canyon. The intangible qualities of wilderness, such as connection with nature and finding inspiration, can be experienced at all levels of this vertical landscape.

Wherever wilderness is experienced, visitors should practice wilderness-friendly behaviors and Leave No Trace principles.

References
¹ Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Foundation Document Overview
² Section 2(a) Wilderness Act, 1964.
³ Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park/Curecanti National Recreation Area Wilderness and Backcountry Management Plan, 2023.

 

More on wilderness

• 

  Wilderness Regulations

  To protect the inner canyon wilderness and visitor experience, important regulations and guidelines are in place.

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  Management

  Various documents guide the management of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

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  NPS Wilderness

  Learn more about wilderness managed by the National Park Service.