Where is the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area?

The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area (NCA) is located about seven miles northeast of Montrose in west central Colorado, just downstream from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park  It encompasses approximately 57,725 acres of public lands in Montrose and Delta counties.

Gunnison Gorge NCA Map 
Gunnison Gorge River Map

What is a National Conservation Area?

An NCA is the designation given by the U.S. Congress to special lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There are nine NCAs in the Nation, and each is managed in accordance with the special provisions provided by the legislation that designated the area. Specifically, Congress designates an NCA to permanently protect and conserve identified resource values of national interest.

How Will the NCA be Managed?

Congress has required BLM to prepare a management plan for the NCA within four years from the date the legislation was signed. Until the management plan is prepared and approved, BLM will continue to manage the NCA in accordance with the legislation and the existing Resource Management Plan and Recreation Area Management Plan.

Will the Public Be Able To Participate in the Preparation of the Management Plan?

Yes, the public will be invited to participate in the preparation of the NCA Management Plan. At this time, specific information on the NCA planning process is not yet available, but it will be announced via this web site and local and state media outlets. Contact the Uncompahgre Field Office if you are interested in participating.

In addition, BLM will invite other Federal, state and local government entities and a variety of non-governmental organizations to participate in the NCA planning process.

What Uses Are Currently Allowed in the Gunnison Gorge NCA?

The NCA encompasses a diverse landscape ranging from "adobe badlands" to rugged pinon-juniper covered slopes to the spectacular double canyon of the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area. This landscape supports an equally diverse range of uses in the NCA -- activities such as wilderness whitewater boating and Gold Medal trout fishing in the Gunnison River, big-game hunting for mule deer and elk, off-highway vehicle use in Peach Valley, domestic sheep and livestock grazing, sightseeing, wildlife photography, and wilderness hiking and backpacking.

What Uses Are NOT Allowed in the Gunnison Gorge NCA?

Subject to valid existing rights, the NCA is "withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropriation or disposal under the public land laws; from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing, and all amendments thereto." This means that, except where they currently exist, the following uses/activities are not allowed within the NCA:

• Location, exploration, development and patent of mining claims
• Sand and gravel extraction activities
• Oil and gas or geothermal leasing, exploration and development
• Sale or lease of public lands for any purpose

Where is the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area?

The Gunnison Gorge Wilderness is located in the heart of the NCA within the double canyon of the Gunnison River. It encompasses approximately 17,700 acres of public lands, including 14 miles of the Gunnison River, extending from the northwestern boundary of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park north to a point approximately one mile downstream from the confluence of the Smith Fork and the mainstem of the Gunnison River.

What Uses Are Allowed in the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness?

Generally, wilderness designation allows for any use or activity that does not utilize motorized vehicles or equipment, mechanized transport or result in a permanent or human-made structure or installation; this would include, but is not necessarily limited to:

• hiking and backpacking
• horseback riding
• rafting and kayaking
• domestic livestock grazing
• hunting and fishing

Visit the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness web page for specific visitor use regulations.

What Uses Are NOT Allowed in the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness?

• Travel by motorized or mechanized vehicles (e.g. ATVs, motorcycles, 4 wheel drive vehicles, mountain bikes and motor boats)
  • The Wilderness Act of 1964 provides that the Secretary of the Interior may continue to allow the use of motor boats in wilderness, subject to such restrictions as the Secretary deems necessary, if such use was established before the area was designated as wilderness.
• Construction of any temporary or permanent roads
• Construction of any human-made structure or installation
• Location, exploration, development and patent of mining claims
• Sand and gravel extraction activities
• Oil and gas or geothermal leasing, exploration and development
• Sale or lease of public lands for any purpose
• Rights-of-ways and permits for any purpose (e.g. roads, powerlines, pipelines and communication sites)

 Visit the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness web page for specific visitor use regulations.

Are User Fees Required?

User fees are required only in the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area and only for individuals 16 years of age and older.  Fees are currently set at $3.00/day/person for day use (in and out the same day) and $5.00/calendar day/person for overnight use (e.g. 1 night = $10 or 2 nights = $15). An annual day use pass is available for $15.00. For more information on user fees, visit the Gunnison Gorge User Fee web page.