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Rattlesnake Canyon
Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area
– May 8th 2004
Colorado's Arches by Matt Johnson
Tucked away on the
Colorado/Utah border, the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area
provides unique outdoor recreational opportunities comparable to Moab.
Located within the conservation area is the second largest concentration
of natural arches in the country outside of Arches National Park. The
main concentration of arches, which consist of nine arches, is located in
Rattlesnake Canyon.
 There
are three ways to get to the trailhead, the easiest being a 13 mile drive
on the Black Ridge Access Road. There are actually an upper and lower
road which open and close seasonally. The roads are impassable during wet
weather and shouldn’t be traveled if it looks like rain. The last 1.5
miles of the road requires a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle. The
other two ways to get to the trailhead are hiking from the Pollock Bench
Trailhead (15 mile round trip) or hiking from the Colorado River which
requires floating down 3.3 miles from the Loma Boat Launch and then taking
a 1.5 mile climb up rattlesnake canyon to the arches trail. Maps of the
conservation area are available at the BLM office which is off the first
exit, of I-70W, to Colorado National Monument. If you get there late you
can still pick up a map outside the entrance to the BLM office.
 I
drove the 13 mile upper road which I found to be in fairly good shape
except for the first and last 2 miles. The Black Ridge Access Road is
located 11 miles from the Colorado National Monument fee station on the
Fruita side. I believe if you mention you are heading to the conservation
area you will not have to pay the fee to enter the monument. Once I
arrived at the trailhead I packed up all my gear which included a video
camera, D70, tripod, food, and most importantly a gallon of water. The
arches trail is a 2.2 mile one way dead end trail that passes all of the
major arches. There is a .5 mile trail that leads to an overlook of
Rainbow Arch (the last arch on the first trail) where, if you want to do a
little climbing you can climb down or up to connect with the other trail.
I climbed down which was a little step and slick in some spots but
relatively easy. I continued to head down the trail where the views to my
right were of beautiful arches and rock formations and on my left the 500
to 700 foot cliffs of Rattlesnake Canyon. There were many flowers along
the trail and some cactuses were blooming. Once seeing the arches I
decided to climb up above the arches and see what they looked like from
above. After getting to the top I could look to the north and see the
Fruita Valley and the Colorado
River and to the south Rattlesnake Canyon. If you do decide to climb up
on top and around the arches be very careful because in some places the
rock layer is very thin.
 I
talked to a few other hikers on the trail and they said that another
canyon called Mee Canyon
also had some arches but I didn’t get a chance to go there
on this trip. I would highly recommend a trip to this area if you like
the Moab region. It’s a challenge to get to but you benefit by having
fewer people and sometimes complete solitude. Below is a link to the BLM
page that has more detailed info on how to get to the arches trailhead and
some of the other places. Also below is a link to my Rattlesnake Canyon
Gallery if you would like to see more pictures.
BLM Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area
Matt's Rattlesnake Canyon Gallery
All
images and text above, copyright © Matt Johnson |
