Discover 9 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Curecanti National Recreation Area (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Blue Mesa Reservoir, Blue Mesa Dam, and Middle Bridge. Also, be sure to include Crystal Reservoir in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Curecanti National Recreation Area (Colorado).
Table of Contents
Blue Mesa Reservoir
Reservoir in Colorado. Blue Mesa Reservoir is an artificial reservoir located on the upper reaches of the Gunnison River in Gunnison County, Colorado. The largest lake located entirely within the state, Blue Mesa Reservoir was created by the construction of Blue Mesa Dam, a 390-foot tall earthen fill dam constructed on the Gunnison by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1966 for the generation of hydroelectric power. Managed as part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest lake trout and Kokanee salmon fishery in Colorado.[1]
Blue Mesa Dam
Blue Mesa Dam is a 390-foot-tall zoned earthfill dam on the Gunnison River in Colorado. It creates Blue Mesa Reservoir, and is within Curecanti National Recreation Area just before the river enters the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The dam is upstream of the Morrow Point Dam. Blue Mesa Dam and reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, which retains the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. Although the dam does produce hydroelectric power, its primary purpose is water storage. State Highway 92 passes over the top of the dam. Blue Mesa Dam houses two turbine generators and produces an average of 264,329,000 kilowatt-hours each year.[2]
Middle Bridge
Bridge in Gunnison County. Middle Bridge is the crossing of Blue Mesa Reservoir on U.S. Route 50 within the Curecanti National Recreation Area in southwest Gunnison County, Colorado, United States, about 2.5 miles east-northeast of the community of Sapinero.
Prior to the construction of the Blue Mesa Dam, US 50 did not cross the Gunnison River there, and a portion of the old highway can be seen descending into the lake.[3]
Crystal Reservoir
Reservoir in Colorado. Crystal Reservoir is a 340-acre artificial reservoir on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the lake was created in 1976 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of a larger plan to impound the upper section of the Gunnison for the generation of hydroelectric power, water storage, and public recreation. Crystal Reservoir is managed by the National Park Service as an element of the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Located at the far western end of Curecanti, Crystal Reservoir is the smallest, least developed, and least accessible of the three reservoirs within the park.[4]
D & RG Narrow Gauge Trestle
The D&RG Narrow Gauge Trestle, also known as the Cimarron Canyon trestle, is a narrow-gauge railroad deck truss bridge crossing the Cimarron River near Cimarron, Colorado. Located within the Curecanti National Recreation Area, the trestle is the last remaining railroad bridge along the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad's Black Canyon route, a narrow-gauge passenger and freight line that traversed the famous Black Canyon of the Gunnison between 1882 and the 1940s.[5]
Morrow Point Reservoir
Reservoir in Colorado. Morrow Point Reservoir is an 817-acre artificial reservoir on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the lake was created in 1968 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of a larger plan to impound the upper section of the Gunnison and create opportunities for hydroelectric power generation, water conservation, and recreation. Morrow Point Reservoir is managed by the National Park Service as a unit within the Curecanti National Recreation Area, and is the location of the Curecanti Needle, a striking 700 ft. granite spire on the reservoir's southern bank whose unique shape was for decades a recognized symbol of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.[6]
Rio Grande Southern Railroad Derrick Car
The Rio Grande Southern Railroad Derrick Car is a railroad derrick car which was produced in 1948 for the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. It is one of only three W60 Series A Derrick Cars narrow-gauge examples ever built by the Fairmont Railway Motors Inc. and it is the only one still extant. It is located at the Cimarron Visitor Center of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, in Cimarron, Colorado. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.[7]
Crystal Dam
Hydroelectric power plant in Montrose County, Colorado. Crystal Dam is a 323-foot-tall, double-curvature, concrete, thin arch dam located 6 miles downstream from Morrow Point Dam on the Gunnison River in Colorado, United States. Crystal Dam is the newest of the three dams in Curecanti National Recreation Area; construction on the dam was finished in 1976. The dam impounds Crystal Reservoir. Crystal Dam and Reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, which retains the waters of the Gunnison River and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. The dam's primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation.[8]
Morrow Point Dam
Morrow Point Dam is a 468-foot-tall concrete double-arch dam on the Gunnison River located in Colorado, the first dam of its type built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, it creates Morrow Point Reservoir, and is within the National Park Service-operated Curecanti National Recreation Area. The dam is between the Blue Mesa Dam and the Crystal Dam. Morrow Point Dam and reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, which retains the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. The dam's primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation.[9]