The Colorado National Monument
* Tour has reached FULL capacity *
A truly monumental conference experience is simply not complete without a tour of the stunning Colorado National Monument. We'll gather at 9:00 am on Sunday, July 22nd at the same parking lot for the conference and Humanists Doing Good will be offering a guided tour of the Monument for a small additional charge. This helps pay for transportation and entrance fees. The Monument contains spectacular canyons, giant sandstone monoliths and cliffs, numerous trails, high desert terrain and much more. The drive over the Monument is filled with breathtaking views and provides the perfect overlook of the Grand Valley.
Guided Tour of the Monument
Humanists Doing Good will be providing an optional guided tour from 9:00 am to around Noon for interested travelers. We will stop at several noteworthy locations to provide information and to show some things that might otherwise be missed. There will be plenty of perfect opportunities for photos, so bring your camera. You can register for the tour when registering for the conference.
Lunch
Around noon we will stop and have an optional lunch made by Fraps and Wraps before heading out to tour local wineries and sampling some wines. After lunch, the tour will continue with a visit to local wineries.
Colorado National Monument Information
The area was first explored by John Otto, a free spirit who settled in Grand Junction in the early 20th century. Prior to Otto's arrival, many area residents believed the canyons to be inaccessible to humans. Otto began building trails on the plateau and into the canyons. As word spread about his work, the Chamber of Commerce of Grand Junction sent a delegation to investigate. The delegation returned praising both Otto's work and the scenic beauty of the wilderness area, and the local newspaper began lobbying to make it a National Park (which it never did become).
The area was established as Colorado National Monument on May 24, 1911. Otto was hired as the first park ranger, drawing a salary of $1 per month. For the next 16 years, he continued building and maintaining trails while living in a tent in the park.
The park became more well known in the 1980s partly due to its inclusion as a stage of the major international bicycle race, the Coors Classic. The race through the park became known as "The Tour of the Moon", due to the spectacular landscapes the race passed through on Rim Rock Drive.
Spectacular canyons cut deep into sandstone and even granite–gneiss–schist rock formations, in some areas. This is an area of desert land high on the Colorado Plateau, with pinion and juniper forests on the plateau. The park hosts a wide range of wildlife, including red-tailed hawks and golden eagles, ravens, jays, desert bighorn sheep, and coyotes. Activities include hiking, horseback riding, road bicycling, and scenic drives; a visitor center on the west side contains a natural history museum and gift shop. There are magnificent views from trails and the Rim Rock Drive, which winds along the plateau. Nearby are the Book Cliffs, and the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, the Grand Mesa.
Its feature attraction is Monument Canyon, which runs the width of the park, and includes rock formations such as Independence Monument, the Kissing Couple, and Coke Ovens. The monument includes 20,500 acres (32 square miles), much of which has been recommended to Congress for designation as wilderness.