I’m still working through the images I made on a recent trip to Colorado. Here’s the next installment.
Just outside Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is Gunnison Conservation Area. It falls under the Bureau of Land Management and appears to be largely ignored in favor of it’s National Park neighbor. The badlands area was a feast for a photographer’s eyes….all the color, form, texture, etc., especially under ideal light (mostly overcast late day light). It was a little depressing seeing the tracks of ORVs all over the place. However, it does seem there’s an effort to limit ORV use to specified areas, at least by signage and some fencing. I’m not sure if there’s any real enforcement. During bright daylight hours, the area just appears as gray mounds, not enticing for the average park visitor and possibly viewed as “bad land” by those who just don’t get it. I hope the area is ultimately saved from weekend warriors on their noisy and destructive ORVs.
One of the many great things about National Parks is they are typically surrounded or adjoin other public land (National Forests or Preserves, State Parks, Conservation Areas, Wildlife Reguges, etc.). Most visitors stick to the National Parks and completely overlook the surrounding areas. The visitor “in the know” will make it a point to look beyond the park boundary and spend some time in these much less crowded but often equally enchanting landscapes.
Click here to view the full set of images
by LME
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