dominguez canyon

We hike in Dominguez Canyon frequently in late fall and early winter. We wouldn't recommend it in late spring or summer, because it can get beastly hot.

An awesome hike, miles of gorgeous scenery. Once you get to the lower parking lot, walk parallel to the train tracks until you come to the crossing where it's safe to cross (no swing down gates). Keep following the trail & you will come to the second bridge that you cross the river, the first bridge is private and clearly states "keep out". Cross the river and hike left. The scenery only gets better from here on out. Beautiful waterfall not too far down. Take plenty of water and leave early am if you can, this canyon gets hot. Dogs & horses allowed. Great photography chances.

We took a hike down across the footbridge over the Gunnison river and up the west side. Seeing how the early settlers got on with such sparse resources was impressive.

the colorado plateau 'high desert' will not appeal to everyone. many people consider the "real colorawdough" to be the snow-capped alpine peaks. but there is a solitary rugged brooding borderline-dangerous beauty of places such as D canyon. i aspire to visit parts of it which i am sure few have been -- at least since anazazi times. the most accessible portion is at the mouth, the bottom where it joins the gunnison river. there, in season, a multitude of river rafters camp, and year 'round anyway can make the 1.5 or 2-mile walk from the Bridgeport parking lot to the wilderness entrance. i have visited the area from Cactus park, and also at the very top -- at the D camping ground. I think that this may be one of the first "desert" wilderness areas, at least statistics say that it may be the largest BLM roadless area.

The Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Study Area is within the Dominguez-Escalante NCA. This valley has been used for 10,000 years, and it's heaven on earth. Spectacular scenery and geology, petroglyphs, waterfalls, year round streamflow, very very few people (when I've been there, April and September), combined with relatively easy access (slightly more than 1.5 miles from the trailhead to the canyon "entrance") might make this relatively unknown Colorado gem an ideal location for your next hike(s). Both Escalante (almost as spectacular as Dominguez) and Dominguez Canyons are accessible from Hwy 50 between Delta and Grand Junction, and can also be reached by boat, via beautiful and short Class I-II floats down the lower Gunnison River. There are no facilities other than the parking lot at Dominguez, although Escalante offers some slightly-less-primitive camping sites.

For those of you who like to hike, check out Dominguez Canyon. It's a good workout...and you can bring Fido.

We turned around at the wilderness study area. Nice easy hike. Was a lot of tents along the trails. Campers were keeping their areas nice and clean. The river was nice be sure to grab the bucket along the trails to water the newly planted trees. Don't forget your bug spray.

Love the hikes, the water, the petroglyphs and sun. What a special place. I love to visit here by boat or from the hiking trail.

New things to see with the recent camp/picnic areas developed. Very enjoyable. Sorry to see how people have defaced some area around Cpt. Smiths' cabin.

Fascinating geology and a beautiful hike along the Colorado river. Railfans will be excited to watch the Union Pacific coal train go by on the first part of the hike.