A shaded relief map-like view shows the Black Canyon’s steep, narrow gorge cutting across rugged gray and ochre terrain, with the Gunnison River tracing a thin line through the center. Bright afternoon light emphasizes the sharp ridges, deep drainages, and the canyon’s vertigo-inducing depth.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison - Chasm View

Montrose, CO

Chasm View offers a direct look into the narrowest section of the Black Canyon, where the canyon walls are only 1,100 feet apart at the rim and 40 feet apart at the river. The Gunnison River is visible nearly 2,000 feet below. The overlook is accessed via a short trail from the North Rim Road.

Photography Guide

Best Time: afternoon
Crowds: Quiet
Shot Types: widelandscapeportrait
Best Seasons: springsummerfall

Practical Tips

The North Rim is less visited than the South Rim and requires a longer drive via Crawford. The North Rim Road is typically open from May through November depending on snow conditions.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

There are canyons that open and canyons that cut, and the Black Canyon cuts. Standing at Chasm View, you are looking down into a wound in the earth where the walls have not had time to weather soft. The rock is Precambrian, nearly two billion years old, and it holds its edges. Eleven hundred feet across at the rim. Forty feet across at the river. The geometry of that taper does something to the body before the mind catches up. I prefer the North Rim for exactly the reason most people skip it. The drive in from Crawford is long and the road closes with the first real snow, and on a weekday in September I have stood at this overlook entirely alone. Afternoon is when the canyon shows itself best. Morning leaves the depths in flat shadow, but by two or three the light slants in from the west and finds a few of the ledges, and suddenly the scale becomes legible. You can see the river. You can hear it, faintly, almost two thousand feet down. A wide lens is the obvious choice and it is the wrong one as often as not. The canyon is so narrow and so deep that wide angles flatten it. I have made better photographs here with a normal lens, framing one wall against the other and letting the river thread the bottom of the composition. Vertical orientation. The fall of the rock matters more than the breadth of the view. Bring something to sit on. This is not a place to photograph in a hurry.

Gallery

Sunlit afternoon view from Chasm View overlooking the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, with steep dark Precambrian cliffs plunging into a narrow gorge. The Gunnison River appears as a thin silver ribbon far below, framed by rocky foreground ledges and green shrubs. Photo: AndrewKPepper / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheer, dark rock walls plunge into the narrow Black Canyon, with patches of snow clinging to ledges and sparse evergreens dotting the steep slopes. Hazy layered ridges recede into the distance under bright afternoon light, emphasizing the canyon’s depth and tight walls. Photo: Jami430 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheer, streaked canyon walls plunge straight down to the narrow Gunnison River far below, with steep green slopes and talus lining the gorge. The afternoon light brings out the reddish and gray precambrian rock as the canyon narrows into a dramatic, vertigo-inducing chasm. Photo: Massimo Catarinella / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Sheer, streaked canyon walls drop into a razor-thin gorge, with the Gunnison River threading through the bottom far below. The wide view emphasizes the massive scale of the dark precambrian rock and the tight, vertigo-inducing gap between the cliffs. Photo: Massimo Catarinella / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Steep, dark granite canyon walls drop to the narrow Gunnison River far below, with the overlook’s rocky edge in the foreground and a broad green plateau under a blue, cloud-dotted sky. Afternoon light highlights the rust and gray rock layers while deep shadows emphasize the canyon’s vertigo-inducing depth. Photo: AndrewKPepper / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheer, dark canyon walls drop into the narrow Black Canyon, with the Gunnison River visible far below in a hazy, sunlit gorge. The foreground shows scrub and a few small pines at the overlook, while the afternoon light highlights the rugged rock faces and distant rim. Photo: G. Edward Johnson / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Steep, sunlit canyon walls fill the view at Black Canyon of the Gunnison, with dark vertical shadows and pale streaks cutting through the sheer Precambrian rock. Pine trees and a leafless, windswept branch frame the overlook in the foreground beneath a clear blue afternoon sky. Photo: NPS Natural Resources / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

A satellite-style map shows the Black Canyon as a long, jagged black slash cutting through green and tan mountain terrain, with steep ridges fanning out on both sides. The narrow river gorge stands out as a dark, twisting line against the lighter high country. Photo: http://www.terraprints.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5

Nearby Places

The Milky Way isn’t visible in this image; instead, it shows a shaded relief map of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison area, with the Gunnison River traced through a deep, narrow gorge and steep ridgelines spreading across the surrounding terrain. The canyon walls and drainage patterns stand out in muted greens, yellows, and grays.

Overlooks

Montrose, CO

Gunnison Point - Black Canyon South Rim

Gunnison Point is the primary overlook adjacent to the South Rim Visitor Center at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The viewpoint looks directly down 2,000 feet to the Gunnison River, with the dark Precambrian walls narrowing dramatically below. Night skies at this International Dark Sky Park reveal the Milky Way arching over the canyon.

nightsummer · fall

Sheer dark canyon walls fill the frame, with the Painted Wall’s pink and white pegmatite streaks running across the cliff face above the narrow Gunnison River below. Soft morning light reveals the depth of the gorge and the rugged, layered rock textures.

Canyon Country

Montrose, CO

Black Canyon of the Gunnison - Painted Wall

The Painted Wall is Colorado's tallest sheer cliff at 2,250 feet, streaked with pegmatite dikes of pink and white that contrast against dark Precambrian gneiss. It is the signature feature of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The South Rim Road provides the primary viewpoint at Painted Wall View.

morningspring · summer

Wide view of the Black Canyon’s rugged ridges and deep gorge, with the Gunnison River tracing a thin line through the center. Golden light washes the canyon walls and surrounding peaks, creating strong contrast between sunlit slopes and shadowed valleys.

Overlooks

Montrose, CO

Black Canyon South Rim - Sunset View

Sunset View is the westernmost overlook on the South Rim Drive of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The viewpoint faces west down the canyon, allowing the setting sun to illuminate the canyon walls and the Gunnison River far below. The overlook provides one of the widest panoramic views of the canyon.

golden hourspring · summer