Located less than an hour’s drive southeast of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, Curecanti National Recreation Area (NRA) – also in Colorado - can hold its own against its national park sibling. Here, you’ll see the Gunnison River from a ground level perspective. You’ll also learn a little history about a railroad bent on profiting from this wildly rugged location, and how the Colorado River ‘s coveted water ultimately led to the creation of this NRA.
Open year-round, Curecanti NRA feels remote but in truth it is about 38 miles (61.2 kilometers) from Montrose, Colorado, and nine miles (14.5 kilometers) from Gunnison, Colorado. You can make a road trip of it to get here, or fly in from a choice of several nearby airports.
A variety of activities await you at Curecanti, including hiking, boating, fishing, paddling, birdwatching, stargazing, and horseback riding. Visit in the winter and you’ll be able to ice fish, ice skate, snowshoe, snowmobile, and cross-country ski.
The name Curecanti comes from a 19th-century Ute Indian sub-chief who lived and roamed through eastern and southern Colorado during the mid-late 1800s. But people have lived and traveled through this area even further back than the 1800s. Evidence indicating human habitation dates as far back as 10,000 years. Native Americans, trappers, and settlers traversed this area, lured by game, vegetation, coal and other ores, as well as broad swaths of land for grazing and farming.
According to Park Staff:
Fur traders and miners blazed the northern branch of the Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. This trail first linked the Utes to Anglo and Spanish commerce. As mining operations sprang up in the mountains of Gunnison County, homesteaders built farms and ranches along the Gunnison River. Ranching remains part of the county's livelihood today.
In 1882, a narrow-gauge railroad was built, allowing train transport of minerals, livestock, other goods, and even people. Small towns developed around the railroad. Ranchers and farmers utilized the Gunnison River for cattle and crops, and the Gunnison Tunnel, a six-mile-long [9.7 kilometers] irrigation tunnel, was cut through a mesa to deliver water to the Uncompahgre Valley.
[Curecanti National Recreation Area] was established in 1965 to provide land- and water-based recreation around the three reservoirs created by the Wayne N. Aspinall Storage Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project.
What can you do once you arrive? If you enjoy water-based activities, such as fishing, paddling, boating, and swimming, you can do all that in the park, and more. Go ahead and test your angling skills from the shoreline or on a boat to catch perch, sculpin, dace, and several varieties of trout for dinner.
Of the three reservoirs (Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, Crystal) in the park, Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest in the park and in Colorado by volume and surface area. Here, you can motorboat, paddleboard, kayak, canoe, windsurf, and waterski. You can also indulge in a little swimming, although the water there is chilly, even during summer.
If you prefer land-based recreation, there are seven trails on which to stretch your legs, with distances ranging from one mile (1.61 kilometers) to slightly over five miles (8 kilometers) roundtrip, easy to strenuous in difficulty. All the trails are located along either US Highway 50 or CO Highway 92.
Bring your horse with you for horseback riding on one or both of two different trails within the NRA. If you feel like staying the night, there are two developed campgrounds with corrals.
Don’t let a little winter snow and ice prevent you from enjoying the park. Bring your snowshoes or cross-country skis or even your ice skates, since it gets cold enough for gliding on the ice at Curecanti’s reservoirs.
Bring your snowmobile, too, but know that snowmobile travel is limited to the frozen surface of Blue Mesa Reservoir and on established access roads to the reservoir only.
Not certain what you want to do once you arrive at Curecanti? Check out the ranger programs on offer in this park. During the evening at the Elk Creek Campground amphitheater, you can learn about wildlife and history as well as natural and cultural resources.
Curecanti NRA is a designated International Dark Sky Park, certified in 2021. This means little light pollution to affect the star-studded sky above. Campgrounds and overlooks provide awesome nighttime viewing (and night sky photography). Occasionally, ranger-led astronomy programs are offered, and you’ll discover interesting facts about the moon, planets, and deep-sky objects visible in the clear night sky above the park.
While you are out and about, it’s entirely possible you might spot one or more of 62 mammal species, 21 native and nonnative fish species, 6 reptile species, and 2 amphibian species. Bighorn sheep frequent the grassy and rock-covered areas. Black bears are commonly seen along the trails and forests in the park. Elk, deer, squirrels, and chipmunks are common sights. Watch where you step so you don’t run over any of the four species of snakes (none of which are venomous).
If you are a birder, a bird photographer, or simply enjoy watching the birds, 273 bird species have been reported as living within or migrating through the park. You’ll see shorebirds around Blue Mesa Reservoir and raptors living within the canyon walls rimming Morrow Point and Crystal reservoirs. Ravens, magpies, and Steller’s jays are a common sight so keep your food in your backpacks and your backpacks zipped up, since these members of the Corvidae family are quite clever when it comes to sussing out a snack. Visit in early April through early May and you might witness the Gunnison sage-grouse showing off during the mating season.
If you feel like spending more than one day at Curecanti, you can pitch a tent or park your RV directly beneath the stars at one of the park’s 10 campgrounds, one of which is open year-round and provides a limited number of electric hookups.
Traveler’s Choice For: birding, boating and paddling, fishing, photography
- By Rebecca Latson - March 25th, 2026 8:19am
