In late September and early October, Coloradans take to the mountains to enjoy the vibrant colors our state’s glorious autumn. But only a few places in the country can offer the fabulous scenery Coloradans take for granted year-round, from colossal mountain peaks to shifting sand dunes, yawning canyons, roaring rivers and cascading waterfalls. We have it all within a few hundred miles.
Over the past 11 years, Colorado’s system of national parks and monuments has changed dramatically. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison (1999) and the Great Sand Dunes (2004) have received national park designation, and Canyons of the Ancients (2000) became the state’s newest, and second largest, national monument. Colorado now has four national parks and six national monuments encompassing more than 750,000 acres.
Local photographer Grant Collier captures the diversity of our unique landscape in a stunning new book that explores Colorado’s landmark attractions. For years, he explored and photographed these federal lands, hiking across Rocky Mountain National Park, driving remote jeep trails in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and rafting nearly every mile of river within Dinosaur National Monument.
With explanatory essays that begin each chapter, Colorado’s National Parks & Monuments is a collage of dramatic full-page color images that takes the viewer from the snow-covered peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park to the complex rock formations at the Colorado National Monument and the famous Painted Wall at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Collier explores the dynamics of each landscape, providing historic and geological background information and delving into ecological issues that affect the area today.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Geologists believe that an enormous lake covered much of the San Luis Valley, leaving behind a giant sheet of sand.
Perhaps the two best-known National Parks are Rocky Mountain National Park and Mesa Verde, the latter part of a Grand Circle that encompasses the country’s largest concentration of National Parks. A fortress towering above the countryside, Mesa Verde is a time machine that whisks visitors back to another age and culture, when the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) ruled the land. With vivid images of ruins and cave dwellings, Collier captures these ghosts from the past, who inhabited an area in southwestern Colorado near the Four Corners of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona,
Not far away lies Colorado’s newest monument, the Canyon of the Ancients. Unlike Mesa Verde, which hosts thousands of visitors year-round, these 6,000 Anasazi archaeological sites have remained relatively free from encroachment. Stark images of towering stone towers in a remote canyon contrast with Collier’s photographs of flowering paintbrush and yucca plants and secluded canyon ruins to capture the desolation of an area once fairly densely inhabited.
Rocky Mountain National Park. The towering mountains that rise abruptly from the flat landscape of the Great Plains were created 70 million years ago, when the Pacific and North American continental plates collided.
Despite impressive scenery, The Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park is another inhospitable place, according to Collier.
“From the rim, the canyon plunges straight down into a colossal abyss,” he writes. “Far below, the river looks like a ribbon of water. However, those who have dared travel through the canyon know that the river rages with immense power as it winds through the rocky terrain.” Although many people visit the Park each year to kayak or hike the trails, the remote reaches of the canyon remain nearly inaccessible. Despite the challenging landscape, which has long deterred invasion by humans, a large variety of plants and wildlife abound, including several bird species, mule deer, bobcats and black bears.
“I really enjoyed visiting some of the lesser known monuments, like Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep,” said Collier. “I was able to search out places that are rarely visited and I usually had the ancient ruins all to myself. I also really enjoyed rafting down both the Yampa and Green Rivers in the spectacular canyons of Dinosaur National Monument. As for my favorite places to photograph, I’d probably have to go with Rocky Mountain National Park and the Great Sand Dunes. Both of those parks have grandiose scenery that can make for some great photographs.”
As early as 1869, Rocky Mountain National Park would be labeled “the Switzerland of America” by Springfield Republican editor Samuel Bowles. Ute and Arapahoe tribes inhabited the area for hundreds of years before white settlers rid themselves of the pesky original owners in the 1870s. Thanks to the work of conservationist Enos Mills and other local supporters, including state historian James Grafton Rogers, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915. With 14,000-foot Long’s Peak at its nexus, the park now encompasses 265,769 acres bordered by the Arapahoe National and Roosevelt National forests.
In producing this book, Collier wanted to showcase the spectacular scenery and also credit individuals who helped the parks gain federal protection.
“The story of people, like Enos A. Mills and John Otto, who worked to transform the parks from an idea into reality, is fascinating,” he said. “It shows what an individual with a dream can accomplish.”
Grant Collier grew up in the foothills above Denver and spent much of his childhood exploring Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. After graduating from Pomona College in 1996, he began a photographic career, literally following in the footsteps of his great-great-grandfather, the pioneer photographer Joseph Collier. Traveling throughout Colorado, Grant captured images from the exact spots that Joseph had photographed more than 100 years earlier. The resulting book, Colorado: Yesterday & Today, was published in 2001. Since then, Collier has authored several other books and produces a yearly Colorado wall calendar. His work has been published in magazines across the United States and Europe. His photographs have also been featured on CNN.com, NBC, CBS, WB2, UPN, The Special Reserve Collection, America’s Scenic Drives and the Mammoth Book series.
Colorado’s National Parks& Monuments is available online at Amazon.com and through local bookstores. Visit www.gcollier.com.
