Special Features

The McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area is a collage of natural wonders where the Colorado Plateau is sculpted into rugged sandstone canyons, natural arches, spires, and alcoves. Some of the canyons are almost 1,000 feet deep, with spectacular red rock cliffs. Spring runoff and summer thunderstorms create glistening waterfalls and plunge pools. Winding through this enchanted landscape are 24 miles of the Colorado River. The river separates the 75,550 acre Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness from the NCA's non-wilderness lands. The area totals more than 122,000 acres.

Vegetation in the meandering canyon bottoms of this NCA includes pinyon-juniper, grasses, and cottonwoods, willow and box elder. The upland mesas contain dense stands of pinyon-juniper with some sagebrush parks. Cryptobiotic soils, living soil crusts dominated by cyanobacteria, are well developed in the upland area. Cyanobacteria, previously called blue-green algae and one of the earth's oldest examples of life, form sheaths that protect against erosion, fix nitrogen for plants, and intercept and store moisture in dry desert environments.

Mule deer, elk, black bear, and desert bighorn sheep live in the Canyons. Yellow and black Scott's orioles and tail-flipping gray vireos are the specialty bird species in the NCA, and bald eagles and peregrine falcons are often seen along the Colorado River.

Recreation and Science in the NCA

Visitors to the park enjoy rafting and kayaking through canyons on the Colorado River, camping in Rabbit Valley, hiking to places like Rattlesnake Arches, and mountain biking on designated trails. The Trail Through Time takes visitors to an ancient watering hole (140 million years old) that is now an active dinosaur quarry where dinosaurs remains--including Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurs, Camarasaurus, Ceratosaurus, Allosaurus, and Nodosaurus--have been found. Another popular recreational opportunity is viewing ancient Native rock art panels. These panels were left behind by the Fremont Indians who made their home along McDonald Creek almost 1,000 years ago, where they found shelter, water, and food along the cliffs.

Resources

• Bureau of Land Management - McInnis Canyons
• Western Colorado Congress
• The Wilderness Society - Four Corners Office - Suzanne Jones, 303-650-5818