Welcome to Travel Tuesday! It’s my birthday today! I’m bringing you virtually over Colorado (yep, still there!) today. The Rim Rock to Uplands to Oak Flat Loop Trail was suggested to us by one of the park rangers at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Rim Rock to Uplands to Oak Flat Loop Trail
Distance: 3 mile (loop)
Elevation: 715 ft(?)
Difficulty: Moderate
Duration: <2 hours
Trailhead Address: Montrose, Colorado 81401
Parking: $25 (admission fee; free if you have the annual interagency pass!)
The Rim Rock Nature Trail is an out + back trail (1.5 mile total), but we decided to do half of it to combine it with Uplands trail + the Oak Flat Loop Trail! It’s pretty lightly trafficked and gives you great views of canyon while following the South Rim and connects the campground + visitor center.
The Oak Flat Trail is 2 miles long and goes down into the canyon where, as the name suggests, you can see an oak forest with lots of viewpoints of the canyon along the way. The pinyon/juniper forest here is adapted to living to the extreme environments that this area experiences (drought vs super cold temperatures).
Most of the trail isn’t too difficult but there are definitely some parts that are pretty steep. Make sure you’re wearing shoes with good traction and bring plenty of water!
There will be a “River Access” sign — don’t go past this unless you’ve prepared extensively for it! It’s a back-country route that gets you down to the bottom of the canyon but is super super steep, so you need to have prepared for this.
Follow the rest of the Oak Flat Trail back up to head towards the visitor center and you’ll be able to continue on the Uplands Trail! It doesn’t have too many expansive views, but it’s pretty, peaceful, and very lightly trafficked!
- How should I celebrate my socially distanced birthday? :P
- Have you ever been to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park? If you’re not a fan of crowds at the Grand Canyon, I would absolutely recommend coming here instead! <3
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Oh I have serious wanderlust! I cannot wait to be able to travel again
Same here!! All my limbs are crossed for sometime this year!!
Happy Belated Birthday! I hope you are enjoying yourself in Colorado! What a wonderful place to be right now!
Thank you! I wish I was there right now! All my future travel posts through April of next year are from my trip last summer. :P I miss being outside!
This looks like an amazing hike! What a great place to be in nature!
Agreed! I miss being out there! *-*
Wow this looks amazing! I’ve never heard of it before but the views of the canyon are beautiful. Colorado looks like the perfect place for hikers.
It is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise! *-* I can’t wait to go back someday!
Looks like a great beginner trail! Hope you had a great birthday!
Thanks so much! It was lovely! :]
Wow this looks amazing. I also have hiking trails near my house in California but by far not as stunning as this!
I wish the trails around me weren’t closed! (I’m in CA too!) I miss getting outside!
Firstly, Happy Birthday for yesterday!
Secondly, this looks amazing! I am an avid hiker so would love to actually do this in the flesh one day!
Thanks for including the tip about not going past the River access sign – I have fallen trap to this kind of thing before and have struggled!! Haha!
Yay! I hope you get to do it sometime! I’d love to go to the bottom of the canyon sometime, but that’ll definitely have to be for a time when I’m actually prepared to go! (I’ve done the same as you too, hehehe.)
Not a bad way to spend a birthday week! The Oakflat Trail does look steep, but the overall hike seems well worth it!
Thanks! I’m suuuuper after-the-fact posting, but better late than never, I guess, hehe. It was a fun hike–lots of pretty views! :]
This looks like such an epic hike!!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun!
What incredible views! I haven’t heard of this place before, but I’ll for sure have to check it out on my next visit to Colorado, a state I absolutely love
I feel like it’s definitely one of the more underrated/lesser-known national parks! I hope you get a chance to check it out sometime! :]
I absolutely love the outdoors! Although I wouldn’t classify myself as the sporty type, I’ve recently found a love for walking, light hiking, and an appreciation for the outdoors like never before! After this pandemic I will love it even more. Thank you for sharing this!
Yay! That’s awesome! I love being outdoors too—can’t wait to be out again! :]
looks like a hike with some dramatic views! love it
It definitely had lots of those! :]
Happy birthday! Colorado looks gorgeous — that Rim Rock hike looks like something I’d like to do!
Thank you!! Colorado is definitely a beautiful state!
Wow! Lovely pictures and such detailed itinerary. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for checking it out! :]!
This hike looks amazing! I hope you had an awesome birthday :)
Thank you! It was awesome!
Colorado is one of the first places I want to go whenever I’m back in the states and this looks like a great hike! I’ll definitely save this post for whenever I get the chance to go 😁
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Yay! I hope you like it there! I’d love to go back to visit again!
Happy Belated Birthday! Your photos are so pretty. I’m adding this to my bucket list!
Thank you! I hope you get to go sometime! :]
Happy Birthday. I rarely celebrate on the day, but rather pick a fun plan in the future and call that my celebration. This hike looks pretty cool, and at 3 miles, it’s a good length.
Thank you! I usually do something like that too! Depends on if I’m working the day of, hehe. :]
This looks AMAZING! I really took hiking and being outdoors for granted before this pandemic. Now, I’m really regretting it. But, your post made me so happy! It gives me something to look forward to, I can’t wait to get back out there and find new trails. I’ve never heard of this particular trail, but I’m trying to do a US road trip for my birthday next year. I’m going to add it to the list! Thank you and HAPPY belated birthday!
Aww, I’m so glad that it did! I can’t wait til we get to go back out and explore again! I just did a US road trip last summer and all my travel posts from late last year through April of next year are gonna be from the road trip! ;P I hope you have tons of fun on your trip!
(+ thank you! It was nice getting to spend time with my family! :] )
Wooooow what an amazing hike. I love the views of the mountains – they seem like a giant wall of rock! It is pretty awesome that this is a easy-ish hike when you get to see spectacular views like that!!
p.s. Farrah , I always love your hiking posts. If you like the idea come and join our small group of adventurers on facebook/insta/twitter. We share posts and support each other. I have a feeling you might like everyone. It’s called Maiden Voyagers.
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Agreed! There are so many not as well known but amazing parks out there! I definitely think this is one of em!
Thanks so much for letting me know about the group! Joined on all channels and looking forward to “meeting” everyone! :]