In our quest to visit new places (even those that are nearby),
we took a drive today to the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness
area. Although it truly is a wilderness, it's only 20 miles or
so south of Grand Junction and the road to the Big Dominguez
Campground is in very good shape for a BLM road. However,
I wouldn't want to drive it in our car on a rainy day since much
of it is very fine dirt that would turn into a quagmire if it got wet.
The Dominguez Canyon Wilderness is the largest BLM roadless area in the state
of Colorado at 66,280 acres. There are two major canyon systems in the
wilderness; The Big Dominguez and Little Dominguez. These two canyons
drain the northeast corner of the Uncompahgre Plateau. There are many
ecosystems here, ranging from upper Sonoran piñon-juniper desert to
Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine to aspen at higher elevations
We followed the road all the way to the Big Dominguez Campground and
although it seemed a bit buggy, it looked like a really isolated, but well
maintained campground. I think we'll probably come here to camp in a
couple of years when we have a four wheel drive vehicle. This time of
year, the monsoons could strand a car there for several days when the
road became too muddy.
