Food, drink, art and outdoor options you can’t miss
The towering red rock cliffs and spires of Colorado National Monument are just a few miles outside of Grand Junction -– public land close enough to enjoy up close and personally after a day at work for anyone in the city so inclined. This is a view from Red Canyon Overlook on Rim Rock Drive, on the way up from the East Entrance.
A public piano on Main Street in Grand Junction. There are now more than 100 sculptures in the downtown.
Rim Rock Drive is shown at the Colorado National Monument outside of Grand Junction. The monument is 32 square miles of red rock monoliths and canyons just south of Interstate 70.
Independence Monument stands out against the backdrop of the Book Cliffs at the Colorado National Monument. Colorado National Monument is 32 square miles of red rock monoliths and canyons just south of Interstate 70 outside of Grand Junction.
No visit to the Grand Valley is complete without stopping on the Fruit and Wine Byway.
Grand Junction, a blossoming city at the intersection of two rivers, is hitting its stride. Once nicknamed “Junktown,” the Western Slope anchor is increasingly attracting businesses and visitors from the Front Range – sometimes permanently. Last year, there were a million visits to lodging facilities in Grand Junction.
History
Pioneers planted the stakes for Grand Junction 127 years ago. They started Grand Junction at a time when Denver was already teeming with 50,000 people. They evidently had misplaced dreams for their new town: They initially wanted to call it West Denver. The city has always been a laid back kind of place, except when oil shale turned it into a boom town in the late 1970s.
Read the rest of this story at Colorado Public Radio.
