The Colorado National Monument is on the northeast of the vast Colorado Plateau.
Reclusive canyon dweller John Otto mounted a one-man campaign to have his “backyard" declared a national park. That designation came in 1911, with Otto as its first superintendent.
The monument boasts canyons as deep as 500 feet and rock monoliths as tall as 450 feet.
Construction of Rim Rock Drive began in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and was completed in the ‘50s.
Of the three tunnels along the 23-mile-long Rim Rock Drive, the longest is 530 feet long.
Rim Rock Drive is also popular and challenging road-biking route.
Serpent’s Trail makes 54 switchbacks in just 2 ½ miles.
The monument boasts 14 hiking trails.
Visitors often see mule deer and may also spot coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, desert bighorns and such smaller mammals as foxes, desert cottontails, squirrels, and other rodents.
The monument records an annual average of less than 12 inches of rain.
