It's big. It's bold. It's the Colorado National Monument

Photo by Debbie Stone

It’s hard to wrap your head around the Colorado National Monument. It holds you spellbound as you look out at this famed, rugged landscape of the American West. Towering sandstone monoliths as tall as 450 feet act as sentinels in a vast plateau with sheer-walled canyons as deep as 500 feet. And the views stretch for what seems like eternity.

Photo by Debbie Stone

Photo by Debbie Stone

Photo by Debbie Stone

Unfortunately for Otto, though, his eccentric, off-the-grid lifestyle was the reason his wife Beatrice left him after only a few weeks into their marriage. She found the reality of existing in this remote and wild spot to be far from her romantic ideal, writing, “I could not live with a man to whom even a cabin was an encumbrance.”

When distinguishing between a National Park and a National Monument (a difference I tend to blur), one needs to understand the main reason for the land’s preservation. The former is valued for its scenic, educational and recreational values, while the latter is protected for its cultural, historic and/or scientific values.

To best appreciate the Colorado National Monument, take the historic Rim Rock Drive, either from the west entrance off of Highway 340 in Fruita or from the east access off of Monument Road in Grand Junction. This is the only paved road through the monument and allows you to explore 23 miles of its beautiful scenery. Beware, the road is narrow and steep in some sections with dizzying drop-offs.

Photo by Debbie Stone

On average, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to do the Rim Rock Drive, but if you want to hike or stop and take pictures, you’ll need to allow for more time. As you drive, you’ll be climbing from the valley floor along the mighty Colorado River to the fiery-hued Uncompahgre Plateau. You’ll ascend switchbacks to the mesa tops and then descend back down.

Photo by Debbie Stone

Photo by Debbie Stone

Coke Ovens provides a sweeping vista of the ginormous Coke Ovens formation. Named after the dome-shaped ovens that once made fuel coke from coal, these rounded rocks were carved over the years by wind and water. They sit one after another in a perfectly lined up row.

Photo by Debbie Stone

You might luck out and see desert bighorn sheep on your hikes or as you drive, though these mammals blend into the terrain and are known to shy away from any human contact. I was fortunate to come upon a few on the side of the road, munching away at the vegetation. It was a pinch-me moment and one I savored.