In March of 2009, the largest expansion to the nation's wilderness system in 25 years was signed into law. Included in this historic legislation was the designation of the 210,00 acre Dominguez Escalante National Conservation Area including the 66,000 acre enclosed Dominguez Canyons Wilderness. A dedication ceremony celebrating this wilderness was held in August.

Click here to thank your elected officials for protecting this special wild place.

Plunge pools, waterfalls, and interesting rock formations abound in Dominguez Canyon. photo ©

From hunters and anglers to hikers, mountain bikers, river runners, and ranchers, the previously proposed Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area (NCA) boasted a broad range of enthusiastic local support whiles providing a comprehensive, sensitive, and appropriate array of protections for this beautiful place. And so after floating the halls of Congress for nearly a year the red rock sandstone canyons, cliffs, streams, waterfalls, and petroglyphs of this wild landscape have been protected in perpituity by the Wilderness Act.

Click here to view our members' online photo album.

The bill designates a National Conservation Area (NCA), which lies East and West of the Gunnison River just south of Grand Junction. Click here for a map.

This NCA designation has introduced 210,000 acres of public lands into the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) providing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with adequate funding to appropriately manage this land for a variety of multiple use trail systems.  Once the management plan is in place recreational users will be able to enter the NCA and engage in activities from off-road vehicle use to hiking, from mountain biking to horseback riding. There will be something for everyone!

A National Conservation Area with a heart of Wilderness
Within the middle of this NCA lies the 66,000 acre Dominguez Canyons Wilderness Area, providing a wild sanctuary for horseback riders, hikers, hunters, rafters, bird-watchers, botanists, geologists, archeologists, and of course for the abundant plant and animal life who reside here.  Click here for a map.

The area's wide elevation range, from 4,800 feet along the Gunnison River to 9,000 feet on the Uncompahgre Plateau, results in a great biologic and topographic diversity. In fact the ecosystems are as disparate as upper Sonoran desert along the Gunnison River and Douglas fir-aspen forests higher on the plateau, resulting in an equally diverse array of wildlife. From, mule deer, elk, black bear, pronghorn, and numerous upland game birds inhabiting the upper reaches of the area, to concentrations of bald eagles wintering along the Gunnison River

For the recreational hiker, photographer, or horse-back rider, winding canyon bottoms offer over 30 miles of exploration; and infrequently visited mesa tops provide magnificent vistas which include the San Juans, Grand Mesa, the West Elk Mountains, the canyon bottoms, and soaring sandstone cliffs.

Seasonal waterfall in Dominguez Canyons photo © cec

For the more scientifically minded visitor, the canyons and mesas are full of biological, archaeological, paleontological and geological points of interest. The area is rich in fossilized bones from the Jurassic Period -- previous nearby finds include portions of Ultrasaurus, the largest dinosaur ever discovered.

Art Stephens of Grand Junction, CO accurately describes the experience that is Dominguez Canyons,

"When I look down into that massive, scenic canyon and wildlife refuge, I am overwhelmed by a sensation of spaciousness and an awareness of the passage of time. The sheer walls bear witness to eons of geologic time. In the distant, but more immediate, past were the pioneers and Native Americans who went into that canyon, leaving behind signs of their passage-cabins, mines, petroglyphs, arrowhead. It is only fitting that we should set aside a wilderness preserve in their honor."

Click here to thank your elected officials for protecting this special wild place.

 For more information please visit the Colorado's Canyon Country Wilderness Proposal web site.