Warner Point Nature Trail is a nice nature hike at the very end of South Rim Road in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This short hike runs a mile and a half roundtrip to a nice overlook for Black Canyon. What makes this trail great, though, is not the overlook, but the leisure pace of this part of the park.
South Rim Road has a lot of overlooks. In fact, there are ten. Most people visit the overlooks on the way out to Warner Point. Then honestly, they are burned out by the sixth or seventh stop, as each overlook has a short “hike” to get to the viewpoint. That means that many people give up before trying the nice hike at Warner Point.
We recommend heading out to Warner Point Nature Trail to begin your visit at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Then you don’t have to worry about fighting for a parking spot. You can easily stop at all of the overlooks on your way back toward the Visitor Center. However, you will be looking toward the sun if you go at this time of the day. This would also be a nice hike for sunset time.
There is a small parking lot and restrooms at the turn-around at the end of the road. There is also a signpost that has a metal box attached. In the box, you’ll find trail guides that you can borrow and read as you walk along. There is also a QR code available if all of the nature guides are gone. We pulled the guide up on our phone and read the information as we went.
There are benches in the shadiest areas of Warner Point Trail, and we stopped several times as we read the pamphlet. Sometimes we told our own stories, too. This really was a slow, easy walk for us, partially because it has some ups and downs. The hike is unique because it is the only one that has views looking back out over the small towns around Montrose.
The trail has some ups and down, but it is fairly easy. Most of the walk is through the junipers. Eventually, the trail winds around to the rim of Black Canyon. Spend a little time at the overlook as this is the very end of the canyon on this side. Since this is an out-and-back trail, you’ll return to the parking area in the same leisure fashion that you arrived. Warner Point Nature Trail really is a nice quiet walk. For other hike ideas in Black Canyon of the Gunnison, check out our Black Canyon Kid Hikes post.
