A popular hike in western Colorado is the Dominguez Canyon hike that has the benefit of not only traveling through a beautiful desert canyon but several petroglyph panels as well. Additionally in the spring when the creek in the canyon is running there is a good-sized waterfall that can be seen with only a short detour off of the main trail.
Getting to the Dominguez Canyon Trailhead
From Grand Junction, Colorado take US Highway 50 east or from the City of Delta take US Highway 50 west to the Delta-Mesa county line, a small sign for the community of Bridgeport will be seen on the west side of the road. Drive down the dirt road past the few dwellings that make up Bridgeport and continue to the end of the road at the railroad tracks that parallel the Gunnison River. Park in the lot provided, an information sign is located here as well.
Hiking the Dominguez Canyon Trail
From the parking lot cross through the gate near the information sign and follow a road that follows the railroad tracks and eventually crosses them. Continue until two bridges that cross the Gunnison River are reached, the frist bridge is a private bridge for the ranch along the west side of the river, the second is BLM footbridge.
Cross the foot bridge and follow the trail a short distance to the mouth of Dominguez Canyon. Here the trail turns west and climbs gradually up the canyon. After about a half mile or so the confluence of Big and Little Dominguez Creek is reached, a waterfall is located not far up Big Dominguez Creek from here. To get to the base of the falls cross the creek and follow it upstream or to get to the top of the falls follow the main trail and take a spur to the left that will bring you to the falls.
The Petroglyph Panels in Dominguez Canyon
Approximately one and a half miles from the mouth of Dominguez Canyon you will encounter the first petroglyph panel. This panel has multiple images of people, Deer, Big Horn Sheep and other animals. The next panels are a short distance up the trail, several boulders on your right contain images of what could be interpreted as large insects, other images show people on horseback indicating that those petroglyphs are newer than some of the others. There are also some petroglyphs located on the cliff wall up the slope above the trail from the main area of boulders.
The petroglyphs in Dominguez Canyon are some of the best that can be found in western Colorado and offer a large number of images in a small area. Overall the hike is approximately 5 miles round-trip and is best done in the spring or fall when the temperature is more conducive to hiking, summer months are extremely hot. If the hike is done in the spring when the creek is running, the short side hike to the waterfall is worth the time.
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