Park Service to use lottery system for Red Rock Canyon access

MONTROSE — Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park will use a lottery system this year to determine access into the Red Rock Canyon area in the west end of the park.

The park service will accept applications for the lottery through March 7 for the area, which is one of the more gradual access routes to the canyon floor.

Officials issued permits the past two years on a first come, first served basis and found themselves overwhelmed by the number of calls at the beginning of last year’s registration period.

“The park staff has been responding to visitor suggestions for a more equitable system and we believe the lottery system will smooth out the bumps,” Superintendent Connie Rudd said.

Red Rock Canyon sits within the congressionally designated wilderness area, which is managed by the park service to preserve solitude for hikers and plant and wildlife habitat.

The number of permits issued for the canyon are limited to 75-user days per month with the exception of June which has a ceiling of 100-user days to accommodate anglers during the stonefly hatch.

The park service will not issue permits to more than seven people per day for the area, and their stays are limited to no more than four consecutive days.

Any applications submitted on behalf of a group will have to contain all the names of the group members.

Access to Red Rock Canyon will last from May 18 to Oct. 1.

For more information about the lottery or to register, call (970) 641-2337, x205 or visit the park’s Web site at www.nps.gov/bcla and click on the link for Red Rock Canyon information.

All other access permits into the Black Canyon’s wilderness area will still be awarded on a first come, first served basis.