North Vista Trail (to Exclamation Point)

Around three-quarters of a mile in, a signed spur reaches the rim of a side canyon. It is a worthwhile first view, but it is not the named destination. Return to the main path and keep going; the last approach climbs through thicker woodland to the Exclamation Point loop. If time is short, that first spur gives you a shorter taste of the trail, but it leaves out the river-bend view at the end.

The trail leaves the ranger station through open sage and Gambel oak. A distant look toward Painted Wall appears early, about 250 yards from the start. Farther on, the route enters pinyon-juniper forest and skirts smaller drainages instead of staying at the canyon edge. Views come in openings at the overlooks, with wooded stretches between them; it is not a rim walk the whole way.

The small endpoint loop brings you to views along the Gunnison's bend in both directions, with the South Rim across the gorge. From the exposed rim, the river lies roughly 2,000 feet below. There are no railings at the point, so stay on the established tread and give the edge room. For a photo, frame the bend with the opposite canyon wall; the river helps show how deep the gorge is.

The Black Canyon is a river cut through ancient crystalline rock. Uplift about 60 million years ago exposed rock that is roughly 1.8 billion years old; volcanic material later covered the uplift, and the Gunnison began cutting the modern gorge around 2 million years ago. The walls from this overlook show dark gneiss, granite, and schist, with the river still working far below.

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado built the North Vista Trail. The change from open sage and oak into pinyon-juniper gives the walk more than one habitat, and birding is one of its main draws. Take a little time at the openings rather than treating the hike as a quick walk to the destination.

The published distance to Exclamation Point is 1.6 miles one way. The mapped endpoint loop is walked once; on the way back, you retrace the approach instead of doing the loop again, for about 2.9 miles total. Green Mountain is a separate 3.6-mile one-way hike from the same start.