Gauge Information

Gauge Description:

CO Water Talk: 303-831-7135
Division 4, Station 6 (4*6*). Gunnison Below East Portal

The Black Canyon can be run as low as 400; however, a good level is around 700 and above. The river is still high quality at low flows, except for the 18 foot waterfall which requires a creative portage (rappelling, jumping, or scrableing) at flows less than 550 or so.
The season for this run is whenever it is free of ice, since the Crystal dam keeps the flow running at a fairly constant rate. The best time to hit the Black Canyon is usually late summer when most of the snow-melt rivers are spent for the year.

Gauge Information

Name Range Difficulty Updated Level
GUNNISON RIVER BELOW GUNNISON TUNNEL, CO
usgs-09128000 400 - 3000 cfs IV-V 01h10m 651 cfs (rc= 0.1 )

RangeWater LevelDifficultyComment
400 -3000 cfs barely runnable-high runnable IV-V

Report - Reports of Gunnison 02. Crystal Dam to Chukar Trail and related gauges

Reports give the public a chance to report on river conditions throughout the country as well as log the history of a river.

Reports

When River/Gauge Subject Level Reporter
2y161d11h39m /Gunnison-2. Crystal Dam to Chukar Trail (Black Canyon) [CO] Black Canyon From 9/5/09 to 9/7/09 n/a Matthew Hopkins
4y174d01h39m Gunnison [CO] Entrance to Daywrecker ~850 Jake Zywicke
7y195d09h39m n/a [CO] Warning n/a Kit Davidson
7y218d09h39m Gunnison (Black Canyon) [CO] Black Canyon - Rock Camp 760 cfs Bryan Houle
7y219d09h39m Gunnison (Black Canyon) [CO] Black Canyon - Scott in the Narrows 760 cfs Bryan Houle
8y224d09h39m Black Canyon of the Gunnison [CO] 18 footer at ~750 CFS 750 CFS n/a