This short 1.5-mile round-trip hike leads to some of the most beautiful views of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison! The trail "skirts the south rim to Warner Point, which bears one of the widest views of the canyon, extending to the Painted Wall to the east and along the Gunnison’s gradual descent to the plateau to the west," writes Jonathan Stull on OutdoorProject.com. In the distance, the Elk Mountains provide a beautiful long-range backdrop.

The North Vista trail running to Exclamation Point is acclaimed by many visitors as one of the very best hikes in the national park. Even so, the hike as mapped is still very achievable, covering only 2.9 miles round-trip and climbing (and descending) about 344 vertical feet. However, if you want additional hiking, you can carry on beyond Exclamation Point for a total 7-mile round-trip hike to the top of Green Mountain.

Reaching the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is no easy feat. There are a few different routes down to the bottom, and even though the Gunnison Route is generally considered to be the easiest, it still requires some respectable rock scrambling.

Unlike most of the hikes in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park that either run along the very top of the canyon rim or drop straight down to the bottom, the Oak Flat Loop descends a short ways into the canyon before climbing back up via a set of switchbacks. This creates a great intermediate-difficulty hike with about 500 vertical feet of elevation gain and loss along the 1.7-mile round-trip distance.

While the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is the least-visited national park in the state of Colorado, some of the trails can still get crowded on holidays and weekends. If you want to leave most of the crowds behind, head to the little-used Deadhorse Trail. "This trail leads away from the rim for a bit but meanders back for several dramatic views and, ultimately, a look at Deadhorse Gulch, a major tributary ravine of the Black," writes Lindsey B. King on 5280.com.