Sunset Over Courthouse Mountain & Chimney Rock
Courthouse Mountain & Chimney Rock
Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado
In hindsight, I knew I had seen pictures of them, but when I had driven Owl Creek Pass for the first time, I didn’t realize that Courthouse Mountain and Chimney Rock are the iconic monuments along that pass, prominently rising high above most vantage points. I had gone in totally unprepared and simply shot the main viewpoint of Courthouse Mountain and Chimney Rock, right off County Road 8.
Courthouse Mountain & Chimney Rock, shot Fall 2016.
It was beautiful, but that wasn’t the vantage point from the images in my mind – I had seen pictures from a much higher point with a much more epic view. This year, after researching topo maps and Google Earth, I set out to bushwack my way to a clearing to the north.
I got skunked on sunset colors, which teased me to the west, but it’s for-sure one of the most beautiful overlooks I’ve found throughout Colorado…
Teasing colors to the west…
And a bonus sunrise the next morning back at the main viewpoint.