Gunnison Travel Guide
COMPARE PRICES on all Gunnison Hotels
Compare prices and availability on major travel sites with one click
COMPARE PRICES on all Flights to Gunnison
Compare prices and availability on major travel sites with one click
196 miles SW of Denver, 161 miles W of Pueblo, 65 miles E of Montrose
A rough-and-ready Western town, Gunnison is where you go to get a hot shower and a good meal after a week of camping, hiking, boating, or hunting in the rugged mountains and canyons in the surrounding area.
Utes began hunting here about 1650, and although Spanish explorers probably never penetrated this isolated region, mountain men, who were pursuing pelts, arrived by the 1830s. First mapped by U.S. Army captain John Gunnison in 1853, the town was established in 1874, soon growing into a ranching center and transportation hub for nearby silver and gold mines. Established in 1911, Western State College now has an enrollment of 2,400. In 1987 it became the first college in the United States with a certified technical-evacuation mountain-rescue team, and it maintains its certification with the Mountain Rescue Association into the 21st century. Ninety percent of the all-volunteer team is made up of college students, with the remainder coming from the community. Gunnison sits at an elevation of 7,681 feet and its population is about 5,400.
