Items | Colorado National Monument Self Guided Audio Driving Guided Tour
Colorado National Monument Self Guided Audio Driving Guided Tour
(1) Reviews
Important Information
•
Public transportation options are available nearby
•
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
•
How To Access: After booking, you’ll get an email and text with setup instructions and password (search “audio tour” in emails and texts). • Download the separate tour app by Action • Enter the password sent by email and text. • MUST download the tour while in strong wifi/cellular. • Works offline after download.
•
How to start touring: Open Action’s separate audio tour guide app once onsite. • If there is just one tour, launch it. • If multiple tour versions exist, launch the one with your planned starting point and direction.
•
Go to the starting point No one will meet you at the start. This tour is self-guided Enter the first story’s point and the audio will begin automatically Follow the audio cues to the next story, which will also play automatically. Enjoy hands-free exploring. If you face audio issues, contact support. Stick to the tour route & speed limit for the best experience.
•
Travel worry-free: Use the tour app anytime, on any day, and over multiple days. Start and pause the tour whenever you like, taking breaks and exploring side excursions at your own pace. Skip anything you don’t care about or explore bonus content for everything that interests you
•
Savings tips: Driving tours: purchase just one tour for everyone in the car
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
•
For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
•
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
•
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
•
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
•
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Become our Lokal Curator
Are you ready to turn your hobbies into a business?
Discover red rock country at its finest with this self-guided driving tour through Colorado National Monument. Gaze up at the iconic Independence Monument, a towering spire rising from the canyon floor. Marvel at the natural sculptures of Coke Ovens Overlook, shaped by millennia of erosion. Take in sheer cliffside views at Cold Shivers Point. Wander through rugged formations at Devil’s Kitchen Trail. This drive blends dramatic geology, & wild western beauty.
Purchase one tour per car, not per person. Everyone listens together!
After booking, check your email/text to download the separate Audio Tour Guide App by Action while connected to WiFi or mobile data. Enter the password, download the...
Highlights
From 3 hours to 4 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 3 hours to 4 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
Text transcripts of audio narration & Self-paced format (start/pause/resume anytime)
Pre-recorded audio commentary (downloadable or streamable)
This is a GPS-powered, self-guided audio tour that works through an app
Lifetime access (no expiration) with Customer support (chat/email)
Suggested walking/driving itinerary with stop-by-stop directions
This tour is NOT an entrance ticket to the park
Offline GPS-enabled route map
NO in-person guide or physical equipment (bring your own device & headphones)
You can also begin the tour from 3CCG+4RR, Grand Junction, CO, USA. The tour works in both directions, so you can begin in Fruita and end in Grand Junction or vice versa.
Return
Monument Road
Colorado National Monument Self Guided Audio Driving Guided Tour
(1) Reviews
About
Discover red rock country at its finest with this self-guided driving tour through Colorado National Monument. Gaze up at the iconic Independence Monument, a towering spire rising from the canyon floor. Marvel at the natural sculptures of Coke Ovens Overlook, shaped by millennia of erosion. Take in sheer cliffside views at Cold Shivers Point. Wander through rugged formations at Devil’s Kitchen Trail. This drive blends dramatic geology, & wild western beauty.
Purchase one tour per car, not per person. Everyone listens together!
After booking, check your email/text to download the separate Audio Tour Guide App by Action while connected to WiFi or mobile data. Enter the password, download the...
Highlights
From 3 hours to 4 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 3 hours to 4 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
Text transcripts of audio narration & Self-paced format (start/pause/resume anytime)
Pre-recorded audio commentary (downloadable or streamable)
This is a GPS-powered, self-guided audio tour that works through an app
Lifetime access (no expiration) with Customer support (chat/email)
Suggested walking/driving itinerary with stop-by-stop directions
This tour is NOT an entrance ticket to the park
Offline GPS-enabled route map
NO in-person guide or physical equipment (bring your own device & headphones)
You can also begin the tour from 3CCG+4RR, Grand Junction, CO, USA. The tour works in both directions, so you can begin in Fruita and end in Grand Junction or vice versa.
Return
Monument Road
Itinerary
1
Window Rock Nature Trail
This easy hike is only half a mile and takes about 15 minutes, so I highly recommend it. If you have children along, be sure that they stay away from the edge, as it’s quite steep in places.
Note: The tour is over 45 Miles long per tour, with more than 35+ audio stories per tour, and takes about 1-2 hours to complete.
New, Lifetime access, no expiry. Use it anytime, on any trip, as many times as you want.
10 minutes
2
Redlands View
When you look around the Redlands View, take a look at how the rocks seem to have different layers, almost like a cake. These are different types of rock that were exposed over millions of years of erosion by the Colorado River.
3
Balanced Rock View
Our next stop features a rock doing a circus balancing act. Balanced Rock View offers a look at a 700-ton boulder seemingly perched precariously atop a rocky pillar.
4
Fruita Canyon View
Settlers in the 1880s realized that this was the perfect place to grow fruit trees. Peaches, apples, and grapes all love the sheltered valley and plentiful water here.
10 minutes
5
Colorado National Monument Sign
we’ll discover beautiful cliffs, ravines, and vistas. We’ll also hear about cattle rustlers, dinosaurs, and the famous “hermit of the Canyons.”
Note: The tour is over 45 miles long, with more than 35+ audio stories, and takes about 1-2 hours to complete.
6
Book Cliffs View
The Book Cliffs look almost purple in some places. That’s because Mancos shale makes up the base of these cliffs. That rough, grayish stone gives way to the softer, tan sandstone that makes up the higher levels.
10 minutes
7
Amphitheater
The Saddlehorn Amphitheater, built during the 1960s. This was part of the “Mission 66 era,” when the Federal Government worked to revitalize national parks after WWII. The amphitheater has hosted live music, plays, educational talks, ranger programs, and community gatherings over the decades.
8
Saddlehorn Comfort Station
This is a small wooden rest stop for travellers built in 1937.
When the Great Depression hit, millions of Americans were unemployed. President Franklin D. Roosevelt developed the Civilian Conservation Corp, putting thousands of young men to work on conservation projects around America.
10 minutes
9
Independence Monument View
When John Otto first started exploring this area, he gave the distinctive rock formations patriotic names. One of the most famous is Independence Monument, a towering monolith that soars above the valley below.
10 minutes
10
Monument Canyon View
In Monument Canyon, you’ll see more of the colorful layers of sandstone we’ve been talking about today. These distinctive layers sit on top of the Uncompahgre Plateau. “Uncompahgre” is a Ute word that means “rocks that made the water red.” That description is certainly accurate. The distinctive orange and red-colored rocks come from the abundance of iron here.
10 minutes
11
Coke Ovens Overlook
While today we might think of a coke bottle, these formations were actually named for the brick ovens that were used to heat coal into coke in the 19th century. Coke is one of the raw materials used to make steel.
10 minutes
12
Upper Monument Canyon Trailhead
One reason people do this hike is to find petroglyphs, or ancient picture writings carved directly into the stone. Protected under small overhangs of rock, two separate pictographs are carved into the soft sandstone of the canyon.
10 minutes
13
Liberty Cap Trail
The Liberty Cap monument also got its name from our friend John Otto. I did say he had a fondness for patriotic names. This domed sandstone formation might remind you of the beehive shapes of the Coke Ovens. But why the name liberty cap? In the early 1800s, there was a penny in circulation that had a profile of Lady Liberty pressed onto the front.
10 minutes
14
Fallen Rock Overlook
Fallen Rock is a gigantic piece of Wingate Sandstone, topped with the more durable Kayenta Sandstone formation, like many of the monuments here. This piece was once attached to the nearby cliff with softer Chinle formation sandstone.
10 minutes
15
Ute Canyon View Trail
The Ute Canyon Trail, a moderate 8-mile hike that takes about four hours to complete. Rather than doing this hike, I recommend just checking out the overlook at the trailhead, which we’ll see in a minute.
10 minutes
16
Red Canyon Overlook
This overlook gives you a view down into the Red Canyon. This canyon is almost untouched by humans, as no trails head directly down to it. If we decide to stop and take a look, we can hear a bit more about the canyon by tapping Learn More.
10 minutes
17
Cold Shivers Point Overlook
It’s named because of the sheer drop on the other side of the guard rail. Unlike the other overlooks we've stopped at today, the edge of the road goes right up to the edge of the cliff here.
10 minutes
18
Devil’s Kitchen Trailhead
The next trail on our route is the Devil’s Kitchen Trail, a moderate two-mile that takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. It leads down to a series of sandstone monoliths that gather together like the walls of a small room. Arches within the pillars make windows that you can peer through.
10 minutes
19
Grand Junction
Grand Junction has come a long way since then. Today, it’s the fourth-largest city in Colorado, but still boasts plenty of wide open spaces. Along with the Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction is home to the Grand Mesa - where skiing and snowboarding are popular in the winter - and Rattlesnake Arches - a trail where you can see 35 natural stone arches formed by erosion.