Rim Rock Drive facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Rim Rock Drive Historic District
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 Location in Colorado
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Grand Junction, Colorado |
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| Built | 1931 |
| MPS | Colorado National Monument MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 94000310 |
| Added to NRHP | April 21, 1994 |
Rim Rock Drive is a super scenic road located inside Colorado National Monument. It's 23 miles long and winds along the top edge of many deep canyons. The drive stretches from near Fruita, Colorado in the west to close to Grand Junction, Colorado in the east. Even though these two towns are only about eight miles apart in a straight line, the road takes a much longer, more exciting path! The entire road is so special that it's listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's an important place from the past that should be protected.
Building Rim Rock Drive
The idea for how the road would curve and turn was decided in November 1931. A smart engineer named Thomas W. Secrest from the National Park Service visited the monument and figured out the best route.
Designing the Road
The detailed plans for Rim Rock Drive were made in 1932. The National Park Service's engineering and design teams worked together. They wanted the road to offer the best views possible. They also used a special building style called National Park Service Rustic. This style makes buildings and structures look like they fit naturally into the landscape. They often use local materials like stone and wood.
Hard Work and History
Most of Rim Rock Drive was built using a lot of manual labor. This means people did much of the work by hand. Many workers came from special government programs created during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a very tough time in history when many people didn't have jobs.
These programs included the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). These groups helped people find jobs building important projects like roads and parks. Building Rim Rock Drive was one of the biggest projects from that time.
The workers had to do a lot of drilling and blasting to clear the way. They even dug three tunnels through the rock! Work on the road stopped during World War II from 1942 to 1948. It finally finished in 1950. At its busiest time, more than 800 men worked on this amazing road.
Learn More
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CO-29, "Rim Rock Drive, Fruita, Mesa County, CO"
