Montrose

Town of fast food - Montrose, Colorado

(Pictures to be added soon)

The Black Canyon – or to give it its full name, the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park – is 40 miles to the East of beautiful Gunnison town, and 20 miles to the East of (much less attractive) Monrose.

We came to the Black Canyon from Durango through Silverton, travelling on the Million Dollar Highway through Red Mountain Pass – so named for the absolutely stunning mountain views. We arrived at Montrose about three and a half hours after leaving Rockwood, just north of Durango.

Montrose. I will remember as the Town of Fast Food.

When planning the journey, and marking in the visit to Black Canyon, I did not know that Montrose was any more than a T-junction with or 5 shops. How wrong I was. It is a medium sized town with an inordinate number of fast food outlets. These are all huge, and are situated on the road approaching Monrose from the south, Highway 550.

The outlets are spread along a two mile section of road. They are mainly massive shops on even more massive plots, set well back from the road. Shop after shop after shop.

Denny's, Applebees, Taco Bell, Wendy's. Chilis, and of course Macdonalds.

Acre after acre of food plus interspersed acres of Walmart, Walgreens, Hamiltons and other large chain stores. But the overwhelming impression of a homage to Fast Food - huge, modern, capacious, Fast Food. Enough outlets of such a size, you would think, to support a good sized city – rather than a small town. I suppose the road brings the customers.

The Stone House, Montrose

And, nestled within the fast food offering, and easy to overlook is what must be one of the nicest eating houses in town – The Stone House. It is situated right opposite the gargantuan Walmart. We had a great meal in this place after we were recommended by a local in town. We had driven right by, not even noticing it among the swathes of Fast Food mammoths.

Ecologically, though, the Stone House is not so good though. On this warm July day, they had the AC turned up so it was a bit chilly inside, enabling them to have a blazing log fire (gas, of course) as a centrepiece. Ambience – but at an ecological cost.

Monrose Main Street is a pretty road. It even has two or three restaurants if you hunt them out! Anything to avoid the fast food.

If visiting Black Canyon you might want to stay in Monrose. It is the nearest town. It hs a plethora of motels – on Highway 50 East out of town, the same road as Black Canyon. However, you will then be staying in 'Motel City' – a mile of motels, similar in motels to Fast Food on the 550 into town. Motel after motel after motel. Any will do if you are just staying the night.

We chose to stay in a lodge on Pleasant Valley camp ground 30 miles to the east of Monrose. This was comfortable and in a pretty location. However, you have to drive back into Monrose for anything like a breakfast. So, either be prepared for a drive, or take some breakast with you to the lodge – there is a 'fridge and microwave in the lodge itself.

If I was going again I would stay at Pleasant Valley. It is comfortable an spacious. You can get coffee in the morning. And if you like home made pie for breakfast – you are in luck, because that's about all they've got. Seriously.