From the Past Into the Future: Building Rim Rock Drive

Compiled by Judi Lofland

The Road's History

John Otto, trail builder and first custodian of Colorado National Monument, along with the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce and with the strong support of the local community, had long promoted the construction of a scenic road that would pass through the length of the monument. Built between the years 1912 and 1921 and entirely funded by private and county dollars, the Serpents Trail was the first step in opening up Colorado National Monument to the automobile. The road climbed the cliffs to Cold Shivers Point, where it joined a road to Glade Park. It was the only automobile access to the monument until 1937, when the Fruita Canyon portion of Rim Rock Drive was opened.

In August 1930, Frank A. Kittredge, Chief Engineer for the National Park Service, evaluated the proposed road, and in November 1931, Thomas W. Secrest, National Park Service Engineer, was dispatched to the monument to develop and submit a road survey. After eight days, he had developed an overall plan for a scenic drive following the canyon rims. He reasoned that the best scenery would be made available to the public sooner if construction began in the middle of the western boundary now called Coke Ovens overlook. Work began November 21, 1931. Additional lands were added to the monument in 1937 to accommodate concerns about the alignment of the existing road through Fruita Canyon and the use of Serpents Trail as the "final" segment of the new road. The road, Rim Rock Drive, was constructed between 1931 and 1950. World War II suspended construction of the final No Thoroughfare Canyon portion of the road from mid-1942 through 1948. In 1950 this section was finished and Serpents Trail was closed to traffic and became a hiking trail.

The Rim Rock Drive is 23 miles long, yet it connects two points that are only separated by eight miles on a straight line. It has over 320 associated features, including three tunnels. The road maintains its basic as-built condition and the course of the road has not been altered. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

The Road Builders

The Federal Unemployment Relief Act of 1933 provided a solution to help alleviate the unemployment problem of the Great Depression. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the agency of Emergency Conservation Work, popularly known as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The formation of the CCC advanced park development by many years. In addition to the CCC, park superintendents often employed the services of Local Experienced Men (LEMs), individuals who were trained and skilled in specialized trades. The LEMs trained the CCC enrollees in the decorative techniques when finishing a project. Skilled in such areas as carpentry and masonry, the LEMs not only taught the CCC, but also aided in the construction of decorative features. In Colorado National Monument, this is obvious in the completion of Rim Rock Drive and other structures within the park.
The entities involved with the building projects for the 1935-42 period were the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Works Project Administration (WPA), the CCC, and the National Park Service-Roads and Trails, which employed the LEMs.

There are four campsites associated with the construction of Rim Rock Drive and other historic structures. The first construction unit, NPS Roads and Trails, referred to as the Glade Park Camp, is located near the intersection of 16.5 Road and Rim Rock Drive.
NM-1-C, Company 824, was located at Coke Ovens, and enrollment began on May 22, 1933. The site was built for occupation by 220 men and consisted of fifteen barracks tents, a mess tent, a recreation hall, and an infirmary, all contained within a one-acre area. It was one of the first camps in Colorado. On November 9, 1933, Company 824 moved to new quarters near the current Visitor Center, designated NM-2-C. In addition to working on the road, they built the caretaker's residence nearby. Here the company was closer to its work and could carry on its share of the construction of the road, together with its sister camp, NM-3-C.
In November 1933, Company 825, Mesa Verde National Park, moved by train to Grand Junction, Colorado, destined for the newly constructed camp, NM-3-C, located at the mouth of Fruita Canyon. Once established, NM-3-C was considered the "last word" in CCC camps. In addition to work on Rim Rock Drive, men from Company 825 constructed seven miles of steel fence to contain the monument's bison herd.

In December 1935, a Works Project Administration camp was established in the vacant Glade Park camp. Projects for this camp included installing 5.2 miles of five-inch cast iron water main and continuing improvements on three miles of monument road. On July 1, 1937, the WPA Camp WC-2 was terminated and the camp abandoned.

Buildings constructed by these entities include the open storage building, the roads and trails shop, the building and utilities shop (all located in the maintenance area), the comfort station in Loop C of Saddlehorn Campground, and the picnic shelter at Devils Kitchen Picnic area. All are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Half-Tunnel Accident

On December 12, 1933, tragedy struck the road project. Twenty men were working on a section of cliff face to form the road through a half-tunnel shaped stretch. They were clearing remains of small blasts by hand when work by another group at the other side apparently brought down the cliff above. Nine men from Glade Park and Fruita ranging from nineteen to sixty years in age were killed. The inquest that followed determined the incident was an unavoidable accident. The surrounding communities had given support and funding to the road-building project. As a result of the accident, they had given much more. Their connection to the road is ongoing.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, increased the national defense needs, and in February 1942, all CCC projects ended. The WPA worked on until June of that year when all, including the custodian and rangers at the monument, were called to active duty.
In October 1949, work on the road from Cold Shivers Point to the Grand Junction entrance resumed, proceeding to completion in 1950. At that time, Serpents Trail was designated a hiking trail and closed to vehicle traffic. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

The Future

The Colorado Youth Corps Association, launched in 1997, has established nine local and regional independently operated youth corps, serving more than 600 sixteen-to-twenty-five-year-olds in 2002. Projects include trail construction and maintenance, fence construction and disassembly, habitat restoration and stone masonry. Participants are paid, and the employment experience provides a structured, disciplined environment where young adults gain on-the-job skills, learn self-discipline, and acquire leadership skills. Between ten and twenty percent of their time is allocated to education. Western Colorado Conservation Corps provides service to Colorado National Monument.