Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Car -- Grand Junction is located on I-70. U.S. 50 is the main artery from the south, connecting with Montrose and Durango.

By Plane -- On the north side of Grand Junction, Walker Field, 2828 Walker Field Dr. (tel. 970/244-9100; fax 970/241-9103; www.walkerfield.com), is less than a mile off I-70's Horizon Drive exit. About 20 commercial flights connect Grand Junction with the West's major cities.

Airlines serving Walker Field include Allegiant Air (tel. 702/505-8888), Delta Connection/SkyWest (tel. 800/453-9417), Frontier (tel. 800/432-1359), United Express/SkyWest (tel. 800/241-6522), and US Airways (tel. 800/428-4322).

By Train -- Amtrak (tel. 800/USA-RAIL [872-7245] or 970/241-2733; www.amtrak.com) has a passenger station at 337 S. First St. The California Zephyr stops twice daily, once in each direction, on its main route from San Francisco and Salt Lake City to Denver and Chicago.

Visitor Information

Contact the Grand Junction Visitor & Convention Bureau, 740 Horizon Dr., Grand Junction, CO 81506 (tel. 800/962-2547 or 970/244-1480; www.visitgrandjunction.com). There's a visitor center on Horizon Drive at I-70 exit 31 (open 8:30am-8pm in summer and 8:30am-5pm the rest of the year), and a Colorado Welcome Center at I-70 exit 19 for Fruita and Colorado National Monument (tel. 970/858-9335), 12 miles west of Grand Junction, which is open daily from 8am to 6pm (until 5pm fall through spring).

Getting Around

Main Street and named avenues run east-west, and numbered streets and roads run north-south. Downtown Grand Junction lies south of I-70 and north of the Colorado River, encompassing 1 block on each side of Main Street between First and Seventh streets. There is metered street parking (free 2-hr. parking on Main Street between First and Seventh sts.), plus several public parking lots.

Car-rental agencies in the airport area include Alamo (tel. 970/243-3097), Avis (tel. 970/244-9170), Hertz (tel. 970/243-0747), and National (tel. 970/243-6626). Sunshine Taxi (tel. 970/245-8294) offers cab service, and Grand Valley Transit (tel. 970/256-7433; www.grandvalleytransit.com) operates buses in the Grand Junction area, including a shuttle service to and from Walker Field.

Fast Facts

There's a 24-hour emergency room at St. Mary's Hospital, Patterson Road and Seventh Street (tel. 970/244-2273). The main post office is at 241 N. Fourth St.; contact the U.S. Postal Service (tel. 800/275-8777; www.usps.com) for hours and other information. For weather conditions, call tel. 970/243-0914; for road conditions, call tel. 877/315-7623.

Special Events

Dinosaur Days, mid-June, Fruita; Downtown Art & Jazz Festival, mid-May; Mesa County Fair, late July; Palisade Peach Festival, mid-August, Palisade; Colorado Mountain Winefest, late September.