Grand Gulch

Runway 17/35 is in pretty decent condition for a remote dirt airstrip. It is pretty narrow and has sections that are pretty rough, but overall it was pretty decent. I didn’t inspect much of runway 03/21, as it was mostly overgrown with short grass/weeds. It did however look pretty smooth over the first few hundred feet from the NE end of 21 where it intersects 17/35. There’s a visitor log at the mine. I counted 9 aircraft owners who had signed the log in the past few months, and about a dozen side-by-side/quad’s. Seems like a relatively well traveled area. Even with 29” wheels, the runway was pretty rough at the intersection of the runways. I would suggest the following: Landing northbound (35): Land just north of the runway intersections OR land at the far south end of 35 and plan to be stopped before the runway intersections. Landing southbound (17): Land at the far north end of the runway and plan to be stopped by the runway intersections.

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Ditto my last report, but with a few more loose rocks on the runways this time, and this time I had big wheels. I assume landings are dislodging the rocks over time. We walked the part of 17/35 between the cross runway intersection to the turnaround area north of there and tossed aside anything we wouldn’t want to run over at speed. I recommend everyone do the same when you visit. What a gem.

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I flew in with my stock 182 with stock wheels and wheel pants installed after consulting with people familiar with the strip and knowing exactly where to set down. The best landing zone is between a point where the trail from the car turn-around area in front of the toilet building meets 17-35 to about 750 feet north of there. There are a few spots within that area that have embedded smooth rocks protruding up a few inches, but it’s otherwise just a 1” gravel. I got in and out without a scratch, but it did require my best short/soft-field technique and actively avoiding trouble. I cleaned up that section to remove anything spiky or large enough to be scary. The previous comment about 8” wheels or greater is accurate. The tie down areas are relatively smooth, but there are some rocks in there that cold ruin your day if the prop hits them. There is zero AT&T coverage, but Verizon gave us 2 bars with data in places. The toilet building area seemed to be best.

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ILanded 35 and touched down just prior to the RWY 22 intersection. Parked on the nw side of RWY 35 departure end. Lots of 1-3” rock on the south and north ends. There’s a relatively smooth middle section just north of the turn off’s for tie downs L&R OF THE RWY(abeam the nicely appointed bathroom /windsock). RWY was firm and likely ok for 8.00 tires. Departed RWY 17 with a slight sw crosswind.

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I went there for a work party at the end of November with Perry Null. We worked on the long runway and cleared out some parking areas. Watch for rocks if you taxi off to the sides. A beautiful spot, great place to camp and fun to explore the mine nearby.

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