offers visitors a very different environment than the expansive Blue Mesa. More remote and difficult to access than Blue Mesa, Morrow Point offers few recreational facilities but can be accessed by hand-launched boats from Pine Creek, a trailhead on U.S. 50 approximately 1 mile west of Blue Mesa Dam. The Needle Morrow Point Reservoir is the location of the Curecanti Needle, a striking and unique 700-ft tall granite spire on the reservoir's southern bank. For many years the Needle was a well-known symbol of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, who used the easily recognizable spire as a marketing symbol for their Black Canyon Route, which passed the Needle on the north side of the river. Now a popular destination for climbers, the Needle can only be accessed by hand-launched boat, or by crossing the frozen river in winter. Crystal Reservoir The most remote and least accessible of the three reservoirs, Crystal was formed by the opening of Crystal Dam in 1976. Begun in 1973, seven years after the completion of Blue Mesa Dam, Crystal, located six miles from Morrow Point Dam, was the last of the three dams of the Curecanti Project to be completed when it opened in 1976. The smallest of the three reservoirs, Crystal can be accessed from U.S. 50 at Cimarron, where a short road takes visitors to the water immediately south of Morrow Point Dam. East Portal Located two miles below Crystal Dam at the entry to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, East Portal is the location of the intake tunnel and diversion dam of the Gunnison Tunnel, a Bureau of Reclamation irrigation project begun in 1902 to divert river water approximately 6 miles from the Gunnison to the dry lands west of Montrose. The East Portal area includes lake access for fishing, developed picnic areas, and both drive-up and drive-in campgrounds. Though part of Curecanti, East Portal can only be accessed by the seasonal East Portal Road, a very steep twisting road located inside the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Visitor and recreation facilities There are three visitor centers in the recreation area, all operated by the National Park Service: Elk Creek Visitor Center is located west of Gunnison, Colorado on U.S. Highway 50 and has displays on the natural and cultural history of the area. Cimarron Visitor Center (closed) is located in Cimarron, Colorado near Morrow