Colorado River - An amazing body of water
The Colorado River makes its home in the southwestern part of the United States and in parts of northwestern Mexico. Its headwaters are located in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Most of its tributaries are very small, however, there are some exceptions to this such as the Green, Roaring Fork and Gunnison Rivers, in which very large amounts of water flow. If you look on a map, you’ll see that the Colorado River runs parallel to US Highway 40 and then enters the Gore Canyon. It then runs through several small towns in the state through the Grand Valley to Grand Junction to where it then joins the Gunnison onto the border of Utah. This is where the Colorado River is from 200 to 1200 feet wide and from 6 feet to 30 feet in depth with some areas that are even deeper. It runs south through the state of Utah through several state parks and then into Lake Powell, which is formed by the Glen Canyon Dam. The waters of Lake Powell make the Colorado River very clear at this point and also very clean and cold. It then flows into Arizona where it forms the historic and popular Horseshoe Bend and then eventually runs its course through the Marble Canyon. Here is anywhere between 300 and 2000 feet wide and 9 to 130 feet deep. It eventually runs into the Grand Canyon where it is 217 miles long and 4 to 20 miles wide. This is truly a beautiful part of it that I dream about seeing someday.
Below Nevada, the Colorado River turns south into the Hoover Dam which formed Lake Mead. From the Hoover Dam, the Colorado River continues to flow south and forms what is part of the boundary between Nevada and Arizona and also the border between California and Arizona. In California, it is a lower course and forms a border between Baja California and Sonora. Here, it is basically a dry stream because it is used as a water source.
The Colorado River is a very important source of water for irrigation, drinking and many other uses by people who live in the southwestern United States. Several popular dams have been built along the Colorado River such as the Parker Dam, Davis Dam, Palo Verde Diversion Dam, Imperial Dam, and the few mentioned above. Since these dams have been completed, the majority of the Colorado River is used for agricultural and municipal water supply.
To learn more about this beautiful body of water, do a search online and visit the thousands of links that are available. If you’re interesting in visiting it in person, contact your travel agency for more information or book a trip online to arrange your vacation. It’ll be unforgettable!