Grand Junction, Colorado: Landmarks

=Colorado River=

The Colorado River is a very long river located in southwestern United States, and northwestern Mexico. It is approximately 1,450 miles long, and naturally flows into the Gulf of Colorado, because it has dried up, the lower part of the river does not reach the ocean. The river dried up miles before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.The headwaters of the river are in the Rocky Mountain National Park, and flows in to Kawuneeche Valley, then into the Granby Valley. The river ends up flowing into the Glenwood Canyon, and in the Grand Canyon, joining the Gunnison River in Grand Junction. Then, it soon runs to Utah. The river in Colorado ranges from 200 to 1200 feet wide and from 6 to 30 feet in depth with occasional deeper areas. The Colorado River is very large.

The Colorado River is a home to a lot of native fish. Four of the fish are endemic and endangered. Examples of these are the Colorado Pikeminnow (formerly Colorado Squawfish), Razorback Sucker, Bonytail Chub, and Humpback Chub. Out of the fourteen different kinds of fish, four of them are endangered, so there are humane societies. One of them is called, Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program witch is a controversial effort by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Also, there is Arizona Game and Fish Department, to help save the fish.

The reason Grand Junction got its name is because of the Colorado River. The Gunnison, and the Colorado River join in Grand Junction, and they are both very grand rivers. A junction is joining two things together making one, and that’s exactly what happened.