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Spanish explorer Melchior Diaz was one of the first Europeans to explore the river in 1540.
Its headwaters are in Colorado inside Rocky Mountain National Park. The Green River cuts its way through the Uinta Mountains of Wyoming; then flowing intermittently in the open, it crosses successive uplifts in a series of deep gorges, then through Flaming Gorge Reservoir and on to its junction with the Colorado River.
The Colorado in its course below the junction has formed a region that is one of the most wonderful of the world, not only for its unique and magnificent scenery, but also because it affords the most remarkable example known of the work of differential weathering and erosion by wind and water and the exposure of geologic strata on an enormous scale. Above the Paria the river flows through comparatively tame scenery until it reaches the plateau of the Marble Canyon , some 60 miles in length. The walls here are at first only a few score of feet in height, but increase rapidly to almost 5000 feet.
At its southern end is the Little Colorado. Above this point eleven rivers with steep mountain gradients have joined either the Green or the Grand or their united system. The Little Colorado has cut a trench 1800 feet deep into the plateau in the last 27 miles as it approaches the Colorado, and empties into it 2625 feet above sea level.
Here the Colorado turns abruptly west directly athwart the folds and fault line of the plateau, through the Grand CanyonThe Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River, in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park one of the first national parks in, which is 217 miles long and from 4 to 20 miles wide between the upper cliffs. The walls, 4000 to 6000 feet high, drop in successive escarpments of 500 to 1600 feet, banded in splendid colours, toward the gloomy narrow gorge of the present river.
Below the confluence of the Virgin RiverThe Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 200 mi (322 km) long, in the southwestern United States. It is formed in southwestern Utah, just south of Zion National Park near Springdale, by the confluence of the East Fork Virgin and North Fork V of NevadaNevada is a state located in the western United States. The population, as of 2000, is 1,998,257. Nevada is the fastest growing state in the country. Between 2000 and 2003, Nevada's population increased 12. 2%, while the USA's population increased 3. the Colorado abruptly turns southward, and forms part of the boundary between ArizonaArizona was the 48th state admitted to the United States and is part of the Southwest United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, south and east of the Colorado River, bordering New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Mexico. Its major cities ar and NevadaNevada is a state located in the western United States. The population, as of 2000, is 1,998,257. Nevada is the fastest growing state in the country. Between 2000 and 2003, Nevada's population increased 12. 2%, while the USA's population increased 3., and the border between Arizona and CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located in the western United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean. The most populous and third largest state in the U. California is both physically and demographically diverse. The state's official nickname is "The Golden State", wh.
Below the Black CanyonThe Black Canyon may refer to the Black Canyon of the Colorado, on the Colorado River the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, on the Gunnison River. the river lessens in gradient, and in its lower course flows in a broad sedimentary valley's distinct estuarine plain upriver from YumaYuma is a city located in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,515. The city is the county seat of Yuma County 6. Geography Yuma is located at 32°41'32" North, 114°36'55" West (32. 692148, -114., where it joined by the Gila River. The channel through much of this region is bedded in a dyke-like embankment lying above the floodplain over which the escaping water spills in time of flood. This dyke cuts off the flow of the river to the remarkable low area in southern California known as the Salton Sink , or Coahuila Valley , the descent to which from the river near Yuma is very much greater than the fall in the actual river-bed from Yuma to the gulf.
The lower course of the river, which forms the border between Baja California and Sonora, is essentially a dry stream today due to use of the river as a water source. Prior to the mid 20th century, the Colorado Delta provided a rich estuarine marshland that is now essentially desiccated.