The amazing Colorado River, its name meaning "colored red", is approximately
1,450 miles long, and stretches through seven different western states plus Mexico!
With all of its strength, power and beauty, it's also widely used for its water supply to help produce electrical power and provides water to
cities and farms. Colorado River serves about 25 million people! Officials have calculated that there is a two-year water supply that could be
used for human existence held behind the Hoover Dam.
What
makes it such an extraordinary river is that it flows through three major deserts before emptying in the west. The upper and middle sections of the
Colorado River cut an awesome maze of gorges that run deep, with help from all of its off-shoots from the west such as the
Green River, the Dirty Devil, the Virgin, the Kanab, the Escalante River, and Paria River; and its
eastern contributors such as the San Juan, the Dolores, Little Colorado, and the Gunnison River. It cuts through the Mohave on the western side
and the Sonoran on the eastern side to end in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez).
Land has been affected for millions
of years by the Colorado River, definitely leaving its mark! Great chasms have been carved along its course. Although the Grand Canyon
is the largest, as the Colorado River flows from about 10,000 feet above sea level in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the volume of water in the
Cataract Canyon is natural and much higher in May and June than the Grand Canyon.
There's quite a variety in the flow
of the Colorado River as found in Westwater Canyon. Some sections are calm and serene
and are great for relaxing
floats and inflatable kayaking adventures. Some sections are packed with rapids, otherwise known as whitewater, for the adventurous outdoor expeditions as found in the Cataract Canyons, one of America's most rugged and
beautiful canyons. The Colorado River consists of many more calm sections than rapids, but the canyonlands that can be experienced through the rapids
are an awesome sight to be seen and a unique experience to be had!
Many of the remote locations can only be accessed by river, so unless you are
rafting down the river, you would never
experience the spectacular massive rock formations, eagles soaring in
the sky, coyotes running along the top of the canyon wall, the beavers diving in at the edge, old mines and
shanty-towns, and so much more!
Discover the breathtaking beauty of the wilderness on your next Colorado River rafting and inflatable kayaking adventure!
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