Chapter

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REGIONS of COLORADO Imagine that you are flying on a jet plane. The

Before You Read

pilot says on the intercom that you have entered Colorado. Out the window you can see a flat landscape marked with the straight lines of roads. Here and there are the tiny shapes of barns and houses. Half an hour later, you look out again. Now you see hills and valleys. Next to the foothills are towns and cities. Cars that look like tiny specks crawl along the roads. The next time you look, the scene has changed again. You see rugged mountains with snow-covered peaks. Green trees cover the mountainsides.

Copy the following four statements into your notebook, and say whether you agree or disagree with each statement. After you finish reading this chapter, come back to your answers, and change them if necessary. 1. The plains of Colorado are level and flat from Kansas to the Rocky Mountains. 2. All of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains were formed by erupting volcanoes. 3. The Colorado River begins high in the Rocky Mountains and flows east to the Atlantic Ocean.

You take a last look when the pilot says that you are about to enter Utah. Again the scene has changed. Deep canyons and flat-topped mesas stretch as far as you can see. The red and yellow sandstone glows in the sun.

4. Plateaus are deep valleys.

Such a flight would teach you that Colorado has different regions. A region is made up of places that have things in common. The Ute Indians used to say that Colorado has three regions. They called the low areas “Lower Earth.” The mountain valleys were “Middle Earth.” They named the high ridges and peaks “Upper Earth.” Geographers now divide Colorado into four regions—the plains, the piedmont, the mountains and parks, and the western plateaus. In this chapter, we will look at how these regions differ.

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■ Mesas ■ Region ■ Piedmont

s

ord W y

Ke

■ Plateau ■

High plains

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Sea level State boundary Climate Urban corridor

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Altitude

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Continental Divide

■ ■ ■

Regions of Colorado

The High Plains

FOCUS

Your Reading:

The high plains are located in eastern Colorado. This region is part of the Great Plains. The Great Plains are grasslands that extend from Canada south to the Gulf of Mexico.

What physical features best describe the plains? Where are the Great Plains located? What is the climate of the plains?

The high plains are the flattest part of the state. From the window of a plane, the land looks flat. In fact, it is gently rolling. You will notice the dips and rises if you drive across the plains in a car. The plains also tilt upward as you drive west. The plains near Denver are 2,000 feet higher above sea level than at the Kansas state boundary.

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While You Read: The high plains have an arid or dry climate. Summers are hot and dry; winters are cold and dry. Less than fifteen inches of rain falls each year. That makes the region too dry to raise most farm crops. Most of the rain falls during the spring. The high plains also get moisture from snowstorms. The worst storms are called blizzards. Blizzard winds drive the snow into huge drifts that block roads and pile up against the sides of houses. Blizzards can wipe out entire herds of cattle.

Look for the major characteristics of the high plains as you read this section. Compare your answers with a partner when you finish.

Pawnee National Grassland Pawnee National Grassland provides visitors with a sweeping view of the high plains of eastern Colorado. This 193,000-acre tract of plains grassland has been preserved as public land. It includes Pawnee Buttes, a rock formation that rises 300 feet above the plains. Pawnee National Grassland is known worldwide as a site for watching native predator birds. It is located about thirty miles east of Fort Collins.

The Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado

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The Piedmont The piedmont region lies between the plains and the Rocky Mountains. Piedmont means “foot of the mountains.” It includes the hills that are next to the mountains. The piedmont was carved out millions of years ago. Floodwater rushed down from the mountains to cut valleys into the high plains. The widest part is the South Platte River valley north and east of Denver. This valley is fifty miles wide in places. The river is up to 800 feet lower than the plains. The low land along the Arkansas River is not as wide, nor is it cut as deep.

FOCUS

Your Reading: Where is the piedmont region located? How was this region created?

Most of the people in the state live in the piedmont. The Front Range urban corridor is located there. The urban corridor is a broad strip of land that extends from Fort Collins to Pueblo. In it are most of Colorado’s large towns

What is the climate like?

Piedmont Sand Dunes and cities. More than 80 percent of the state’s people live there.

People traveling through the piedmont east

Denver, the state capital, lies in the valley of the South Platte River. It is called the Mile High City, as it is 5,280 feet above

band of sand dunes. The sand washed out

of Greeley are surprised to find a broad

of the mountains along the South Platte River during the Ice Age. Wind blowing down from the mountains swept the sand into dunes.

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While You Read:

sea level. Although it is a mile high, Denver is lower than the plains east of the city. The freeway east of Denver climbs for thirty miles before it reaches the high plains.

Write down all of the words and phrases you find that define and describe the piedmont. If you had to eliminate all but the three most important, which three would remain?

The climate is like that of the plains. Summers in the river valleys are hot and dry. Winters are cold and dry. The hills along the base of the mountains get a little more rain than the plains. Summer days are not as hot due to the hills’ higher elevation.

The Front Range urban corridor

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A meadow in North Park with stacks of hay

Mountains and Parks The Rocky Mountains make up two-fifths of the state’s land area. They extend north and south through the middle of the state. The Rockies are part of a chain of mountains that extends from Alaska to New Mexico. Colorado’s mountains are the highest part of the Rockies. The state has fifty-three peaks higher than 14,000 feet. Colorado is the second highest state (after Alaska) in the United States. It has an average altitude of 6,800 feet.

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FOCUS

Your Reading: Where are the Rocky Mountains located in Colorado? Why do the mountains receive more rain and snow than other regions? Why are the mountains an important resource for Colorado?

In this state, the Rockies are made up of two sets of mountain ranges. They run north to south. On the east, the Front Range includes Pikes Peak, Mount Evans, and Longs Peak. The Park Range lies farther west. It includes the Sawatch Range and the San Juan Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are called “young mountains.” They are about 60 million years old. (“Old mountains” are hundreds of millions of years old.) The Rockies were formed when two landmasses drifted together. They pushed up huge blocks of rock. Over time, glaciers carved ridges and U-shaped valleys. This gave the Rocky Mountains their rugged look. Between the Front Range and the ranges to the west are meadows called mountain parks. At one time, great herds of bison, deer, and elk grazed in these meadows. Early French fur traders called them parcs, after the wild game parks or preserves in France. They

While You Read: As you read, look at a map of Colorado. See if you can locate Colorado’s Front Range and the three mountain peaks mentioned in this section. Then, look for the four mountain parks that you read about.

The counties, mountain parks, mountain ranges, and major peaks of Colorado

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are now called North Park, Middle Park, South Park, and the San Luis Valley (once known as San Luis Park). Of all of Colorado’s regions, the Rocky Mountains get the most rain. The lower slopes get from twenty-five to thirty inches of rain and snow each year. The high peaks receive fifty or more inches per year. The rain and snow come from storm clouds that move across Colorado from west to east. When the clouds reach the mountains, air currents sweep them up into colder air. The cold air turns some of the clouds’ water vapor into liquid. It falls to Earth as rain or snow. The mountains are the source of the state’s major rivers. Runoff from rain and snow forms streams high up in the Rockies. Streams on the east side of the Continental Divide flow into the North Platte, South Platte, and Arkansas rivers. Some of this water makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Runoff from the west side of the Continental Divide flows into the Colorado River. It ends up in the Pacific Ocean. The mountains have been a major resource for the people of this state. The Indians (and white settlers) went there Mountains tower over the San Luis Valley.

San Luis Valley The San Luis Valley is the only park area in which food crops are grown. These include potatoes, barley, and lettuce. Colorado’s other three mountain parks are meadowland used for grazing cattle and cutting hay.

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to hunt and to cut lodge poles for homes. Fur traders trapped beaver in mountain streams. Miners found gold and silver there. The mountains now lure skiers from all over the world. In summer, people come to hike mountain trails. The mountains are the state’s best-known landmarks. People arriving by car can see Pikes Peak from 130 miles away. The view from the top of Pikes Peak led Katherine Lee Bates to write the words for “America the Beautiful.” It goes, in part: O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain!

Pikes Peak

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The Western Plateaus The plateau country is Colorado’s fourth region. It extends west from the slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the Utah state boundary. Plateaus are nearly level highlands. Over the years, floods from the mountains cut deep canyons. But they failed to wear away the hardest rock on top. This left the high, flat-topped mesas that we see today. This region also is called the Western Slope.

FOCUS

Your Reading: What landforms are typical of the plateau country? Why are rivers important to this region? What national monuments can you visit there?

The plateau country is a land of bold shapes. The high mesas extend as far as the eye can see. In summer, the valleys are cut up into squares of many shades of green. These are fields and fruit orchards. In winter, the land wears desert colors of red sandstone, brown grass, and gray sagebrush.

While You Read: Study the photo of the Grand Mesa on this page. Do a quick sketch in your notebook of the mesa and one of Pikes Peak on page 12. Compare the two of them. How are the Grand Mesa and Pikes Peak the same? How are they different?

Grand Mesa in Colorado’s plateau country

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Colorado National Monument The Colorado National Monument features

The plateau region has a dry climate. It gets about ten to fifteen inches of rain and snow per year. That is too dry for farming, except along the rivers. There, farmers irrigate their fields. Parts of the plateau country are deserts that get less than ten inches of rain each year.

spectacular views of the plateau and canyon

This region has many rivers. The largest is the Colorado River. It begins as a brook in the mountains where pine trees are green all year long. The Colorado River leaves the state in a desert in which few plants can survive. The Uncompahgre and Gunnison are other major rivers.

275,000 people visit Colorado National

country. It includes thirty-two square miles of sheer walls, deep canyons, and scenic overlooks. One freestanding tower of rock called Independence Monument rises 450 feet from the canyon floor. Each year, some

Monument, which is located between Fruita and Grand Junction.

A Rocky Mountain lake

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The Roan Plateau

The largest towns and cities in the region were built along rivers. These include Montrose (Uncompahgre River), Delta (Gunnison River), and Grand Junction. The city of Grand Junction was built at the junction of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers.

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After You Read

Turn to the “Before You Read” activity in your notebook. Read the four statements and change your answers if you need to.

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If you could choose to live in any of the four regions of Colorado, which would it be, and why? Write a descriptive paragraph explaining your choice.

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