Uncompahgre National Forest location in Colorado

The Uncompahgre Plateau in western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

is a distinctive large uplift part of the Colorado Plateau. is a Ute word that describes the water: "Dirty Water" or "Rocks that make Water Red". The plateau, with an average elevation of , rises from the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

to Horsefly Peak . It continues on about southeast to the northwest margin of the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

. Its boundaries are the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers to the west, the Colorado River to the north and the Gunnison and Uncompahgre Rivers on the eastern side. Large canyons such as Big Red, Tabeguache, Spring Creek, Roubideau, Escalante, Big Dominquez, and Unaweep are separated by generally flat mesas. The Plateau watersheds include four tributaries of the

Dolores River The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains. Its name derives from the Sp ...

, Gunnison River, San Miguel River and Uncompahgre River. The Uncompahgre Plateau includes about in five counties: Delta,

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

, Montrose, Ouray, and San Miguel. Nucla, Colorado area

The plateau is under the management of: *

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

Uncompahgre National Forest land (37%) * Bureau of Land Management (37%) * State of Colorado: Colorado State Land Board and Colorado Division of Wildlife land (<1%) * Private property, mostly in the Uncompahgre Valley, totals (25%)

Geology

Located in Southwest Colorado, the Uncompahgre Plateau is a high domed upland rising from the Colorado River. When it was formed, strong forces in the crust of the Earth forced the land to lift up.

References

External links

USFS - Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison Natl Forests

Colorado Division of Wildlife
Landforms of Colorado Landforms of Delta County, Colorado Landforms of Mesa County, Colorado Landforms of Montrose County, Colorado Landforms of Ouray County, Colorado Landforms of San Miguel County, Colorado Uncompahgre National Forest Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Plateaus of the United States {{US-geology-stub

Geology

See also

References

External links