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Exploring the Colorado River
Drea Knufken for Colorado.com

Doc Holliday wouldn't have been surprised that the Colorado River holds more than one mystery. He spent his last years staring out at that very river, contemplating O.K. Corral and eventually being buried not too far from its banks in Glenwood Springs. The Ute Indians that came before him used the river's incredibly rich silt to fertilize generations' worth of crops. Today, nature lovers and tourists embrace the river for its beauty, recreational activities and rich history.

It's hard to picture story of the Western United States without including the Colorado River. The 1,450-mile long Colorado carries in its waters the stories of American Indians, Western pioneers, the big dam construction of the 1930s and the modern Southwestern United States.

The river is so rich in uses and stories, that the only way to truly understand it is to break it up into some of its significant parts:

Headwaters
Go to the Grand Canyon, and you'll see the Colorado roar. Travel to California, and the river will, in places, be almost impossibly shallow. However, if you drive deep into the pine- and aspen-shaded peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park, you'll find the Colorado River's humble beginnings in a narrow clear-water creek tumbling down piles of smooth, polished stones.

The Colorado River begins its 1,450-mile long journey just west of the Continental Divide, at a breathtaking 9,010 feet. It will eventually traverse the red-stone arches in Utah, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Hoover Dam in Nevada and California's fertile farmlands before spilling out into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico.

At its headwaters in Colorado, however, the river rolls and meanders for several miles until it hits the first of its many dams at Grand Lake. Grand Lake is a pristine mountain reservoir where elk bugle, squirrels play and hawks circle overhead. You may even see the occasional hiker enjoying the wooded trails around the lake. It then spills farther downhill into Granby Lake, a favorite for sailboaters, picnickers and afternoon meanderers in the summer. In the winter, snow-lovers congregate in nearby vacation homes after sliding their skis and boards through Winter Park's flawless powder. Both lakes are along the highest continuous paved road in North America, Trail Ridge Road Scenic and Historic Byway - it follows the river west, out of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Glenwood Springs
Drive far enough west on Interstate 70, past the Continental Divide and the striking green mountains of Vail, and you'll start seeing the Colorado River on your left. Keep driving, and the river will snake its way through eye-popping canyon lands and into the historic town of Glenwood Springs. Here, the Roaring Fork River merges with the Colorado River. The town has been a local commercial center for years, from the day Doc Holliday was buried here to Teddy Roosevelt's summer vacations to the current flood of visitors who bask in the town's hot springs, the largest in the state.

Grand Junction
Ridged mesas strive for the sky. Vineyards and apricot trees grow in rich, dark soil with triangular mountains in the background. Then, just past the artistic and commercial hub of Grand Junction, the red-cliff canyons of the Grand Valley yawn open to once again reveal the wide waters of the Colorado River.

Pan back to Grand Junction. In it, you'll find the unofficial capitol of Colorado's Western Slope, a city rich in public arts, cuisine and outdoor recreation. The nearby Bookcliff Mountains are the first suggestion of several nationally renowned recreational areas - legendary mountain biking in Fruita, ancient sandstone at the Colorado National Monument and the surreal spruce forests at the 10,000-foot-high Grand Mesa.

No single word can sum up the long, vast and rich expanse of the Colorado River. From its humble origins in Rocky Mountain National Park to its unrelenting flow at Glenwood Springs, the river carries in its waters the legacy of the entire state.

Interesting fact
In Spanish, Colorado means "colored red." It took its name from the red silt it kicks up along its route, often giving it a red tinge.