Fryingpan River | |
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![]() Fryingpan River below Ruedi Dam | |
![]() Map of Roaring Fork drainage basin, including the Fryingpan River | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Colorado |
Counties | Eagle and Pitkin |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Near Mount Massive |
• location | Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness, Pitkin County |
• coordinates | 39°09′52″N106°31′40″W / 39.16444°N 106.52778°W [1] |
• elevation | 12,083 ft (3,683 m) |
Mouth | Roaring Fork River |
• location | Basalt, Eagle County |
• coordinates | 39°22′00″N107°02′03″W / 39.36667°N 107.03417°W Coordinates: 39°22′00″N107°02′03″W / 39.36667°N 107.03417°W [1] |
• elevation | 6,591 ft (2,009 m) |
Length | 42 mi (68 km) [2] |
Basin size | 237 sq mi (610 km2) [3] |
Discharge | |
• location | Near Ruedi [3] |
• average | 176 cu ft/s (5.0 m3/s) [3] |
• minimum | 28 cu ft/s (0.79 m3/s) |
• maximum | 2,690 cu ft/s (76 m3/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Marten Creek, South Fork Fryingpan River, Rocky Fork Creek |
• right | Ivanhoe Creek, North Fork Fryingpan River, Lime Creek |
The Fryingpan River is a tributary of the Roaring Fork River, approximately 42 miles (68 km) long, [2] in Eagle and Pitkin counties in Colorado, United States.
The reason for the unusual name of the river is that when a group of trappers were attacked by a band of Ute Native Americans, only two men survived, one of whom was injured. Leaving his wounded friend in a cave close by, the last man left to summon help, but not before hanging a frying pan in a tree so that he could find the cave again on his return. [1] [4] [5]
It rises in northeastern Pitkin County, in the White River National Forest in the Sawatch Mountains along the western side of the continental divide. It flows westward along the county line between Pitkin and Eagle County. Below Meredith, it is dammed to form the Ruedi Reservoir. It joins the Roaring Fork below Basalt. A portion of the river's water is diverted to the east side of the continental divide for irrigation and drinking water via the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project.
Eagle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,731. The county seat is the Town of Eagle and the most populous community is Edwards. The county is named for the Eagle River.
The Town of Basalt is a home rule municipality located in Eagle and Pitkin counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 3,984 at the 2020 United States Census with 2,917 residing in Eagle County and 1,067 residing in Pitkin County. Basalt is a part of the Edwards-Glenwood Springs, CO Combined Statistical Area.
Roaring Fork River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 70 miles (110 km) long, in west central Colorado in the United States. The river drains a populated and economically vital area of the Colorado Western Slope called the Roaring Fork Valley or Roaring Fork Watershed, which includes the resort city of Aspen and the resorts of Aspen/Snowmass.
The Crystal River is a tributary of the Roaring Fork River, approximately 40 miles (64 km) long, in Gunnison and Pitkin counties in Colorado, United States.
The Eagle River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 60.5 miles (97.4 km) long, in west central Colorado in the United States.
The Sawatch Range or Saguache Range is a high and extensive mountain range in central Colorado which includes eight of the twenty highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Elbert, at 14,440 feet (4,401 m) elevation, the highest peak in the Rockies.
Independence Pass, originally known as Hunter Pass, is a high mountain pass in central Colorado, United States. It is at elevation 12,095 ft (3,687 m) on the Continental Divide in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. The pass is midway between Aspen and Twin Lakes, on the border between Pitkin and Lake counties.
Hoosier Pass is a high mountain pass in central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States. The name derives from Indiana, nicknamed the "Hoosier State," which was the original home of many pioneers.
Mount Sopris is a twin-summit mountain in the northwestern Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent 12,965-foot (3,952 m) mountain is located in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of White River National Forest, 6.6 miles (10.7 km) north by northeast of the community of Redstone in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.
The Roaring Fork Valley is a geographical region in western Colorado in the United States. The Roaring Fork Valley is one of the most affluent regions in Colorado and the U.S. as well as one of the most populous and economically vital areas of the Colorado Western Slope. The Valley is defined by the valley of the Roaring Fork River and its tributaries, including the Crystal and Fryingpan River. It includes the communities of Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs. Mount Sopris and the Roaring Fork River serve as symbols of the Roaring Fork Valley.
The Collegiate Peaks Wilderness is a 168,000-acre (680 km2) area located in central Colorado between Leadville and Buena Vista to the east and Aspen to the west and Crested Butte to the southwest. Most of the area is in the San Isabel and Gunnison National Forests, with a smaller area in the White River National Forest southeast of Aspen. Most of the area is in northwest Chaffee County with smaller portions in Gunnison, Pitkin, and Lake counties.
Seneca Creek is a 19.6-mile-long (31.5 km) tributary of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River located entirely within Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA.
Ruedi Reservoir is a reservoir on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide on the Fryingpan River. It sits about 15 miles (24 km) upstream of the town of Basalt, Colorado, near Aspen. The reservoir is located within the White River National Forest, and straddles the county line between Pitkin County and Eagle County.
Norrie is a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The population of the Norrie CDP was 7 at the United States Census 2010. The Meredith post office (Zip Code 81642) serves the area. The CDP is a part of the Glenwood Springs, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Independence is a ghost town in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located just off State Highway 82 in the eastern corner of Pitkin County, below the Continental Divide. It was the first settlement established in the Roaring Fork Valley, after gold was struck in the vicinity on Independence Day, July 4, 1879, hence its name. In 1973 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Independence and Independence Mill Site, one of two ghost towns in the county so recognized. It has also been known historically by other names—Chipeta, Mammoth City, Mount Hope, Farwell, Sparkill and Hunter's Pass.
Sugar Loaf Dam is a dam in Lake County of mid-Colorado, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Leadville.
Independence Lake is an alpine lake in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States, located high in the Sawatch Range in the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness of White River National Forest. It is the source of the Roaring Fork River and is located south and over a pass from Lost Man Lake and north of Twining Peak. The lake is accessible via a trail from State Highway 82 west of Independence Pass.
South Fork Fryingpan River is a tributary of the Fryingpan River in Pitkin County, Colorado. It flows north from a source in the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness to a confluence with the Fryingpan River in the White River National Forest.
North Fork Fryingpan River is a tributary of the Fryingpan River in Pitkin and Eagle counties in Colorado. The stream flows west from a source in the White River National Forest through Savage Lakes to a confluence with the Fryingpan River.
Media related to Fryingpan River at Wikimedia Commons