Smith Fork (Colorado)

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Smith Fork [1]

Smith Fork.JPG

The river as seen from a bridge on Colorado State Highway 92 at Crawford.
Physical characteristics
Main source Confluence of the North Smith Fork Gunnison River and South Smith Fork
38°43′31″N107°28′23″W / 38.72528°N 107.47306°W / 38.72528; -107.47306
River mouth Confluence with the Gunnison River
5,148 ft (1,569 m).
38°44′14″N107°50′18″W / 38.73722°N 107.83833°W / 38.73722; -107.83833 Coordinates: 38°44′14″N107°50′18″W / 38.73722°N 107.83833°W / 38.73722; -107.83833
Basin features
Progression Gunnison-Colorado

Smith Fork is a tributary of the Gunnison River that flows in Gunnison and Delta counties in western Colorado. The river is signed as "Smith Fork Creek" where it goes under Colorado State Highway 92 in Crawford, Colorado.

Gunnison River tributary of the Colorado River

The Gunnison River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 164 miles (264 km) long, in the Southwestern state of Colorado. It is the largest tributary of the Colorado River in Colorado, with a mean flow of 2,570 cu ft/s (73 m3/s).

Gunnison County, Colorado county in Colorado, United States

Gunnison County is the fifth-most extensive of the 64 counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,324. The county seat is Gunnison. The county was named for John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer and captain in the Army Topographical Engineers, who surveyed for the transcontinental railroad in 1853.

Delta County, Colorado county in Colorado, United States

Delta County is one of the 64 counties of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 30,952. The county seat is Delta.

The river begins at the confluence of the North Smith Fork Gunnison River and South Smith Fork in the West Elk Mountains. Smith Fork joins the Gunnison River in the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area.

West Elk Mountains

The West Elk Mountains are a high mountain range in the west-central part of the U.S. state of Colorado. They lie primarily within the Gunnison National Forest, and part of the range is protected as the West Elk Wilderness. The range is primarily located in Gunnison County, with small parts in eastern Delta and Montrose counties.

Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area

The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area is a 62,844-acre (254.32 km2) National Conservation Area located in west-central Colorado near Montrose. It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as part of the National Landscape Conservation System. 57,725 acres (233.60 km2) were designated in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area Act of 1999. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison Boundary Revision Act of 2003 expanded the NCA to its current size.

East of Crawford, a small dam, called the Smith Fork Diversion Dam, diverts water from Smith Fork and carries it to Crawford Reservoir via the Smith Fork Feeder Canal. [2] The canal was built as part of the Smith Fork Project, one of the component projects of the Colorado River Storage Project.

Crawford Dam is a dam in Delta County, Colorado, about a mile south of the town of Crawford, Colorado.

Colorado River Storage Project

The Colorado River Storage Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation project designed to oversee the development of the upper Colorado River basin. The project provides hydroelectric power, flood control and water storage for participating states along the upper portion of the Colorado River and its major tributaries.

See also

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Uncompahgre River river in the United States of America

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North Fork Gunnison River river in the United States of America

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Grand Valley (Colorado-Utah) valley in Colorado and Utah

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Curecanti National Recreation Area

Curecanti National Recreation Area is a National Park Service unit located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Established in 1965, Curecanti is responsible for developing and managing recreational facilities on three reservoirs, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Morrow Point Reservoir and Crystal Reservoir, constructed on the upper Gunnison River in the 1960s by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to better utilize the vital waters of the Colorado River and its major tributaries. A popular destination for boating and fishing, Curecanti offers visitors two marinas, traditional and group campgrounds, hiking trails, boat launches, and boat-in campsites. The state's premiere lake trout and Kokanee salmon fisheries, Curecanti is a popular destination for boating and fishing, and is also a popular area for ice-fishing in the winter months.

Blue Mesa Reservoir lake

Blue Mesa Reservoir is an artificial reservoir located on the upper reaches of the Gunnison River in Gunnison County, Colorado. The largest lake located entirely within the state, Blue Mesa Reservoir was created by the construction of Blue Mesa Dam, a 390-foot tall earthen fill dam constructed on the Gunnison by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1966 for the generation of hydroelectric power. Managed as part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest lake trout and Kokanee salmon fishery in Colorado.

Cimarron River (Gunnison River) tributary of the Gunnison River

The Cimarron River is a 22.0-mile-long (35.4 km) tributary that joins the Gunnison River in Curecanti National Recreation Area near Cimarron, Colorado. The river's source is the confluence of two forks near Silver Jack Reservoir in the Uncompahgre National Forest.

Lake Fork Gunnison River river in the United States of America

Lake Fork Gunnison River or Lake Fork is a 64.7-mile-long (104.1 km) tributary of the Gunnison River in Colorado. The river's source is Sloan Lake near Handies Peak in the San Juan Mountains of Hinsdale County. Lake Fork flows through Lake San Cristobal and Lake City before a confluence with the Gunnison River in Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Middle Fork Cimarron River is a 10.3-mile-long (16.6 km) tributary of the Cimarron River in Colorado. The river's source is east of Coxcomb Peak in the Uncompahgre Wilderness of Hinsdale County. It joins the East Fork Cimarron River in Gunnison County to form the Cimarron River.

East Fork Cimarron River is a 12.6-mile-long (20.3 km) tributary of the Cimarron River in Colorado. The river's source is near Wetterhorn Peak in the Uncompahgre Wilderness of Hinsdale County. It joins the Middle Fork Cimarron River in Gunnison County to form the Cimarron River, and is impounded by Silver Jack Dam.

Needle Rock Natural Area mountain in United States of America

Needle Rock Natural Area is located at the western edge of the West Elk Mountains of Colorado. The surrounding terrain is characterized by laccolithic mountains flanked by precipitous cliffs, extensive talus aprons, forested mesas, canyons, and spacious, well-watered intermontane basins. Needle Rock is an intrusive plug of monzonite porphyry cropping out 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-northeast of the Town of Crawford in Delta County, Colorado, United States. At an elevation of 7,797 feet (2,377 m), the towering rock spire stands 800 feet (240 m) tall above the floor of the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River valley. The massive rock feature originated in the Oligocene geological epoch when magma intruded between existing sedimentary rocks as the crown of a buried laccolith or possibly the underlying conduit of a laccolith. Subsequent erosion has exposed the prominent rock formation seen in the natural area today.

Course of the Colorado River

The Colorado River is a major river of the western United States and northwest Mexico in North America. Its headwaters are in the Rocky Mountains where La Poudre Pass Lake is its source. Located in north central Colorado it flows southwest through the Colorado Plateau country of western Colorado, southeastern Utah and northwestern Arizona where it flows through the Grand Canyon. It turns south near Las Vegas, Nevada, forming the Arizona–Nevada border in Lake Mead and the Arizona–California border a few miles below Davis Dam between Laughlin, Nevada and Needles, California California before entering Mexico in the Colorado Desert. Most of its waters are diverted into the Imperial Valley of Southern California. In Mexico its course forms the boundary between Sonora and Baja California before entering the Gulf of California. This article describes most of the major features along the river.

East Fork Little Cimarron River is a tributary of the Little Cimarron River in Gunnison County, Colorado. The stream flows north from a source in the Uncompahgre National Forest to a confluence with the Little Cimarron River.

Taylor Park Dam

Part of the Uncompahgre Project located on the western slope of central Colorado, the Taylor Park Dam was engineered by the Bureau of Reclamation. It is located on the Taylor River, a tributary of the Gunnison River, and the dam is used to create the Taylor Park Reservoir in Gunnison County, Colorado.

Currant Creek may refer to:

Henson Creek

Henson Creek is a stream in Hinsdale County, Colorado, United States. It rises near Sunshine Mountain in the San Juan Mountains. It merges with Lake Fork Gunnison River in the town of Lake City, Colorado.

References

  1. "Smith Fork". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  2. United States. Bureau of Reclamation. Smith Fork Project.