The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West. Its drainage basin includes much of the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado; much of the populated region known as the Colorado Front Range and Eastern Plains; and a portion of southeastern Wyoming in the vicinity of the city of Cheyenne. It joins the North Platte River in western Nebraska to form the Platte, which then flows across Nebraska to the Missouri. The river serves as the principal source of water for eastern Colorado. In its valley along the foothills in Colorado, it has permitted agriculture in an area of the Colorado Piedmont and Great Plains that is otherwise arid.
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater, leading the water out into an ocean.
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.
White River is a river, approximately 195 miles (314 km) long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah and is a tributary of the Green River.
The Uinta Mountains are an east-west trending chain of mountains in northeastern Utah extending slightly into southern Wyoming in the United States. As a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, they are unusual for being the highest range in the contiguous United States running east to west, and lie approximately 100 miles (160 km) east of Salt Lake City. The range has peaks ranging from 11,000–13,528 feet (3,353–4,123 m), with the highest point being Kings Peak, also the highest point in Utah. The Mirror Lake Highway crosses the western half of the Uintas on its way to Wyoming.
The Rio Chama, a major tributary river of the Rio Grande, is located in the U.S. states of Colorado and New Mexico. The river is about 130 miles (210 km) long altogether. From its source to El Vado Dam its length is about 50 miles (80 km), from El Vado Dam to Abiquiu Dam is about 51 miles (82 km), and from Abiquiu Dam to its confluence with the Rio Grande is about 34 miles (55 km).
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.
The Mancos River, formerly also El Rio de San Lazaro, is an 85.4-mile-long (137.4 km) northeast tributary of the San Juan River. It flows from the confluence of West Mancos River and East Mancos River near Mancos, Colorado and joins the San Juan near Four Corners Monument in New Mexico.
East Mancos River is a 12.2-mile-long (19.6 km) tributary of the Mancos River in Montezuma County, Colorado. The river flows west from a source in the La Plata Mountains to a confluence with the West Mancos River that forms the Mancos River.
South Fork San Miguel River is a 6.5-mile-long (10.5 km) tributary of the San Miguel River in San Miguel County, Colorado. The river flows north from a confluence of the Lake Fork and the Howard Fork to a confluence with the San Miguel River west of Telluride.
The Williams Fork is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 33.8 miles (54.4 km) long, in north central Colorado in the United States. It flows through Grand County between the valleys of the Fraser River and the Blue River. It rises at the juncture of McQueary and Bobtail creeks just west of the Continental Divide 8 miles (13 km) west of Berthoud Pass and 7 miles (11 km) north of the Eisenhower Tunnel in the Arapaho National Forest. It flows north-northwest to the Williams Fork Reservoir, then turns northeast and joins the Colorado at Parshall.
North Fork West Mancos River is a tributary of the West Mancos River in Montezuma County, Colorado. The river flows from a source east of Hesperus Mountain in the San Juan National Forest to a confluence with the South Fork that forms the West Mancos River.
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.
