| The Colorado River is a vital core for a multitude of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals of the canyon-lands area, serving as a water source, migration stopover, riparian refuge, prey habitat, and migration corridor. The Utah portion of the Colorado River harbors more critical habitat for the four Colorado River endangered fish than any other State in the basin. The razorback sucker, bonytail chub, humpback chub, and Colorado squawfish once inhabited the entire length of the Colorado River but have now been reduced to a mere fraction of their historic distribution.An estimated 1,000 miles of fresh water shoreline are beside Mohave County along the Colorado River. Lake Havasu, Lake Mohave and Lake Mead make up a large part of the recreational areas along the river.Rafting and Boating: From the gentle eddies of the remote lower Westwater Canyon to the violent whitewater gushing through Cataract Canyon, the Colorado River is a boating paradise that accommodates all river enthusiasts.Fish and Wildlife: The Colorado River is an important water source for a variety of large mammals including mule deer, coyote, cougar, bobcat, pronghorn antelope, and desert bighorn.Birds such as great blue heron, peregrine falcon, bald eagle, mallards, blue-winged teal, merganser, shoveler, and Canadian geese winter along the Colorado River. Navajo Sandstone cliffs provide excellent nesting sites for species like canyon wren, rock wren, killdeer, rock dove, red-tailed hawk, marsh hawk, kestrel, Southwest willow flycatcher, and golden eagle. These birds make the Colorado River a bird watcher's paradise.Fish species in the Colorado River include flannel mouth sucker, catfish, bluegill, and speckled dace. Endangered fish such as Colorado squawfish, humpback chub, bony tail chub, and razorback sucker depend upon the warm silt-filled waters of the river and its tributaries. Red-spotted toads, bullfrogs, side-blotched lizards, stripped whip snakes, and gopher snakes are abundant throughout the riparian zones of the Colorado River.Additional Activities: Auto touring, backpacking, biking, bird watching, boating, camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, interpretive programs, nature walks, sight seeing, whitewater rafting, wildlife viewing. |
|  |  | | | Facilities: Restrooms can be found along many of the lake shores. Reservations: Some campgrounds along the Colorado River accept reservations. Best Time To Visit: The Colorado River is open year round. Fees: Lake Mead National Recreation Area has entrance and lake use fees. Daily and annual passes can be purchased at the entrance stations. Other areas along the Colorado River may charge fees. Accessibility: Areas of the Colorado River are barrier free. Rules: Obey all posted rules, boating, and fishing regulations. Directions: Driving directions vary by where along the Colorado River you would like to visit. The headwaters of the Colorado River are located in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. From here, at an altitude of 9,010 feet, the Colorado River begins its flow southwestward toward the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean. By the time the Colorado River enters the Grand Canyon, at Lee's Ferry, its altitude has fallen to 3,110 feet, dropping over one mile since its beginning. The Colorado River will drop another 2,200 feet before it reaches the other end of the Grand Canyon, the Grand Wash Cliffs, 277 miles away.The Colorado River contains alternating sections of rapids and calm sections. The depth of the river varies from 6 feet to 90 feet, with the average being about 20 feet. The rapids are the shallow sections and the calm sections tend to be the deepest parts. Some deep holes have also formed at the base or foot of some of the more major rapids. The rapids represent only 10 percent of the Colorado River's total length through the Grand Canyon, but are responsible for more than half of the total drop in altitude. | | |
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