Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau, also called the Col-
orado Plateau Province, is a physiographic
region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly
centered on the Four Corners region of the
southwestern United States. The province
covers an area of 337,000 km² (130,000 mi.²)
within western Colorado, northwestern New
Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and
northern Arizona. About 90% of the area is
drained by the Colorado River and its main
tributaries; the Green, San Juan and Little
Colorado.[1][2]
In the southwest corner of the Plateau lies
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Most of
the Colorado Plateau’s landscape is related,
in both appearance and geologic history, to
the Grand Canyon. It is a landscape unlike
any other. The nickname "Red Rock Country"
suggests the brightly colored rock left bare
to the view by dryness and erosion. Rugged
canyons, towering cliffs, winding rivers and
soaring arches combine with other natural
features to impress the eye. Domes, hoodoos,
fins, reefs, goblins, river narrows, natural
bridges, and slot canyons are only some of
the additional eye-catching features typical of
the Plateau.
This has led to the creation of the greatest
concentration of national parks in the United
States. Among its parks are Grand Canyon
NP, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Capitol Reef
NP, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, and Petri-
fied Forest NP. Among the national monu-
ments are Dinosaur NM, Hovenweep NM,
Wapatki NM, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM,
and Colorado NM.
Four Corners Monument where the states of
Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico
meet.(States listed in clockwise order.)
Geography
The province is bounded by the Rocky Moun-
tains in Colorado, and by the Uinta Moun-
tains and Wasatch Mountains branches of the
Rockies in northern and central Utah. It is
also bounded by the Rio Grande Rift, Mogol-
lon Rim and the Basin and Range. Isolated
ranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains
such as the San Juan Mountains in Colorado
and the La Sal Mountains in Utah intermix in-
to the central and southern parts of the