WSP02964

• File Number: 7630.300
• Description: Wild and Scenic-Gunnison River
• State: CO
• Basin: Gunnison
• Water Division: 4
• Date: 9/1/1979
• Author: NPS
• Title: United States Department of the Interior-Wild and Scenic River Study-Gunnison River Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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C H A
GUNNISON

P T
R I

E R
V E

I I
R R

E G ION

! The Gunnison River rises among the high pea ks of the Sawatch
Range and flows generally west for about 250 miles (402 km),
. joining the Colorado River near the city of Grand Junction (see
figu re 2-1). The Gunnison and its tributaries drain parts of the
Sawatch, West Elk, and San Juan Ranges, as well as the

Uncompahgre Plateau,
channel. The natural
Gunnison basin.

totaling some 3,000 miles (4,828 km) of
environment is extremely diverse within the

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

The region described in the following text corresponds to the
Gunnison River basin located in southcentral Colorado. The basin
encompasses about 8,020 square miles (20,772 km2), or
approximately 8 percent of the entire state of Colorado. At its
greatest dimensions, the region is some 145 miies (233 km) across
from east to west and 95 miles (153 km) wide from north to south.

Physiography and Geology

"

The region ranges in elevation from approximately 4,550 feet
(1,387 m) at Grand Junction to about 14,300 feet (4,359 m) at
Uncompahgre Peak in northwest Hinsdale County. Mountain ranges
in the eastern part of the region are composed mostly of
Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks that have been uplifted,
except for the West Elk and Elk Mountains.

.

The West EI ks are
uplifted structures

composed of
that were

thick volcanic
formed by

piles and
Tertiary

several
igneous

7