Dolores River - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 250 mi (402 km) long, in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

and Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

.

It rises in southwestern Colorado near Dolores Peak and Mount Wilson

Mount Wilson (Colorado)

Mount Wilson is a fourteen thousand foot mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness in Dolores County approximately 10 miles north of Rico and 10 miles southwest of Telluride. It is the highest peak in the San Miguel Mountains, a subrange of the San...

in the San Miguel Mountains. It flows southwest, past the town of Dolores

Dolores, Colorado

The town of Dolores is a Statutory Town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 936 at the 2010 census. It is one of three incorporated municipalities in the county....

, where it turns, flowing north and northwest. It flows through the Dolores River Canyon

Dolores River Canyon

The Dolores River Canyon is located in southwestern Colorado, USA, west of the town of Naturita and north of the town of Dove Creek.Dolores River Canyon is a dramatic canyon composed of red Wingate Sandstone. The entire canyon sits on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and has...

, then cuts across Paradox Valley

Paradox Valley

Paradox Valley is a basin located in Montrose County in the U.S. state of Colorado. The dry, sparsely populated valley is named after the apparently paradoxical course of the Dolores River—instead of flowing down the length of the valley, the river cuts across the middle...

before receiving the San Miguel River

San Miguel River (Colorado)

The San Miguel River is a tributary of the Dolores River, approximately 90 mi long in southwestern Colorado in the United States...

(incidentally, both the Dolores and the San Miguel have their headwaters to either side of Lizard Head Pass

Lizard Head Pass

Lizard Head Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass in Colorado traversed by State Highway 145. It is located 12 miles south of the Telluride turnoff. The pass is named for a prominent nearby peak that is said to look like a lizard's head, the spire of Lizard Head...

) in Montrose County

Montrose County, Colorado

Montrose County is the 17th most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 41,276 at U.S. Census 2010. The county was named for its county seat, the City of Montrose...

and crossing into Utah, where it joins the Colorado in Grand County

Grand County, Utah

Grand County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000 the population was 8,485, and by 2005 had been estimated at 8,743. It was named for the Colorado River, which at the time of statehood was known as the Grand River. Its county seat and largest city is Moab.-Geography:According...

near the former Dewey Bridge.

The river was explored and possibly named by Juan Maria Antonio Rivera

Juan Rivera (explorer)

Juan Maria Antonio Rivera was an 18th century Spanish explorer who explored southwestern North America, including parts of Southern Rocky Mountains...

during an 1765 expedition from Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

.

The Dolores is navigable by rafts and kayaks (up to class IV) from McPhee Reservoir

McPhee Reservoir

McPhee Reservoir is located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It is the second largest artificial body of water in Colorado. It was constructed and is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Dolores Project, and dams the Dolores River to furnish irrigation...

to its confluence with the Colorado. When water is restricted from the reservoir it may be possible to boat down stream from the San Miguel River. However, the river is extensively used for irrigation and during low water years is wholly unnavigable. The mean annual flow of the Dolores is approximately 1240 cuft/s.

In high-runoff years, the section from Bradfield Ranch near Cahone, Colorado

Cahone, Colorado

Cahone is an unincorporated town and U.S. Post Office in Dolores County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Cahone Post Office is 81320.-History:The town of Cahone was established about 1912. The Cahone Post Office opened on May 21, 1916...

down to Slickrock, Colorado, offers scenery, camping, and rapids for inflatables and kayaks. The section from Slickrock to Bedrock, Colorado

Bedrock, Colorado

Bedrock is an unincorporated town and U.S. Post Office in Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Bedrock Post Office is 81411.-History:The town of Bedrock was established in 1883. The Bedrock Post Office opened on November 8, 1883...

goes through the goosenecks of a sandstone canyon with several mostly class II rapids. The Bureau of Land Management recommends minimum flows of 200 cuft/s for canoes, kayaks, and inflatable kayaks, 800 cuft/s for small rafts of up to 14 feet (4.3 m), and 1000 cuft/s for larger rafts of up to 18 feet (5.5 m) in size. The BLM does not require permits for groups running the river in Colorado, though permits are required from the Moab BLM office for boaters wishing to make the run from Gateway, CO into Utah and to the confluence with the Colorado River

Colorado River

The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...

near Dewey Bridge.

Dam releases from McPhee reservoir are a controversial topic. Currently, the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the dam, operates it on a "fill, then spill" policy, where the dam is filled first, and only then if any "extra" water is available are larger flows released for recreational boaters. This fact aggrevies recreational boaters, who claim it is difficult for anyone but a local resident closely watching the gauges to plan trips in advance on the river. The San Juan Citizens' Alliance has worked to start a dialogue between Dolores River stakeholders in the hopes of shifting release policy to one that allows for greater, planned releases.

See also