A Land Like No Other

The Colorado Plateau straddles the region known as the Four Corners, where the states of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico join boundaries. The Plateau's physical statistics are remarkable: an average elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level, encompassing 240,000 square miles (approximately the size of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York combined). There is a greater and more complete span of Earth's history exposed in the rocks of the Colorado Plateau than in any other comparably sized region in the world. And a greater number and variety of strange and wonderful erosional land forms than in any other land: mesas and buttes, hoodoos and monuments, arches, windows and spires, rock fins, reefs - and canyons.

Photo by Frank Mendoca

Thousands of canyons: tiny slot canyons carved into smooth sandstone and so narrow you have to turn sideways to walk through, wide canyons eroded out of painted rocks, impressive enough in their own right to be called national parks in any other part of the country. The Colorado Plateau is drained by the two main rivers that are the heart of the southwestern United States - the Green and Colorado rivers and their thousands of tributaries large and small which have been home to ancient peoples for at least 12,000 years. They have been the focus for life in an arid land whose vegetation is sparse and precious. They have drawn people from around the world to work and play in a land that once discovered is hard to leave.

Impressive as they are, the physical statistics for the Colorado Plateau reveal little about the nature of the land, about its heart and soul, and about the experiences awaiting the visitor to the country. Visitors to these lands gain new perspectives on time and space and on themselves as well - and one of the best possible ways to see this place and feel the heart of the country is on one of its rivers.

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Red River Canoe Company
1371 North Highway 191
Moab, Utah 84532
800-753-8216
redriver@redrivercanoe.com

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