Green River – World Atlas

The Green River is a 1,170 km long river that serves as the main tributary of the mighty Colorado River. The Green River watershed encompasses parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado in the western United States and drains an area of ​​125,000 square kilometers. A significant portion of the Green River’s course is in Utah, where the river drains all of the northeastern portion of the state. The Green River flows through the arid Colorado Plateau region and carves some of the most magnificent canyons in the country.

Course of the Green River

The headwaters of the Green River rises on the west side of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in the west-central part of the US state Wyoming. The river then flows south through Sublette County in the western part of the state in an area known as the Upper Green River Valley. The river flows in a southwesterly direction in the western part of Sweetwater County where the Big Sandy River joins it. Near the town of La Barge, the Green River flows into the Fontenelle Reservoir, which was dammed by the Fontenelle Dam. From here, the river runs through the open, sage-covered, rolling prairies where it is traversed by several hiking trails such as the California Trail, Mormon Trail, and the Oregon Trail.

Green River flows through the Dinosaur National Monument.

The river then flows further south, past Green River City, through the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, into the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which was dammed by the Flaming Gorge Dam. The Green River then continues through eastern Utah and meanders around the eastern edge of the Uinta Mountains. The river then flows from Utah into northwestern Colorado, meanders through the Gates of Lodore in Dinosaur National Monument and flows back to Utah in the middle of Whirlpool Canyon. The river then flows in a southwesterly direction, over the Yampa Plateau, through the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge and the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. From here the river flows south through the Roan Cliffs and the Desolation and Gray Canyons. After passing Green River City, the Green River meanders southeast and flows through the Labyrinth and Stillwater canyons. Finally, the Green River flows into the Colorado River at the end of Stillwater Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. During its entire course, the Green River drops from a height of approximately 1,828.8 m above sea level at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir to approximately 914.4 m at its confluence with the Colorado River.

The Green River carries a lot of silt, emitting an average of 173.3 cubic meters per second. The Green River also provides water to irrigate several acres of ranch land and provides excellent trout fishing for visitors. The Green River’s tributaries include the Big Sandy River, Blacks Fork River, Duchesne River, Henrys Fork, New York River, Price River, San Rafael River, White River, and the Yampa River. The width of the Green River ranges from 30 to 100 m in the upper reaches and from 91 to 457 m in the lower reaches. The Green River has a depth of 0.91 to 15.24 m and is only navigable with small boats and with large motor boats upstream to the Flaming Gorge Dam during its entire course. The Green River Basin contains the world’s largest known occurrence of trona ore. It is also estimated that approximately 500 billion to 1.1 trillion barrels of recoverable oil are found in the Green River Basin.

Short Story

Green riverGreen River, from the Fort Bottom Trail

Archaeological studies have shown that the canyons and protected areas in the river valley were originally inhabited by the Fremonts from the 7th to the 13th centuries. In the later years the river basin was occupied by the Shoshone and Ute tribes, and the river was called “Seeds-kee-dee-Agie” by the Shosons. The Franciscan priests Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante crossed the river in 1776 and named it “Rio de San Buenaventura”. In later years, the Mexican and Spanish explorers chose the name “Rio Verde”, which means “Green River”. In 1811, however, the river was named “Spanish River” by Wilson Hunt of the Pacific Fur Company. The river was renamed “Green River” in 1824. The American explorer John Charles Fremont explored the region in 1840. The Green River was surveyed and mapped in 1869 by the American geologist John Wesley Powell. A group of Mormons established the first permanent settlement in the river valley in 1878. The federal government currently controls significant parts of the land in the Green River Basin.

Diptarka Ghosh December 21, 2021 in waters

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