Northwest Colorado (as seen above in a map from Colorado.com, the state’s official tourism site) is a beautiful area including mountains and mesas. Much of the area is on Colorado’s western slope. Towns and cities in Northwest Colorado include Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Rangely, Craig, Hayden, Aspen, Carbondale, Kremmling, Eagle, and Rifle. If you’re planning to visit this part of the state, there is much to do. The Grand Junction-western slope area is known for its wineries, while the mountain areas, particularly Aspen, are known for their skiing. In the summer, the mountains are wonderful places for hiking, mountain biking, and fishing. The area includes several state parks, including Highline Lake, James M. Robb-Colorado River, Harvey Gap, Rifle Gap, Rifle Falls, Stagecoach, Yampa River, Elkhead, Steamboat Lake, Pearl Lake, State Forest, Vega, and my favorite, Sylvan Lake. Each of the preceding State Park websites includes a link with a list of nearby attractions, so you can plan a great vacation no matter how long or short your stay. Colorado.com has also published a list of attractions for the area. Here you can filter for city/town, search radius, and type of attraction you’re looking for (historical, outdoors, etc.) The region also has several byways worth traveling. In our library have a number of publications focusing on different topics of interest in this area of this region of Colorado, including:
- Northwest Colorado Prehistoric Context
- Greater Sandhill Crane Nesting and Success in Northwest Colorado
- Northwest Colorado Transportation Study
- The River Otter (Lutra canadensis) in Northwest Colorado
- A Survey and Analysis of Existing Information on Fishes in Northwest Colorado
- Terrestrial Ecosystems of Northwest Colorado
- Colorado, the Northwest Plateau (historical document from 1925)
- Aspen: The History of A Silver Mining Town
- Colorado Flora: Western Slope
- Climate Summary: Eagle and Glenwood Springs
- Western Slope Trails Guide
You can also search our web catalog for more publications. The easiest way to search is to search for one of the towns listed above. For information on the geology of the region, search by county name. We have many geological maps for all different parts of the state.
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