Everything about The South Platte River totally explained
The
South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the
Platte River and itself a major river of the
American West, located in the
U.S. states of
Colorado and
Nebraska. It drains much of the eastern flank of the
Rocky Mountains in Colorado, as well as much of the populated region known as the
Colorado Front Range and
Eastern Plains. It forms the Platte at its confluence with the
North Platte River in western Nebraska. The river serves the principal source of water for eastern Colorado. Its valley along the foothills in Colorado has provided for
agriculture in an area of the
Colorado Piedmont and
Great Plains that's otherwise arid. Its drainage basin also includes a portion of southeastern
Wyoming in the vicinity of the city of
Cheyenne.
Description
The river is formed in
Park County, Colorado southwest of
Denver in the
South Park grassland basin by the confluence of the
South Fork and
Middle Fork, approximately 15 miles (24 km) southeast of
Fairplay. Both forks rise along the eastern flank of the
Mosquito Range, on the western side of South Park, which is drained by the tributaries at the headwaters of the river. From South Park, it passes through the
Platte Canyon (sometimes called Waterton Canyon) approximately 50 miles in length, receiving the
North Fork before emerging from the foothills southwest of the Denver suburb of
Littleton, where it's impounded to form
Chatfield Reservoir, a major source of drinking water for the
Denver Metropolitan Area.
The river flows north through central
Denver, which was founded along its banks at its confluence with
Cherry Creek. The valley through Denver is highly industrialized, serving generally as the route for both the
railroad lines, as well as
Interstate 25. On the north side of Denver it's joined somewhat inconspicuously by
Clear Creek, which descends from the mountains to the west in a canyon that was the cradle of the
Pike's Peak Gold Rush. North of Denver it flows through the agricultural heartland of the Piedmont (a
shale region that was formed through erosion by the ancestor of the river following the creation of the Rockies). It flows directly past the communities of
Brighton and
Fort Lupton, and is joined in succession by
Saint Vrain Creek, the
Little Thompson River, the
Big Thompson River, and the
Cache la Poudre River, which it receives just east of
Greeley.
East of Greeley it turns eastward, flowing across the
Colorado Eastern Plains, past the towns of
Fort Morgan and
Brush, where it turns northeastward, flowing past the town of
Sterling and into Nebraska near the town of
Julesburg. In Nebraska, it passes south of the town of
Ogallala and joins the North Platte near the town of
North Platte, Nebraska.
The South Platte River through Denver is on the U.S. EPA's list of impaired waterbodies for pathogen impairment, with E. coli as the representative pathogen species.
Further Information
Get more info on 'South Platte River'.
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