[4K]Grand Junction Colorado Driving Tour

Grand Junction, Colorado

The City of Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city has a council–manager form of government, and is the most populous municipality in all of western Colorado.[7] Grand Junction is 247 miles (398 km) west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 58,566.[8] Grand Junction is the sixteenth most populous city in the state of Colorado and the most populous city on the Colorado Western Slope. It is a major commercial and transportation hub within the large area between the Green River and the Continental Divide. It is the principal city of the Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 146,723 in 2010 census.

The city is along the Colorado River, at its confluence with the Gunnison River, which comes in from the south. "Grand" refers to the historical Grand River; it was renamed the Upper Colorado River in 1921. "Junction" refers to the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. Grand Junction has been nicknamed "River City". It is near the midpoint of a 30-mile (48 km) arcing valley, known as the Grand Valley; since the late 19th century it has been a major fruit-growing region. The valley was long occupied by the Ute people and earlier indigenous cultures. It was not settled by European-American farmers until the 1880s. Since the late 20th century, several wineries have been established in the area.

Climate[edit]
Grand Junction has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), almost grading into an arid type. Grand Junction sits in a large area of high desert lands in Western Colorado. Winters are cold and dry, with a January mean temperature of 27.4 °F (−2.6 °C). Due to its location west of the Rockies, Grand Junction does not receive as much influence from the Chinook winds as locations in Colorado east of the Front Range, yet it does receive protection from the Arctic masses that can settle to the east of the Rockies. This is illustrated by the fact that from December to February, highs reach 50 °F (10 °C) only 18 days Lows drop to 0 °F (−17.8 °C) or below on 2.9 nights per year. Snowfall is low compared to much of the rest of the state, averaging 19.1 inches (49 cm) per season; only once in the entire period of record dating to 1893, has observed 10 inches (25 cm) in a calendar day, though the median is 6.3 inches (16.0 cm), and moreover, snow cover is intermittent. Snow is greatest in December and January. Spring warming is gradual but quickens when nearing June; the average last freeze date is April 24. Summer is hot but dry, with a July mean temperature of 78.2 °F (25.7 °C). Grand Junction averages 64.5 days a year with temperatures at 90 °F (32 °C) or above, and an average 6.5 days attaining 100 °F (38 °C) or more.Autumn cooling is rapid, with the average first freeze date being October 15. The area receives little precipitation year-round, averaging 9.42 inches (239.3 mm), with no real seasonal spike. Sunshine hours are abundant, even in winter, and total just over 3200 hours per year, or 73% of the possible total.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Junction,_Colorado

The Colorado National Monument, a unique series of canyons and mesas, overlooks the city on the west. Most of the area is surrounded by federal public lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management. Interstate 70 connects the city eastward to Glenwood Springs and Denver and westward to Green River, Utah; Salt Lake City is reached to the west via Interstate 70 and U.S Route 6; and Las Vegas (via Interstate 70 and Interstate 15).

History
In September 1881, the former Ute Indian Territory was abolished and the Utes forced into a reservation so that the U.S. government could open the area to white settlers. Clinton County, Pennsylvania-born George Addison Crawford (1827–91) soon purchased a plot of land.[9] On July 22, 1882, he incorporated the town of Grand Junction and planted Colorado's first vineyard near Palisade, Colorado, causing the area to become known as the Colorado Wine Country. Grand Junction also has a storied past with gunfighters, miners, and early settlers of the American Southwest.

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