Sunday, April 14, 2019

Colorado's Remote Corner

The northwest corner of Colorado, which borders Wyoming and Utah, is surely one of the more remote locations in the State.  On the other hand, this region harbors Colorado's portion of Dinosaur National Monument and is the home of Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge, which I plan to visit over the next two days.

The refuge straddles the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado, that rises on the west flank of Wyoming's Wind River Range.  After passing through Flaming Gorge, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah line, the river curves eastward into northwest Colorado where it receives the waters of the Yampa River before returning to Utah; there it eventually joins the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park.

Always remote, Browns Park was the site of a fur trading post back in the early 1800s and was a popular hideout location for outlaws such as Butch Cassidy.  My route from Denver will take me west to Silverthorne, north through the Blue River Valley to Kremmling, across Rabbit Ears Pass to Steamboat Springs, westward across Colorado's Northwest Plateau and then northwest on Route 318 to the refuge.  More details in coming posts.