Western Slope
Mesa County
29 Porch Notes tied to Mesa County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Places in this county
Home and property (1)
Water and land (5)
Water and land
Highline Lake and the zebra mussel: why your boat gets inspected
Highline Lake State Park near Loma is treated as an infested water for aquatic nuisance species, so boats are inspected and may be decontaminated when they launch and leave.
Read note ->Water and land
In the Grand Valley, irrigation water is its own question
Many Grand Valley properties carry canal or ditch irrigation water that is separate from the household water that comes out of the tap.
Read note ->Water and land
On the Colorado River at Island Acres, the river itself is closed to boats
At the Island Acres section of James M. Robb Colorado River State Park, boating is allowed on the lakes but not on the river, because a roller dam downstream is dangerous.
Read note ->Water and land
Ruby-Horsethief: a calm Colorado River float that needs a camping permit
The Ruby-Horsethief stretch of the Colorado River from Loma toward Westwater is mostly flatwater, but overnight camping there requires a reserved BLM permit year-round.
Read note ->Water and land
Why peaches thrive at Palisade: a warm river-valley pocket
The orchards around Palisade sit in a warm, sheltered pocket of the Grand Valley along the Colorado River, a combination of climate and soil that supports Colorado's stone-fruit growing.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (9)
Outdoors and wildfire
Colorado National Monument is a national park unit, not a state park
The red-rock monument outside Grand Junction is run by the National Park Service, so its fees, camping, and rules differ from Colorado's state parks.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
McInnis Canyons and Black Ridge: BLM land with its own rules
The red-rock canyons west of Grand Junction are a BLM National Conservation Area, and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness inside it limits land travel to foot and horseback.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mount Garfield is a steep, sun-baked climb above the Grand Valley
The Mount Garfield trail near Palisade climbs sharply up the Book Cliffs with little shade, so heat and footing are the real concerns on this short but strenuous hike.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Powderhorn: the Grand Mesa's Own Ski Resort
Powderhorn Mountain Resort sits on the flank of the Grand Mesa about 45 minutes from Grand Junction, with tree-lined runs, dry powder, and summer downhill biking.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Rabbit Valley: real dinosaur bones you can visit, but not collect
Off I-70 near the Utah line, the Trail Through Time and Mygatt-Moore Quarry let you see Jurassic dinosaur fossils in place on BLM land, where collecting vertebrate fossils is prohibited.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Grand Mesa holds hundreds of lakes for fishing and camping
The forested top of the Grand Mesa is dotted with lakes and reservoirs with national-forest campgrounds, where Colorado Parks and Wildlife sets the fishing rules and the Forest Service runs the campsites.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Grand Mesa is its own avalanche forecast zone in winter
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecasts the Grand Mesa as its own backcountry zone, so winter snowmobilers and skiers should check it before heading up.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The North Fruita Desert (18 Road) is a BLM mountain-bike area with a real campground
North of Fruita, the BLM's 18 Road trail system draws mountain bikers, and its campground is a designated, fee site rather than free camp-anywhere land.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Wild horses live in the Little Book Cliffs, northeast of Grand Junction
The Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range is BLM land a few miles from Grand Junction where free-roaming wild horses share canyon country with elk, deer, and bears.
Read note ->Cars and driving (2)
Cars and driving
Driving up the Grand Mesa: 63 miles onto the world's largest flat-top mountain
State Highway 65 climbs 63 miles up onto the Grand Mesa, past more than 300 lakes to a forested tableland that sits a mile above the valley floor.
Read note ->Cars and driving
Rim Rock Drive: a road shaped by hand through the canyons
A 23-mile cliff-edge drive through Colorado National Monument, built largely by Depression-era crews and the CCC, with three rock tunnels and a string of canyon overlooks.
Read note ->Local rules (2)
Local rules
Short-term rental rules change with the address
Whether you can run a short-term rental in Mesa County depends on whether the property sits in Grand Junction, another town, or unincorporated county land, each with its own rules.
Read note ->Local rules
Unincorporated Mesa County still has rules
Outside the towns and Grand Junction, Mesa County zones every parcel under its own Land Development Code and requires building permits.
Read note ->History and culture (10)
History and culture
Art on the Corner: downtown Grand Junction's open-air sculptures
Since 1984, Grand Junction's Main Street has doubled as a free outdoor sculpture exhibit, the centerpiece of downtown's state-certified creative district.
Read note ->History and culture
Grand Junction's historic downtown and old neighborhoods
Grand Junction runs a historic preservation program, and landmarks like the old railroad depot, the Avalon Theatre, and the North Seventh Street residential district recall the early town.
Read note ->History and culture
The coal seams in the Book Cliffs
The cliffs and canyons north of the Grand Valley hold coal that shaped local industry, including the old mining area around Cameo east of Grand Junction.
Read note ->History and culture
The Old Spanish Trail passed through the Grand Valley
A branch of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, a 19th-century trade route between New Mexico and California, reached the Grand Junction area on its way west.
Read note ->History and culture
The state bug lab in Palisade
Palisade is home to a state-run insectary that raises beneficial insects to fight pests, a working facility born from a 1940s threat to the valley's orchards.
Read note ->History and culture
The Ute people and their trails across Mesa County
Long before the Grand Valley's towns, the Ute people lived in and traveled across what is now Mesa County, and some of their trails are documented at official heritage sites.
Read note ->History and culture
The wild horse range north of Grand Junction
The Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range near Grand Junction is one of a small number of areas set aside under federal law specifically to protect wild horses.
Read note ->History and culture
Three museums, one regional history
The Museums of Western Colorado run several heritage sites around Grand Junction and Fruita that together tell the valley's human and natural story.
Read note ->History and culture
Why Fruita is dinosaur country
The hills around Fruita produced important early dinosaur finds, a legacy you can trace at a named public site and a local museum.
Read note ->History and culture
Why so many things near Grand Junction say 'Grand'
Grand Junction, the Grand Valley, and Grand Mesa carry a name from the river that was once called the Grand before it became part of the Colorado River.
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