Geological Survey Bulletin 707 Guidebook of the Western United States: Part E. The Denver & Rio Grande Western Route

Cover

Principal Divisions of Geologic Time

Preface, by George Otis Smith

Introduction

Denver, Colo

One-day trips from Denver

Continental Divide at Corona in Rollins Pass
Georgetown and Mount McClellan
South Platte Canyon
Other trips of interest

Main line of railroad from Denver to Colorado Springs

One-day trips from Colorado Springs

Manitou and the Garden of the Gods
Cripple Creek by way of the "Short Line"
South Cheyenne Canyon

Main line of railroad from Colorado Springs to Canon City

One-day trip from Canon City to the top of the Royal Gorge

Main line of railroad from Canon City to Salida

Main line of railroad from Salida to Malta

Leadville loop

Main line of railroad from Malta to Grand Junction

Narrow-gage line from Salida to Montrose

Standard-gage line from Montrose to Grand Junction

Main line of railroad from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City

One-day trips from Salt Lake City

Saltair bathing beach
Parleys Canyon and Park City
Bingham, the great copper camp

Index (omitted from the online edition)

ROUTE MAP.

For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map are so folded and placed that he can unfold them one by one and keep each one in view while he is reading the text relating to it. A reference in parentheses is given in the text at each point where a new sheet should be unfolded.

SHEET

PLATES.

PLATE

I. Relief map of Colorado and part of Utah, showing main lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and areas covered by sheets of route map

II. State Capitol, Denver

III. A, Wheat field in Clear Creek valley; B, Mountain front on the "Moffat road"

IV. A, Tunnels on the "Moffat road"; B, State flower of Colorado

V. James Peak

VI. "Mother Grundy"

VII. Narrows of Clear Creek canyon

VIII. Sliver Plume

IX. Mount McClellan

X. Platte Canyon

XI. A, Castie Rock; B, Dome Rock, Platte Canyon

XII. A, Result of a recent forest fire; B, Result of an old forest fire

XIII. A, Marking merchantable timber; B, Engelmann spruce

XIV. A, A forest nursery; B, Old charcoal kilns; C, Yellow pine

XV. A, A place for artificial reforestation; B, Fire-lookout station

XVI. A, "Elephant Rock"; B, Palmer Lake

XVII. A, B, Capped pinnacles in Monument Park; C, The "Major Domo," Glen Eyrie

XVIII. Pikes Peak

XIX. Gateway to the Garden of the Gods

XX. A, The "Siamese Twins"; B, "Balanced Rock"

XXI. Gateway and spires of the Garden of the Gods

XXII. Geologic map of Manitou and Garden of the Gods

XXIII. Williams Canyon, Manitou

XXIV. A, Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountain peneplain; B, Ute Pass

XXV. A, Point Sublime; B, Devils Slide

XXVI. Silver Cascade

XXVII. A, The old and the new in railroading; B, Cathedral Rocks

XXVIII. A, Bull Hill, Cripple Creek district; B, Anaconda and Mary McKinney mines

XXIX. Pillars of Hercules

XXX. Seven Falls

XXXI. Map showing Denver & Rio Grande Railroad as originally planned

XXXII. A, An armored dinosaur (Stegosaurus); B, Triceratops, the last of the dinosaurs

XXXIII. A, Dinosaur tracks; B, Portal of the Royal Gorge

XXXIV. A, Top of the Royal Gorge; B, Rim of the Royal Gorge

XXXV. Skyline Drive, Canon City

XXXVI. A, Massive walls of the Royal Gorge; B, Lodgepole pine forest; C, Grand canyon of the Arkansas

XXXVII. View looking down into the Royal Gorge

XXXVIII. Hanging Bridge, Royal Gorge

XXXIX. Upper end of the Royal Gorge

XL. A, Grand canyon of the Arkansas below Texas Creek; B, Tunnel on Rainbow Highway 80

XLI. A, Gold dredging; B, Rainbow Highway

XLII. A, Summer home in a national forest; B, Game in the national forest

XLIII. Howard and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

XLIV. Salida and the valley of the Arkansas

XLV. A, Summit of the Sawatch Range west of Salida; B, Cirque on a mountain side

XLVI. Mount Princeton

XLVII. A, Natural granite monument; B, Potholes in granite boulders

XLVIII. Mount Elbert and Mount Massive

XLIX. Carbonate Hill, Leadville

L. A, The patient burro; B, Tunnels in Eagle River canyon; C, Earth erosion columns

LI. A, Wild animals in a national forest; B, Stocking a stream with fish in a national forest

LII. Map of Homestake Glacier, Colo

LIII. Mount of the Holy Cross

LIV. Mines in Eagle River canyon

LV. A, Roches moutonuees; B, Eagle River canyon

LVI. A, Eagle Valley near Edwards; B, Recent volcano in Eagle Valley; C, Edge of recent lava flow

LVII. A, Mountain sheep; B, Upper end of canyon of Colorado River

LVIII. Canyon of Colorado River

LIX. Lower part of canyon of Colorado Riiver

LX. Glenwood Springs

LXI. Hanging Lake

LXIL. A, Grand Hogback; B, Palm-leaf fan grown in Colorado

LXIII. Grand Valley cliffs

LXIV. A, Bare hills opposite De Beque; B, Stock fenced in a national forest

LXV. A, Nature's lacelike sculpture; B, Palisade Canyon at Cameo

LXVI. High Line diversion dam in Palisade Canyon

LXVII. Colorado River valley below Palisade

LXVIII. Little Book Cliffs at Palisade

LXIX. A, Marshall Pass; B, Ouray Peak

LXX. A, Spires of volcanic rock near Sapinero; B, Intricate erosion of volcanic rock; C, Sheep in the Gunnison couutry

LXXI. A, B, Black Canyon of the Gunnison from above; C, Rough water in Black Canyon

LXXII. Upper part of Black Canyon

LXXIII. Curecanti Needle

LXXIV. Gunnison tunnel of the United States Reclamation Service: A, Diversion dam; B, Interior of tunnel; C, West portal of tunnel

LXXV. A, Uncompahgre Valley in its native state; B, The same valley irrigated

LXXVI. A, Canyon between Delta and Grand Junction; B, Brilliantly colored spur of the canyon wall; C, Cross-bedded sandstone

LXXVII. A, Two crops on irrigated ground; B, Method of irrigating orchards

LXXVIII. A column of sandstone in the Colorado National Monument

LXXIX. Ruby Canyon

LXXX. A, Overhanging walls of Ruby Canyon; B, Thick coal bed; C, Colorado-Utah State line

LXXXI. State flower of Utah

LXXXII. A, Plateau near Moab; B, Shale badlands at foot of Book Cliffs; C, Gunnison Butte

LXXXIII. Green River

LXXXIV. Apple trees in bloom

LXXXV. Beckwith Plateau

LXXXVI. A, Band of sheep; B, Coke ovens at Sunnyside; C, Cliffs above Helper

LXXXVII. A, Inclined normal fault; B, Vertical normal fault; C, Castle Gate, side view

LXXXVIII. Castle Gate

LXXXIX. A, Bonneville shore line; B, Hydroelectric plant of the Strawberry Valley reclamation project

XC. Timpanogos Peak

XCI. Wasatch Mountains

XCII. A, State capitol of Utah; B, Eagle Gate and Lion and Beehive houses of Brigham Young

XCIII. Temple Square

XCIV. A, Sea Gull Monument; B, Bathing In Great Salt Lake

XCV. A, Bingham Canyon; B, Bingham mine of Utah Copper Co.

XCVI. A, Magna mill of the Utah Copper Co.; B, Bonneville shore line on Wasatch Mountains

FIGURES.

FIGURE

1. Map of Colorado and part of Utah, showing areas covered by United States Geological Survey topographic maps and geologic folios

2. Dakota hogback and mountain front north of Plainview, as seen from the "Moffat road"

3. Arch of the Front Range restored

4. Diagrams showing effect of stream and glacial erosion

5. Dakota hogback south of South Platte River

6. Section at mouth of Platte Canyon

7. Castle Rock from the north

8. Sketch section through Palmer Lake, showing fault

9. Section at Pikeview, showing the fault that separates the rocks of the plains from those of the mountains

10. Section through Garden of the Gods

11. Profile section through Pikes Peak and Cascade, showing the relation of the mountain peak to the lower land (peneplain) on either side

12. Sections showing supposed outline of the Cripple Creek volcano

13. Section showing fault at foot of Cheyenne Mountain

14. State of Jefferson, as it was proposed in 1858

15. Sandstone bed at base of coal-bearing formation at crossing of Arkansas River near mouth of Oil Creek

16. Section from Canon City to Parkdale, showing former extent of the Dakota and Morrison formations and the pinching out westward of the lower formations

17. Cross section of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the valley on its east side, at Pleasanton, showing the anticline of the mountain and the syncline on the east

18. Lava-capped hill south of Howard

19. Section of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the valley on its east side, through Hunts Peak and Howard

20. Ideal section from Sawatch Range to Brown Canyon, showing the deep gravel filling in the old channel of the Arkansas

21. Sketch map of Brown Canyon, showing its relation to the granite and the gravel

22. Mount Yale from Nathrop

23. Great cirque on Mount Harvard

24. Mountain peaks of Sawatch Range at the head of Lake Creek, as seen from milepost

25. The Mosquito Range as seen from milepost 269, at the mouth of Iowa Gulch

26. Mineral production of Lake County from 1877 to 1918, inclusive

27. Section through some of the workings at Leadville, showing the relation of the ore to the limestone, porphyry, and quartzite

28. Section across Eagle Park, showing the thin cap of quartzite on the west and the same bed dipping into the base of the slope on the east

29. Meanders of Eagle River in Eagle Park near Deen

30. Sketch map showing old and new moralnes above Minturn

31. Anticline and syncline

32. Sketch section across the syncline at Wolcott on a line from east to west

33. Canyon cut by Eagle River through west rim of the syncline, as seen from Wolcott

34. Section across canyon of Colorado River at Shoshone

35. Top of red sandstone (Triassic) forming crest of hill below South Canon Coal Co.'s coal tipple

36. Section through Grand Hogback at Newcastle

37. Section across Uinta Basin from Newcastle to Palisade

38. Relation of oil, gas, and water to an anticline

39. Map of High Line reclamation project

40. Formation of a rock terrace

41. Formation of a gravel terrace

42. Alluvial fans in Poncha Canyon

43. Overturned eastern rim of the syncline at Crookton

44. Section through Tomichi Dome, showing the great mass of crystalline rock that has forced its way upward, while in a molten condition, through the older granite and sedimentary rocks

45. Section showing the effect of hard and soft rocks on the form of a canyon

46. Section across Black Canyon at Cimarron

47. Rocks forming the canyon wall near Bridgeport

48. Sketch section across the valley at Fruita, Colo

49. Method of measuring the flow of a river at a cable station

50. Short fold in massive sandstone opposite Ruby siding, below Mack

51. Different types of anticlines

52. Angular profiles of the Plateau province

53. Mountains carved from a laccolith

54. Projecting point of the lower salients of the Book Cliffs

55. Profile of front of Beckwith Plateau

56. Terraces at head of Grassy Creek valley

57. Geologic section at Castlegate

58. Sketch section at Gilluly, showing relation of the northward dipping red Wasatch to the white Green River formation

59. Map of Strawberry Valley reclamation project

60. Map of Lake Bonneville

61. Provo and Bonneville lake terraces at the Narrows of Jordan Valley

62. Fluctuation in level of Great Salt Lake from 1850 to 1914

63. Map showing old trails for Oregon and California

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
ALBERT B. FALL, Secretary

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director

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