where and what is the colorado plateau?
The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic “province,” a region geologically and topographically distinct from other parts of the West. Originally named the “Colorado Plateaus” by explorer John Wesley Powell, the “Plateau” is in fact a huge basin ringed by highlands and filled with plateaus. Sprawling across southeastern Utah, northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and western Colorado, the Colorado Plateau province covers a land area of 130,000 square miles. Of America’s 50 states, only Alaska, Texas, California, and Montana are larger. Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park preserves a colorful landscape of sedimentary sandstones eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The Colorado and Green rivers divide the park into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the rivers themselves. While the districts share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportu
