Colorado is often thought of as mountainous because the Rocky Mountains are prominent in the western part of the state. However, most of the state is flat: plains, basins,
plateaus. The Front Range is a mountain range on the eastern edge of the Rockies that separates Denver and the Colorado Eastern Plains, part of the Great Plains, from the western part of the
state where the Rockies and Colorado Plateau, which is mainly high desert, are located. The "Colorado Front Range," not to be confused with the "Front Range," is a colloquial designation of
the primary populated areas of the state: basically, a north-south corridor, running through Denver. The western slopes of the Rockies are drained by tributaries of the Colorado River. The
eastern slopes of the Rockies are drained by tributaries of the Platte River. The North Platte River is almost wholly in Wyoming, while the North and South Forks of the South Platte River join about 20 miles to the southwest of Denver. The South Platte is then the principal river that runs through Denver, provides what water there is to the Colorado Eastern Plains, and joins
up with the North Platte just across the border near the town of North Platte, Nebraska.
Colorado is divided into seven regions for descriptive purposes: the Northwestern, Southwestern, Front Range, Denver, South Central, Northeastern, and Southeastern Regions. Northeastern
Colorado is wheat fields and plenty of open flat land. Southeastern Colorado is where the first explorers explored, and has Pueblo, a city of 100,471 souls, as its principal population center.
(In 1540, half of De Coronado's army perished on what is now called the Purgatoire River, so called, because they were not able to receive last rites from a priest.) Colorado Springs, with a
population of nearly 1/2 million, is the main city in the South Central Region. Durango, with 15,000 residents, is the most well-known town in Southwestern Colorado where Indian pueblos and
abandoned mines are plentiful. Winter Park, Vail, Aspen, and Breckenridge are some familiar towns nestled in the Northwestern Region's mountains and Grand Junction, a city of some 120,000,
straddles the Colorado River to the west. The Front Range is where the artifacts of Boulder, Fort Collins, and Greeley interrupt nature's postcard.
And then there's the Denver metropolitan area, where over half the state's population resides. Denver is very roughly bisected by the South Platte River which is joined by Cherry Creek just west of today's city center. Several neighborhoods deserve brief introductions. LoDo, Lower Downtown, is a neighborhood on the right bank of Cherry Creek (the north side). Gentrification has brought an infusion of well-heeled residents while clubification has made the area numero uno for partying! LoDo is just west of downtown. The Capitol Hill neighborhood, also experiencing gentrification, is primarily residential with retail commercial establishments along the major thoroughfares and is located just southeast of downtown and west of the state capitol. The Golden Triangle is a "hot" neighborhood with development proceeding apace. Civic Center Park, The Denver Art Museum, and The Acoma Center are all located here. And let's not forget the Coors Brewery in Golden, a suburb west of Denver at the base of the Front Range
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