Mesa County, Colorado Trivia Quiz

Answer: table

The county is named for the several plateau- or table-top (mesa: table (Old Spanish; from Latin "mensa")) mountains in the area. The world's largest table-top mountain, The Grand Mesa, lies along the eastern border of Mesa County. It dominates the eastern horizon in The Grand Valley.

Answer: colorado gunnison

The Colorado River enters the county from the north, goes through The Grand Valley, and exits to the west into Utah.

The Gunnison enters from the southeast, after cutting through Black Canyon. It intersects the Colorado River in Grand Junction, where its waters join the Colorado.

The upper Colorado River, from its headwaters in the mountains down to the junction with the Gunnison, was once called Grand River, hence the name of the city where they join. In the early 20th Century, this portion was renamed the Colorado.

Answer: Grand Junction

Grand Junction ranks #15 in population for Colorado cities, and #1 for cities on the Western Slope of Colorado. The Western Slope is the portion of Colorado whose natural drainage goes towards the Pacific Ocean.

Answer: 2

It is almost 3 times the area of Rhode Island, and about 38% bigger than the state of Delaware.

Answer: Rick Schroder

He and his family lived on a 15,000 acre ranch called "Mesa Mood" in southern Mesa County, about 11 miles south of Glade Park.

Answer: grand

It's western border is only next to Grand County, UT. The Colorado Counties are Garfield, Pitkin, Gunnison, Delta, and Montrose.

Answer: Leon Peak

Leon Peak, on The Grand Mesa, has an altitude of over 11,000 ft above sea level (ASL).

Battlement Mesa is only 5,489 ft and located in Garfield County. Mt. Garfield, a notable feature of the northern horizon of the Grand Valley, is a prominence of the Bookcliff Mountains into the valley, with an altitude of about 6500 ft. Question Mark Hill is a local name of a small hill in Grand Junction, where Wellington Ave. and N. 17th St. once met, and is just under 4700 ft.

Answer: I-70

Interstate 70 begins at the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) and ends at its junction with I-15 in southwest Utah. It goes through Mesa County, mainly parallel with the Colorado River, except it goes by Grand Junction on that city's northern side; the river goes along the city's southern side.

I-25 goes through Colorado north-to-south, but along the base of the Rocky Mountains on the eastern side, through Denver and Pueblo. I-76 has two segments, one mainly in Pennsylvania, and the other in Nebraska and Colorado, where it ends in Denver.

There is no I-50 in the United States, but there *is* a US-50, which traverses the US from Ocean City, MD, to San Francisco, CA. It goes through Colorado from east to west, where it *does* pass through Mesa County.

Answer: True

After the spring thaw, the river can sometimes flood to more than a mile wide. However in late spring and early summer, it is possible to cross the river in The Grand Valley on foot, as the water is only about 3 feet deep, just before its junction with the Gunnison River.

Answer: 2

In comparison the eastern states, the western states of the US are very large, so cities are fairly widespread.

Denver is the closest state capital to Grand Junction, at 244 miles. Salt Lake City, UT, is next closest, at 283 miles. These are the only two within 300 miles.

The distances to other state capitals are: Cheyenne, WY - 340 miles; Santa Fe, NM - 380 miles; Phoenix, AZ - 574 miles; Boise, ID - 619 miles; Lincoln, NE - 723 miles; Topeka, KS - 782 miles; and Oklahoma City, OK - 925 miles.