DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 7 



the Atlantic coast, where the mean annual precipitation is 45 to 50 

 inches. 



The description of the scenery along the line of the Denver & Rio 

 Grande Western Railroad begins on page 22. 



ONE-DAY TRIPS FROM DENVER. 



As most of the westbound travelers who pass through Denver stop 

 over a few hours or a few days, it is desirable to call their attention 

 to many side trips that may be made in one day by trolley, railroad 

 train, or automobile. 



Most people are attracted by the mountains, and the excursions 

 that are generally of the greatest interest are those made into their 

 narrow canyons or over their snowy summits. Not only are the 

 mountain trips enjoj^able on account of the scener}'^, but they enable 

 the traveler to have the pleasure of tramping over snow banks under 

 the hot rays of a midsummer sun, to see something of the mines 

 of gold and silver and other metals that have made this region 

 famous, and to behold the magnificent exposures of rock along the 

 canj^on walls and in the highest peaks and thus to learn some of 

 nature's hidden mysteries regarding the earth upon which he lives. 



CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AT CORONA IN ROLLINS PASS. 



Corona is reached by the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad, or " Moffat 

 road," as it is generally called. It is the objective point of most 

 travelers who wish to enjoy the pleasure of snowballing on a hot 

 summer day and of experiencing the sensation of standing on the 

 backbone of the continent. On leaving Denver for this trip the 

 traveler sees first the fine irrigated farms of Clear Creek valley 

 (see PI. Ill, A) and then the upturned beds of sandstone and shale 

 which carry the coal of the Denver Basin. These rocks, which are 

 called by geologists the Laramie formation, are of Cretaceous age, 

 and their position in the geologic column is shown on page ii. No 

 coal beds can be seen from this railroad, but a few miles to the north 

 there are extensive mines.^ 



*Coal has been miued in Colorado 

 continuously since 1864, 12 years be- 

 fore the Territory became a State. 

 One of the first fields to be developed 

 was that of Boulder County, which 

 lies in the northem part of what geolo- 

 gists call the Denver Basin. This 

 basin, though not a surface basin, is 

 so called because the beds of rock in 

 it dip toward and under the city from 

 all directions, so that any one bed of 

 rock, if it could be followed below the 



surface, would be found to have the 

 form of an irregular basin. The west- 

 ern rim of the basin is formed of the 

 rock beds that are upturned along the 

 mountain front in the vicinity of Mor- 

 ri.son. Golden, and Boulder, but the 

 eastern rim is not conspicuous, as the 

 beds dip very gently westward toward 

 the center of the basin. 



The coal is contained in sandstone 

 and shale of Cretaceous age (Laramie 

 formation) and probably underlies 



