3 THE BOOK CLIFFS COAL FIELD. 
RELIEF AND DRAINAGE. 
The altitude of the surface throughout the Book Cliffs Mu ranges 
from about 4,000 feet in the lowlands to 8,000 and 9,000 feet above 
sea level on the plateau. The area is drained by Green and Grand 
rivers, which unite to form the Colorado about 60 miles south of 
the Book Cliffs. 
Green River, after leaving the Uinta Mountains, flows in a south- 
westerly direction across the Uinta Basin and cuts through the 
Tavaputs Plateau in a steep, narrow gorge known as " Desolation 
Canyon." At the mouth of the canyon in the Book Cliffs the stream 
emerges into the lowlands, where it meanders in a broad valley for 
10 or 12 miles. It flows across the belt of lowland and enters an- 
other canyon on its way to its junction with the Grand. Green 
River receives a number of large tributaries in the Uinta Basin — 
Yampa and White rivers on the east and Uinta and Duchesne on 
the west; but in its canyon course through the Tavaputs Plateau 
the only important branch is Price River, and in the lowland south 
of the Book Cliffs there is no addition to its flow. East of Desolation 
Canyon the plateau drains northward by Kwiant and Yogowotsi 
creeks, which, rising near the rim of the Book Cliffs, enter the river 
a few miles below the mouth of White River. 
Price River rises on the Wasatch Plateau, flows southeastward, 
and emerges from the canyon it has cut in the plateau at Castlegate. 
Thence it flows along the broad lowland valley at the base of the 
Book Cliffs for a distance of 25 miles. Instead of continuing in the 
lowland, however, it crosses the northern end of the San Rafael Swell, 
flows directly across the lowland valley again, cuts a deep canyon 
which separates Beckwith "Plateau from the Tavaputs Plateau, and 
Anally enters Green River about 6 miles above the mouth of Desola- 
tion Canyon. 
Grand River, rising near the Continental Divide, on the Front Range 
of the Rocky Mountains, in Middle Park, Colorado, flows southwestward 
and enters the area under consideration at the mouth of Roan Creek 
in a relatively broad valley. A few miles below Roan Creek the river 
enters Hogback Canyon, in which it flows through the Little Book 
Cliffs and emerges into the lowland immediately above the town of 
Palisades. The river crosses the lowland, a distance of about 13 miles, 
to the town of Grand Junction, where it is joined by Gunnison River. 
The Grand then turns abruptly northwestward and follows the south- 
ern margin of the lowland for 18 miles. Below Fruita it leaves the 
lowland, and again flowing southwestward cuts across the northern 
end of the Uncompahgre Plateau, and continuing southwestward, 
mostly in a canyon course, finally joins the Green. 
With the exception of the Gunnison, Grand River receives no large 
tributaries in the Book Cliffs field. The most important is Roan 
