Grand Mesa

34 Pictures: 1-20 , 20-34

Blocked Trail (2002-09-19) When the forest service wants to close a road, they do a very good job blocking it. We are a top Grand Mesa.

Morning Light (2002-09-19) Grand Mesa turns bright yellow with the aspen in the fall.

Aspen Grove on Grand Mesa (2002-09-19)

Grand Mesa Road (2002-09-19)

Aspen Grove (2002-09-19)

Grand Mesa (2002-09-19)

Road Closed (2002-09-19)

Jumbo Lake (2002-09-19) There's several hundred lakes on Grand Mesa (the world's largest flat top mountain.) This is Jumbo Lake off US 65.

Grand Mesa View (2002-09-19)

Highway 65 (2002-09-19) Grand Mesa was formed by a lava flows. The surrounding sandstone areas eroded away, creating a large lava topped flat mountain.

Grand Mesa Vista (2002-09-19)

Grand Mesa Vista (2002-09-19) Although the top of the mountain is rather flat, the edges of the mountain are still quite steep.

Sea of Green (2002-09-20)

Grand Valley (2002-09-20) A view from Grand Mesa toward the Grand Valley.

Colorado Aspen (2002-09-20) A picture from Grand Mesa toward Grand Valley.

Grand Valley (2002-09-20) A view of Grand Valley from Grand Mesa.

Book Cliffs (2002-09-20) The Book Cliffs from Grand Mesa.

High Point of the Trip (2002-09-20) This is the highest point on US 65 (10,839'). The highest point on Grand Mesa is 11,234.

Lava Cap (2002-09-20) Trees growing in the lava cap.

Grand Mesa View (2002-09-20) Looking toward Delta from Grand Mesa.

34 Pictures: 1-20 , 20-34

Grand Mesa is the world's largest flat top mountain. It is in western Colorado, overlooking Grand Junction. The mountain was formed by lava flows and glaciers. The top of the mountain is a hard lava cap. It appears as though the surrounding sandstone dominated terrains eroded away, leaving the mesa standing tall.

The height of the mountain ranges from 4000 to over 11,000 feet. I found a site that reported the higest point was 11,234 feet, and that the average elevation of the mountain was over 9000 feet. NOTE different sites report different elevation figures.

This gallery has pictures that we took on a tour in late August on the Highway 65 Scenic Byway.

Context: Mountains

Grand Junction, Colorado (95 pictures) Grand Mesa is east of Grand Junction, Colorado.
Interstate 70 (51 pictures) Scenic Route 65 is exit 49 off Interstate 70.
Salicaceae Family (46 pictures) The mesa is lousy with Colorado quaking aspen.
Cedaredge, Colorado (9 pictures) Cedaredge is on the southeast slopes of Grand Mesa. The town has an interesting pioneer museum.
State Highway 133 (29 pictures) Highway 133 is south of Grand Mesa.