Seniors Find “River City”

On a map seniors will find Grand Junction, Colorado, known as “River City” just off of Route 70 west of Denver and not far from the Utah border.  The name “Grand” refers to the historical Grand River, which was renamed the upper Colorado River in 1921, and the word “Junction” is from the joining of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. Hence, Grand Junction has been given the nickname “River City”.

Senior visitors will find that it is in Colorado Wine Country. I did not know that Colorado grew grapes, did you? I just learned that The Grand Valley American Viticultural Area, is home to 75% of Colorado’s vineyards and 26% of its wineries and home to many of Colorado’s best wines.

Just over 60,000 call Grand Junction home and the area includes attractions like the Colorado National Monument, the Grand Mesa and Colorado’s Wine Country. When traveling to Aspen, senior travelers are so close to Grand Junction that it’s well worth a visit.

On the western edge of the Rockies, Grand Junction is the largest city on Colorado’s Western Slope. A center of the western Colorado uranium boom in the 1950s and the oil-shale boom in the late 1970s, today Grand Junction is a fast-growing trade center serving practically all of western Colorado and eastern Utah.

Seniors Discover a Flat Topped Mountain

The Grand Mesa is a lesser known Colorado gem near Grand Junction. It is thought to be the largest flat topped mountain at 350,000 acres with over 300 lakes.  On top of the Mesa is the Grand Mesa National Forest, allowing recreational access to thousands of acres of public land.

Senior visitors will find the Grand Junction downtown area is nestled in the heart of the Grand Valley, and home to dozens of shops, music venues, restaurants, galleries and area services. You can enjoy strolling along the tree-lined streets complete with many outdoor sculptures, bubbling fountains and a wide array of historic buildings.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Cross Orchards Historic Site re-creates a historic agricultural community of the early 20th century on its 24 ½-acre site. A workers’ bunkhouse, blacksmith shop, country store, and an extensive collection of vintage farming and road-building equipment are among the exhibits.

The Museum of Western Colorado, also in Grand Junction, is the largest multi-disciplinary museum between Salt Lake City and Denver. Over the past forty years it has grown to include three major museum facilities, three active outdoor paleontology sites, an educational center and a respected research library.

Senior bikers, bring your bike. The Grand Junction area has turned into a major mountain biking destination, with many bikers coming from the Front Range of Colorado, the Salt Lake City area, and even as far away as California to enjoy the area’s abundant single-track trails. Maybe take some time and bike Kokopelli’s Trail that ends in Moab, Utah.

Grand Junction awaits your visit.   jeb