2013 Map of Badger Wash

About this map

Government Highline Canal cuts across the arid landscape of western Colorado, marking a significant piece of irrigation infrastructure designed to transform the high desert. This 2013 survey of the border region between Garfield and Mesa counties illustrates a transition from the narrow draws of Prairie Canyon into the broader expanse of the Grand Valley. The drainage patterns are defined by a network of seasonal waterways including West Salt Creek, Badger Wash, and Dry Canyon Wash, which feed toward the Colorado River valley. A grid of local roads, such as Baxter Pass Rd and Mitchell Rd, provides access across the public land survey system blocks. The map reveals the stark contrast between the engineered flow of the canal and the natural, winding paths of the salt creeks and washes that have shaped the local topography over millennia.