If you had to pick a river in the United States to explore, which one would you choose? For me, it is an easy choice - it would be the Colorado River. Why? Not because it is the longest (it is actually the fifth longest) but rather because it is the most picturesque. Originating in the central Rocky Mountains in Colorado, it traverses 1,450 miles to its terminus into the Gulf of California, between Baja California and Sonora. Along the way, it travels through no less that eleven National Parks. Its waters can be quite calm or quite tumultuous depending on where you see it (it has two whitewater rapids on the top ten list of notorious rapids in the world). It has carved many canyons throughout the American Southwest (the biggest being the Grand Canyon) as well as numerous famous "goosenecks" (Horseshoe Bend, Dead Horse). I had the great fortune back in 2005 to stay on a working ranch along the river, which was quite exciting. This photo was taken just outside of Moab along Potash Road. As you can see, the waters along this section are quite calm, allowing the sandstone rock formations to be reflected in its waters.