FLOOD DAMAGE
Just before we reach the T-intersection with the eastern segment of South Broadway we may still see on the right some of the destruction caused by a devastating flood that roared down No Thoroughfare and other canyons on September 7, 1978, as a result of what was termed the worst cloudburst to hit Glade Park, the Monument, and the Grand Valley since 1958. A house on the flood plain just above the bridge was badly damaged and was filled with 4 feet of mud, and the Monument Road bridge across No Thoroughfare Canyon nearest the intersection was washed out, necessitating the rerouting of traffic to and from the East Entrance of the Monument. Moral—never build a house or even pitch a tent in a dry wash or arroyo in desert regions! Incidentally, indirect measurements by engineers of the U.S. Geological Survey indicated a discharge of 9,290 cfs just above the washed out bridge in No Thoroughfare Canyon, and 2,980 cfs in Red Canyon beneath the Broadway bridge.
SOUTH BROADWAY
Inasmuch as the bridge on Monument Road has long since been rebuilt, we will cross it, turn right on South Broadway at the T-intersection, cross the Redlands Power Canal ([p. 88]), and join Colorado Highway 340 at the traffic light; thus, we complete a round trip “[From Grand Junction through The Redlands to the West Entrance of the Monument],” “[Through the Monument from West to East Entrances],” and “[From the East Entrance to Grand Junction].”
Through Glade Park from the Northwest Arm of Ute Canyon to Columbus Canyon
GLADE PARK ROAD
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A very pleasant 11-mile drive through Glade Park may be made from the intersection where Rim Rock Drive crosses the northwest arm of Ute Canyon ([p. 108]) to the intersection with the same drive on the rim of Columbus Canyon a quarter of a mile southwest of Cold Shivers Point ([p. 120]). The name Glade Park refers not only to the Store and Post Office mentioned earlier, but also to a nearly flat farming and ranching area south of the Monument—an area entirely different from the Monument or The Redlands. Most of the cultivated part of Glade Park is underlain by nearly flat lying Entrada Sandstone which was weathered to a sandy soil, but a few areas are underlain by the Morrison Formation. This drive should appeal particularly to people spending from a few days to a week or more in the campground. For the more adventuresome, other interesting roads join Glade Park from several directions, as noted below.
After leaving Rim Rock Drive at Ute Canyon, on a good gravelled road, we traverse attractive, hilly, wooded country generally southward for about a mile and climb some 300 feet to a flat area covered mainly by sagebrush and grass. About 3 miles south of the intersection, we see on the left the leached white outcrops of the Entrada Sandstone shown in [figure 19].