- South Park (Colorado basin)
:"See also
South Park (disambiguation) "South Park is a high intermontane grassland basin, approximately 10,000 ft (3,000 m) in elevation, in the
Rocky Mountains of centralColorado . It encompasses approximately 1,000 square miles (2789 km² or 640,000 acres) around the headwaters of theSouth Platte River in Park County approximately 60 mi (100 km) southwest of Denver. It is the southernmost of three such large mountain valleys in Colorado, along with North Park and Middle Park. The largest town in the basin is Fairplay, which sits near the northern end.Geology
Geologically, the valley is a wide faulted
syncline sitting between theFront Range to the east and theSawatch Uplift to the west. TheMosquito Range forms a high barrier along the western side of the valley. The long-extinctThirtynine Mile volcanic field is located just to the southeast. The valley is mostly underlain byPaleozoic andMesozoic sedimentary rock s concealed by a thin layer ofgravel laid down by glaciation duringPleistocene time. The underlying rocks are tilted slightly to the east. The eastern (and newer) side of the valley is underlain primarily byPierre Shale laid down duringCretaceous time. The western (and older) side of the valley, on the west side of Red Hill, is underlain primarily byPermian andPennsylvanian rocks. Red Hill runs through the center of the valley as a hogback ridge of tilted Cretaceous andJurassic sedimentary rocks.Gold
Gold mining in South Park began in 1859. Extensive placer deposits were mined along the west side of the park, and lode deposits were mined in the
Mosquito Range . The extensive gravel ridges east of Fairplay are the result of dredging for gold. ("see Gold mining in Colorado").Petroleum
Although South Park contains some of the same geologic formations that yield oil and gas in the
Denver Basin further east, efforts to find commercial oil and gas in South Park have so far proved unsuccessful.Uranium
A minor amount of uranium has been mined from sandstone in South Park ("see Uranium mining in Colorado").
Transportation
The valley is traversed by several highways, including
U.S. Route 285 , which enters the valley from the eastern side over the Front Range at Kenosha Pass, providing a vehicle link to Denver. The highway crosses Red Hill at Red Hill Pass. On its northern side, the valley is connected by several high mountain passes to the valley of the North Fork of the South Platte River (a tributary of the South Platte). It is also connected byHoosier Pass to the valley to the Blue River near Breckenridge. On its southwestern side, at the southern end of the Mosquito Range, it is connected byTrout Creek Pass to the upper valley of theArkansas River near Buena Vista.U.S. Highway 24 enters South Park from the east atWilkerson Pass .History
Like much of the mountainous areas of Colorado, the valley was inhabited by Utes before the arrival of white settlers in the middle 19th century. It was explored by
John C. Fremont during his second expedition in 1844. In 1859 the discovery of placer gold in the streams of the valley during theColorado Gold Rush led to an influx of prospectors and miners. The town of Fairplay was founded as a more law abiding place to live than the older, nearby town of Tarryall during this time and continued to be a center ofgold , and latersilver mining up through the middle 20th century.South Park City , anopen air museum outside Fairplay, provides a historical recreation of thegold rush days. The basin was connected to Denver by railroad with the extension of theDenver, South Park and Pacific Railroad over Kenosha Pass in 1879.Popular culture
Since the late 1990s, South Park has been best known for giving its name to the
animated series "South Park ".Trey Parker , one of the creators of the "South Park" series, grew up in Conifer, about 40 miles (65 km) east of Fairplay.Fact|date=March 2008External links
* [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=17&Z=13&X=16&Y=168&W=2 Topographic map]
* [http://www.fourteenernet.com/southpark/ South Park Colorado Region - Vistor Guide]
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