Little Colorado River, Arizona

A tributary of the Colorado River, the Little Colorado is the main drainage pathway of the Painted Desert area in northeastern Arizona. The river flows northwest from Mount Baldy to the Grand Canyon, and while it stretches over about 300 miles, it is a dry wash for the majority of the year, except in times of heavy snow melts or flash flooding caused by extreme rain storms. Water does flow year-round through the lower parts of the Little Colorado River, which form a dramatic deep gorge that connects with the Grand Canyon.