Little Colorado River

Little Colorado River
Tółchíʼíkooh (Navajo) Colorado Chiquito (Spanish)
The Little Colorado River carves a deep canyon just above its confluence with the Colorado
Country	United States
States	Arizona, New Mexico
Region	Apache County
Part of	Colorado River
Tributaries
- left	Silver Creek
- right	Zuni River, Puerco River
Primary source	West Fork Little Colorado River
- location	Mount Baldy, White Mountains
- elevation	10,000 ft (3,048 m)
Secondary source	East Fork Little Colorado River
Source confluence
- location	Greer
- elevation	8,359 ft (2,548 m)
- coordinates	34°00′15″N 109°27′24″W / 34.00417°N 109.45667°W / 34.00417; -109.45667
Mouth	Colorado River
- location	Grand Canyon, Coconino County
- elevation	2,700 ft (823 m)
- coordinates	36°11′28″N 111°48′14″W / 36.19111°N 111.80389°W / 36.19111; -111.80389Coordinates: 36°11′28″N 111°48′14″W / 36.19111°N 111.80389°W / 36.19111; -111.80389
Length	338 mi (544 km)
Basin	26,500 sq mi (68,635 km2)
Discharge
- average	405 cu ft/s (11 m3/s)
- max	120,000 cu ft/s (3,398 m3/s)
- min	150 cu ft/s (4 m3/s)
Map showing the Little Colorado River basin. The Little Colorado River flows northwest through eastern Arizona to join the Colorado north of Flagstaff.

The Little Colorado River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about 26,500 square miles (69,000 km²) in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. Although it stretches almost 340 miles (550 km), only the headwaters and the lowermost reaches flow year-round. Between St. Johns and Cameron, most of the river is a wide, braided wash, only containing water after heavy snowmelt or flash flooding.

The lower 57.2 miles (92.1 km) is known as the Little Colorado River Gorge and forms one of the largest arms of the Grand Canyon, at over 3,000 feet (910 m) deep where it joins the Colorado near Desert View in Grand Canyon National Park.

The river rises as two forks in the White Mountains of mid-eastern Arizona, in Apache County. The West Fork starts in a valley on the north flank of Mount Baldy at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m), while the East Fork starts nearby. The forks meet in a canyon near the town of Greer, forming the main Little Colorado River. It flows into River Reservoir, then leaves the canyon near Eagar. The river then turns north, meandering through Richville Valley, before emptying into Lyman Lake, impounded by an irrigation dam built in 1912. From there the river continues north, past the town of St. Johns. Shortly afterwards, the river transforms from a perennial stream to an ephemeral wash as it travels northwestwards through Hunt Valley, where it receives the Zuni River, then receiving Silver Creek and the Puerco River—its main tributaries—near the town of Holbrook as it flows into the Painted Desert.