The Arikaree River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

in the central

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. It lies mostly in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, draining land between the North and South Forks of the

Republican River The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed ...

, and it flows into the North Fork in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

after flowing a short distance through

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

. It is a designated area within the

Colorado Natural Areas Program The U.S. State of Colorado has designated 95 natural areas of the state for special protection. The Colorado Natural Areas Program was established in 1977 to preserve and protect special areas of the state with distinctive flora, fauna, ecological ...

to protect native and uncommon species that may be endangered or threatened.

Name

The river is named after the Arikara Native Americans, whose name refers to "horn".

Geography

The source of the Arikaree River is in extreme eastern Elbert County, Colorado on the western edge of the

High Plains High Plains refers to one of two distinct land regions: * High Plains (United States), land region of the western Great Plains *High Plains (Australia) The High Plains of south-eastern Australia are a sub-region, or more strictly a string of adja ...

region of the

. From there, the river flows generally northeast across the High Plains in eastern Colorado. It then crosses the extreme northwestern corner of

before entering far southwestern

. At the town of Haigler, the Arikaree joins with the North Fork Republican River to form the

. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of

Yuma County, Colorado Yuma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,988. The county seat is Wray. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and ...

and into Cheyenne County, Kansas, located at , is the lowest point in Colorado at an elevation of . It holds the distinction of being the highest low point of any U.S. state, higher than the ''highest'' points of 18 states and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

History

Along the river is the site of the 1868 Battle of Beecher Island.

Arikaree River Natural Area

The Arikaree River has been made one of the designated areas under the

because it is "part of the largest and best remaining example of a naturally functioning

river system in Colorado." It has several species of reptiles, fish, and amphibians that are native and uncommon. The area is a sanctuary for many bird species, including burrowing owls, ferruginous hawks, and

greater prairie chicken The greater prairie chicken or pinnated grouse (''Tympanuchus cupido''), sometimes called a boomer,Friederici, Peter (July 20, 1989)"The Last Prairie Chickens" ''Chicago Reader''. Retrieved August 27, 2014.（Chinese 中文：帕艺明彩大凤� ...

s. The habitat is near-pristine and there are high-quality

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

and native prairie plants.

References

External links