The Uncompahgre River is a tributary of the Gunnison River

Gunnison River

The Gunnison River is a tributary of the Colorado River, long, in the Southwest state of Colorado. It is the fifth largest tributary of the Colorado River, with a mean flow of 4320 ft³/s .-Description:...

, approximately 75 mi (121 km) long, in southwestern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Lake Como at 12,215 ft (3723m) in northern San Juan County

San Juan County, Colorado

San Juan County is the least populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado in the United States. The county name is the Spanish language name for “Saint John”, the name Spanish explorers gave to a river and the mountain range in the area. The county population was 558 at U.S. Census 2000...

, in the Uncompahgre National Forest

Uncompahgre National Forest

Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres in parts of Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, San Juan, and Delta Counties in western Colorado...

 in the northwestern San Juan Mountains

San Juan Mountains

The San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and...

 is the headwaters of the river. It flows northwest past Ouray

Ouray, Colorado

The historic City of Ouray is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 813 at the U.S. Census 2000 and 1,000 as of the U.S. Census 2010...

, Ridgway

Ridgway, Colorado

The Town of Ridgway, coined Gateway to the San Juans, is a Home Rule Municipality in Ouray County, in the southwestern portion of the U.S. State of Colorado. The town is a former railroad stop on the Uncompaghre River in the northern San Juan Mountains...

, Montrose

Montrose, Colorado

The City of Montrose is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 15,479 in 2005. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is U.S...

, and Olathe

Olathe, Colorado

Olathe is a Statutory Town in Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,573 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Olathe is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...

 and joins the Gunnison at Confluence Park in Delta

Delta, Colorado

The City of Delta is the county seat and the most populous city of Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,915 at the 2010 census...

.

The river forms Poughkeepsie Gulch and the Uncompahgre Gorge

Uncompahgre Gorge

The Uncompahgre Gorge is a deep mountain canyon formed by the Uncompahgre River and Red Mountain Creek just south of Ouray, Colorado. At the north end of the Gorge the Uncompahgre River flows into a deep box canyon which is home to Ouray Ice Park . Access to the gorge is via U.S. Highway 550...

. The major tributaries are all creeks draining the northwest San Juan Mountains.

There are two dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s on the Uncompahgre River, a small diversion dam

Diversion dam

A diversion dam is the term for a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir...

 in the Uncompahgre Gorge, and Ridgway Dam

Ridgway Dam

Ridgway Dam is an earthen dam on the Uncompahgre River which impounds Ridgway Reservoir, located about 6 miles north of the town of Ridgway in Ouray County, Colorado....

 below the town of Ridgway which forms Ridgway Reservoir

Ridgway Reservoir

Ridgway Reservoir is a lake impounded by Ridgway Dam on the Uncompahgre River south of the town of Ridgway in Ouray County, Colorado in the western United States....

.

The river is used for irrigation in the Uncompahgre Valley

Uncompahgre Valley

The Uncompahgre Valley is an agricultural valley of the Uncompahgre River around the town of Montrose in the western part of the U.S. state of Colorado...

. Additionally, water from the Gunnison is diverted to the valley via the Gunnison Tunnel

Gunnison Tunnel

The Gunnison Tunnel is a 5.8 mile irrigation tunnel constructed between 1905 and 1909 by the Bureau of Reclamation. At the time of its completion, it was the longest irrigation tunnel in the world...

. The Uncompahgre is unnavigable except at high water.

The name given to the river comes from the Ute

Ute Tribe

The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...

word Uncompaghre, which loosely translates to "dirty water" or "red water spring" and is likely a reference to the many hot springs in the vicinity of Ouray.