Little Colorado River

Little Colorado River Tółchíʼíkooh (in Navajo) Colorado Chiquito (in Spanish)
The Little Colorado River carves a deep canyon just above its confluence with the Colorado
Map showing the Little Colorado River basin. The Little Colorado River flows northwest through eastern Arizona to join the Colorado north of Flagstaff.
Location
Country	United States
States	Arizona, New Mexico
Region	Apache County, Navajo County, Coconino County
Physical characteristics
Source	West Fork Little Colorado River
• location	Mount Baldy, White Mountains
• elevation	10,000 ft (3,000 m)
2nd source	East Fork Little Colorado River
Source confluence
• location	Greer
• coordinates	34°00′15″N 109°27′24″W / 34.00417°N 109.45667°W / 34.00417; -109.45667
• elevation	8,359 ft (2,548 m)
Mouth	Colorado River
• location	Grand Canyon, Coconino County
• coordinates	36°11′28″N 111°48′14″W / 36.19111°N 111.80389°W / 36.19111; -111.80389
• elevation	2,700 ft (820 m)
Length	338 mi (544 km)[1]
Basin size	26,500 sq mi (69,000 km2)
Discharge
• average	405 cu ft/s (11.5 m3/s)
• minimum	150 cu ft/s (4.2 m3/s)
• maximum	120,000 cu ft/s (3,400 m3/s)
Basin features
River system	Colorado River
Tributaries
• left	Silver Creek
• right	Zuni River, Puerco River

The Little Colorado River (Hopi: Paayu) is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona,^[2] 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),^[1] 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^[3] 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. An overlook of the gorge is a Navajo Nation Tribal Park.