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About Green River
Green River is a community built on the banks of the Green River, an oasis in the Utah deserts. Along the river irrigation has provided for farmland, but beyond it's reach, the ground is very barren and the soil has a predominantly gray color. North of the city, the blue- and yellow-colored Book Cliffs line the horizon, providing a striking background for the city. Many trees grow in the city, such that the city looks like a small forest from a distance. A small downtown area sports the buildings of a turn of the century railroad town.
The Green River flows out of the middle of the Book Cliffs, several miles north of the city, emerging from Gray Canyon. The river bottoms between there and the city are called the Green River Valley. The arid areas east, west and south of the city are called Gunnison Valley. To the south the river plunges itself into deep gorges leading to Canyonlands National Park, leaving a short stretch of the river in a level country where irrigation and farming was possible.
Green River was founded at the point where the railroad crosses the river. It is a typical railroad town, with narrow streets laid out loosely in a grid pattern. The closure of the nearby White Sands Missile Range, and the loss of a number of other industries, has left parts of the town looking like a ghost town, but farming and tourism have kept the town alive. Green River is an important stop for travelers along Interstate 70, there being no other towns for a great distance in either direction. No other major roads leave the town, although a number of primitive roads head north and south and east. As of the year 2000, the population is 973.
