Colorado Plateau is a raised area of relatively flat land in the southwestern United States. The Colorado Plateau spans the Four Corners region, where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. The Colorado Plateau has an area of around 130,000 square miles (340,000 square kilometers). The region was formed tens of millions to hundreds of millions of years ago and is primarily made up of deposits of sandstone, shale, and limestone.
The elevation of the Colorado Plateau ranges from about 2,000 to 13,000 feet (600 to 4,000 meters) above sea level. The lower elevations feature arid (dry) shrublands and grasslands. The higher elevations feature woodlands marked by juniper trees, pine trees, and shrubs. The region is also home to a variety of animals, including cougars, jackrabbits, and lizards. The Colorado Plateau is the ancestral homeland of several Native American groups, including the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kaibab, Navajo, Paiute, and White Mountain Apache. Such Indigenous (native) groups as the Ancestral Pueblo and Sinagua once lived on what is now the Colorado Plateau.
The Colorado Plateau is divided into six areas: (1) Canyonlands, (2) Datil, (3) Grand Canyon, (4) High Plateau, (5) Navajo, and (6) Uinta Basin. The Canyonlands, located in the region’s northeast, features deeply cut canyons. The Datil section, located in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, is volcanic in origin. The Grand Canyon is located on the region’s southwestern and western edge. The High Plateau section, located along the region’s western and northwestern edge, consists of large plateaus and faults. The Navajo section is the central part of the Colorado Plateau. It is made up of high plateaus and desert valleys. The Uinta Basin, located in the northernmost part of the region, has many small tributaries, streams, or other channels that carry water to a river. 
The Colorado Plateau includes dozens of national parks and monuments. The most famous is Grand Canyon National Park.
