Parachute, Colorado: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 23:04, 9 March 2025

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The Town of Parachute is a home rule municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,390 at the 2020 census.<ref name="Census 2020" />

The town is the birthplace of Willard Libby, recipient of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Etymology

The town's name comes from Parachute Creek which runs through the township, before it merges with the Colorado River. The Ute people originally called the creek Pahchouc (meaning twins), with early settlers mispronouncing the word as parachute. In 1908 the town was renamed Grand Valley, but in the 1980s was changed back to Parachute.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

Parachute is on the northwest side of the Colorado River where it is joined by Parachute Creek. Interstate 70 passes through the town, with access from Exit 75. I-70 leads east Template:Convert to Glenwood Springs, the county seat, and southwest Template:Convert to Grand Junction. Parachute is bordered to the southeast across the Colorado River by the unincorporated community of Battlement Mesa.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert, or 3.70%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore</ref>

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Parachute has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.<ref>Climate Summary for Parachute, Colorado</ref>

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