Parachute Colorado Real Estate

The name comes from the appearance on a map of several streams converging on the town as do the shroud lines of a parachute combined with the arc of the ridge line above the streams which resembles the canopy of a parachute.
 
The town was previously named Grand Valley.

The town was originally named Parachute, after the one creek that flowed into town from the northwest.

Parachute Creek was named such when the original surveyors mapped the area.

As noted above, the creek has three main branches that converge at a point and a topographical map of the canyon has the appearance of a parachute -- but this is several miles northwest of the town.
 
In 1908, the name of the town was changed to Grand Valley to lure travellers on their way to the Grand Valley, which is the Colorado River valley to the southwest known for its fruit production.

After the local history "Lest We Forget" was published in the late 1970's, the town voted to return the name Parachute to the town.

Parachute is located off the I-70 corridor and is bordered by the spectacular Roan Cliffs and Mt. Callahan.

Legend reveals that a surveyor in the 1800’s spotted a bit of erosion in the nearby hillside that to Grand Valley in 1904 and then renamed Parachute in 1980.

Oil shale and soda ash mininlooked like the billowing of parachutes; hence the name of Parachute.

The town’s name was changed along with natural gas exploration have provided the town’s primary economy for many years.

The long growing seasons and mild winters make this area an ideal place to raise livestock and cultivate fruit orchards.

Some of the richest petroleum reserves in the world lie just north of Parachute.

Since the early 1900’s there has been a wide range of laboratory and field work, seeking economically feasible and environmentally compatible methods of extracting usable crude oil from shale.

Across the river to the South lies the unincorporated subdivision of Battlement Mesa with an estimated population of 4,200.

After enduring the booms and surviving the busts, Parachute has grown into a thriving community of quiet residential neighborhoods with supporting businesses and services. 

Current oil/gas exploration and production is a major contributor to the local economy -- providing jobs and supporting businesses. 

There is a mix of new residential subdivisions and older residential units for the industry housing.

In town recreation is available at Cottonwood Park with fishing at nearby Parachute Pond.