Colorado River, Canyonlands National Park. Early-morning light illuminates a flotilla of clouds above a kayaker on the placid waters of the Colorado River in Spanish Bottom. Known for its whitewater rapids, the Colorado River upstream of Spanish Bottom contains no rapids whatsoever for 60 miles as it meanders silently beneath the high Wingate Sandstone cliffs of Dead Horse Point and Hatch Mesa. Several miles downstream from this location, the river changes character entirely as it enters the foaming whitewater of Cataract Canyon.