In partnership with Maria's Bookshop

From the crystalline headwaters of the Rocky Mountains to its shocking demise in a foamy, polluted pit in the Sonoran Desert, the Colorado River’s story is one of both epic beauty and profound loss.

In this deeply personal and visually stunning narrative, acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Pete McBride sets out to document the lifeblood of the American West. What begins as an assignment close to his childhood home transforms into a twenty-year odyssey that will change him forever. By packraft, on foot, and from the cockpit of his father’s small plane, McBride bears witness to the river’s grandeur—and the staggering scale of its exploitation.