Grand Junction is 247 miles (398 km) west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.

[8] It is a major commercial and transportation hub within the large area between the Green River and the Continental Divide, and the largest city in Colorado outside of the Front Range Corridor.

The Colorado National Monument, a unique series of canyons and mesas, overlooks the city on the west.

Grand Junction also has a storied past with gunfighters, miners, and early settlers of the American Southwest.

Prior to its incorporation as the city of Grand Junction, the community was known as Ute, and was also briefly called West Denver.

Due to its location west of the Rockies, Grand Junction does not receive as much influence from the Chinook winds as locations in Colorado east of the Front Range, yet it does receive protection from the Arctic air masses that can settle to the east of the Rockies.

Spring warming is gradual but quickens when nearing June; the average last freeze date is April 25.

The area receives little precipitation year-round, averaging 9.05 inches (229.9 mm), with no real seasonal spike.

From the time settlers arrived in the 1880s until the 1960s, three of the main economic activities in the region were farming, fruit growing, and cattle raising.

Fruit orchards, particularly between Grand Junction and Palisade to the east, remain important to the region's reputation and economy to the present day.

In this semi-arid environment, these orchards thrive from a combination of abundant sunshine and irrigation from a system of canals that divert water from the Colorado River.

John F. Campion and others including James Joseph Brown, Eben Smith, Charles E. Mitchell, George Trimble, James R. McKinnie, and Charles Boettcher invested, creating the Colorado Sugar Manufacturing Company in 1899 and contracting E. H. Dyer to build a factory.

For decades, Grand Junction residents were able to collect as much of the fine gray sand as they wanted for free.

[17][18] Education and healthcare have been important to the economy of the area, especially since the 1950s, with the rise of Colorado Mesa University and St. Mary's Hospital as leading employers in these fields.

Vast oil shale reserves were known to exist near Parachute, Colorado in the Piceance Basin.

The oil embargoes of the 1970s and high gas prices resulted in major financial interest in the region.

The city and the surrounding Grand Valley became prosperous in the 1970s and early 1980s largely because of the effects of oil shale development.

The economic bust, known as "Black Sunday" (May 2, 1982) to the locals, started with a phone call from the president of Exxon to Governor Richard Douglas Lamm, stating that Exxon would cut its losses while retaining mining rights to the (then and currently) uneconomic oil.

Colorado historian Tom Noel observed, "I think that was a definite turning point, and it was a reminder that we were a boom-and-bust state ...

Major contributors to the economy were health care, tourism, agriculture, livestock, and energy mining (gas and oil).

Major energy companies had once again invested large amounts of money due to increases in oil and natural gas prices (such as in the years 2005–2008).

[21] According to the city's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[22] Grand Junction's top employers are: Grand Junction's Colorado National Monument was home to a stage in the Coors Classic bicycle race known as "The Tour of the Moon" due to the Monument's unique landscape.

Both Suplizio Field and Stocker Stadium also host Colorado Mesa University as well as School District 51 sporting events.

Fruita, Colorado, with its 18-Road trail system, is within 10 miles of the city and has become a major mountain biking destination.

This campus has an average enrollment of just under 10,000 students and offers a variety of degrees, including a Masters in Business Administration, Educational Leadership, and ESOL.

The university also operates CMU Tech, a community college offering associates degrees and professional certificates.

As of 2025, the Grand Junction Regional Airport offers direct flights to Denver, Dallas–Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Santa Ana, as well as one-stop flights to Provo, Utah.

The city has allowed the companies Bird and Lime to rent out the e-scooters via their respective mobile apps.