The property represents the expansion of the U.S. Forest Service’s mission from basic custodianship to extensive resource management and the recreational development of its lands.

Located along the Dry Fork drainage of Grand Mesa, adjacent Land’s End Road, the site has the potential to yield important information about aboriginal lifeways within a transitional environmental zone during the Archaic Period.

Constructed in 1890, the two-story wood frame residence is a simple local expression of the Stick style, featuring unusual decorative gable trim and brackets highlighted with cut-out crescents and stars.  Home to early settler William Coffman and his family, the house was located off Coffman Road at the western edge of Whitewater, a small town along the Gunnison River.

The 1910 Cayton Guard Station is associated with federal management and conservation of natural resources during the early 20th century development of the National Forest system.  The building represents the expansion of the federal government’s control and administration of public lands in the West. 

The 1891 grave site is the only surviving property associated with "Judge" John Petal Harlow, an early settler of the Grand Valley area. 

Constructed between 1913 and 1916, the dam is a concrete structure 14 feet in height, spanning a distance of 546 feet across the Colorado River.  It was built in order to divert river flow into the Government Highline Canal.

The building is an intact example of a Works Progress Administration-constructed community hall built in 1938 for use by local participants in the Depression-era resettlement program.

The three-story Italian Renaissance Revival style building was constructed as a post office in 1918.  James A. Wetmore served as the supervisory architect.  The walls are of Indiana limestone, and the tall first floor windows are set in rounded arches.

Stranges Grocery in Grand Junction is significant in the areas of Commerce and Ethnic Heritage.  The store is representative of the strong commercial center that helped establish Little Italy and kept it viable.  Out of the four grocery stores that were located within the boundaries of Little Italy, Stranges is the only building that retains integrity.  The Grand Valley experienced an influx of Italian immigrants around the turn of the twentieth century.  Due to social pressure and discrimination as well as a desire for familiar cultural traditions the immigrants created

Constructed between 1912 and 1921, Serpents Trail provided the only automobile access to Colorado National Monument until 1937 when the Fruita Canyon portion of Rim Rock Drive opened.  Serpents Trail reflects engineering techniques used in the construction of early automobile roads in difficult terrain and was specifically designed to optimize the scenery of the park.