Ideal Peach Growing Climate

The first fruit orchards were planted in Whitewater and then near Grand Junction and Fruita. Because of the frost protection from the palisades - the Mancos Shale cliffs bordering Palisade - and the early morning, warming winds from DeBeque Canyon, the orchards near Palisade are the only ones to consistently survive spring frosts and damage from winter kill. Colorado is the 7th largest peach growing state in the U.S. and more than 3/4 of the State's total peach acreage is in and around Palisade.