Colorado River, Spanish Río Colorado, river in south-central Argentina. Its major headstreams, the Grande and Barrancas rivers, flow southward from the eastern flanks of the Andes and meet north of Buta Ranquil to form the Colorado. The river flows generally east-southeastward across the arid terrain of northern Patagonia and the southern Pampas and is a border for four provinces. Its lower course splits into two arms, which flow into the Atlantic Ocean south of Bahía Blanca. The total length of the Colorado is about 530 miles (850 km).