A geographical anomaly is found along the slopes of the Never Summer Mountains where the Continental Divide forms a horseshoe-shaped bend for about , heading from south-to-north but then curving sharply southward and westward out of the park. The sharp bend results in streams on the eastern slopes of the range joining the headwaters of the Colorado River that flow south and west, eventually reaching the Pacific. Meanwhile, streams on the western slopes join rivers that flow north and then east and south, eventually reaching the Atlantic.