Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

State Park in Salida, CO

Hours:

Park:  Open 24 hours a day, year-round
Visitor Center:  Sun.-Tues., Thurs.-Sat. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wed. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entrance Fees:

Daily Vehicle Pass: $​10
Individual Daily Pass: $4

Animals Permitted:

  • Leashed Dogs
  • Service Animals
  • Horses

Park Address:

307 West Sackett Ave.
Salida, CO 81201-1654
United States

Contact:

719-539-7289

[email protected]

Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

State Park in Salida, CO

Hours:

Park:  Open 24 hours a day, year-round
Visitor Center:  Sun.-Tues., Thurs.-Sat. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wed. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entrance Fees:

Daily Vehicle Pass: $​10
Individual Daily Pass: $4

Animals Permitted:

  • Leashed Dogs
  • Service Animals
  • Horses

Park Address:

307 West Sackett Ave.
Salida, CO 81201-1654
United States

Contact:

719-539-7289

[email protected]

Navigate to:

Texas Creek Closure and Safety Alert -

Due to significant rain events in the area, much of the Texas Creek site has been washed out, including sections of the road. It is currently inaccessible.  For your safety, please do not attempt to access this site until maintenance crews have made repairs.

Announcements

September 8, 2025

Clear Creek Reservoir Repair

From Pueblo Water: We have divers at Clear Creek Reservoir today for a repair on the hydraulic system that operates the gates. Starting in a few minutes, we will completely shut the gates for about 3 hours. The current flow rate out of the reservoir is 30 cfs so the river downstream will see a decline of about 30 cfs for a bit. As soon as the work is completed we will resume flowing 30 cfs or maybe a little bit more.

September 2, 2025

Decrease in Twin Release

From USBR: At 08:00 this morning, 2 Sep, we're going to decrease the release from Twin by 10 cfs. After the gate operation, we'll be releasing 15 cfs. 15 cfs is our minimum. Unless we get some good rains, I expect we'll be at this release for a while.

August 27, 2025

Increase at Twin Lakes

From USBR: We're going to decrease the release from Twin tomorrow morning by 30 cfs at 0630 hrs.  After this gate change, we'll be releasing approximately 20 cfs, about 1 cfs from accounts and the rest native. 
 

August 26, 2025

Increase at Twin Lakes

From USBR: We're going to increase the release from Twin today by 30 cfs at 1630 hrs.  After this gate change, we'll be releasing approximately 90 cfs, about 1 cfs from accounts and the rest native.  Expect releases to continue to increase as the rain persists.  


Updated: We are going to cancel this flow increase for this afternoon.  The Cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs are planning on starting a river exchange today which negates our need to release additional native water from Twin Lakes Reservoir.

August 22, 2025

Increase in Twin Release

From USBR: We're going to increase the Twin release by 50 cfs at 14:30 this afternoon. After the gate operation, we'll be releasing 73 cfs, less than 1 of account and the rest native. Between our existing admin account and the rain that's forecast for the weekend, I didn't want to go until Monday without a gate change. 

High Water Advisories

Numbers

No

It is recommended that the Numbers (Section 1E) not be run when the river is flowing over 2400 cfs at the Numbers/Below Granite gage as read at 7:00 am for full day or morning trips and at 12:00 noon for afternoon Numbers trips. 


  1. Helmets must be worn at all water levels. 

  2. Wetsuits/dry suits are optional at all water levels depending upon weather and water conditions and advised when water levels are above 900 cfs as measured at the Numbers/Below Granite gage. 

Pine Creek Rapid

No

It is recommended that Pine Creek Rapid (within Section 1D) not be run when the river is flowing over 1250 cfs at the Numbers/Below Granite gauge as read at 7:00 a.m. for full day or morning trips. 


  1. Helmets must be worn at all water levels. 

  2. Wetsuits/dry suits are optional at all water levels depending upon weather and water conditions and advised when water levels are above 900 cfs as measured at the Numbers/Below Granite gauge. 

Royal Gorge

No

It is recommended that the Royal Gorge (Section 5) not be run at flows over 3200 cfs at the Parkdale gauge as read at 7:00 a.m. for full day or morning trips and at 12:00 noon for afternoon Royal Gorge trips. 


  1. Helmets must be worn at all water levels. 

  2. Wetsuits/drysuits are optional at all water levels depending upon weather and water conditions and advised when water levels are above 2800 cfs as measured at the Parkdale gauge. 

Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

Colors of Water

View the Colors of Water report on the Arkansas Basin Water Operations Dashboard.
 

Waterflow Summary

The information above depicts the Flow Program Target and the flow of the Arkansas River as measured in cubic feet per second (cfs) at the Wellsville Gauge near Salida, CO. This page also tracks, in acre feet (af), the amount of water released as part of the summer component of the Voluntary Flow Program. For reference, a flow of 1 cfs for 24 hours is 1.98 af.

Waterflow Readings

Waterflow Gauge Locations (7 A.M. Reading)

Wellsville

292 cfs

View Dashboard

Below Granite

View Dashboard

Nathrop

View Dashboard

Parkdale

View Dashboard