
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
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
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
Date | Announcement | Details |
---|---|---|
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
Rapid | Advisory in Effect | High Water Advisement | High Water Equipment Advisement |
---|---|---|---|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
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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)
Gauge | Value | Water Flow Data |
---|---|---|
Wellsville | 292 cfs | |
Below Granite | ||
Nathrop | ||
Parkdale |