Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

State Park in Salida, CO

Hours:

Park: Open 24 hours a day, year-round

Visitor Center: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

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: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

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:

Construction Closures: Parkdale Boat Ramp, Ruby Mountain -

Parkdale Boat Ramp is under construction through 4/15/25. Ruby Mountain Recreation Site & Fisherman's Bridge are closed through 5/18/2025. There is a full road closure of County Rd. 300 near MM 2.2 at the entrance into Browns Canyon 8am-12pm & 1pm- 6pm daily. The affected section of Arkansas River from Fisherman's Bridge, continuing Southeast to Ruby Mountain Campground, will be open to passing boat traffic. During blasting or heavy scaling, a flagger will be in the river & there may be up to a 2-hour wait to pass. Fisherman's Bridge Recreation Site is under complete closure & Ruby Mountain Recreation Site is closed to camping during this time.

Waterflow Readings

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.	Helmets must be worn at all water levels. 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.	Helmets must be worn at all water levels. 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.	Helmets must be worn at all water levels. 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.

Colors of Water

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

Announcements

Date	Announcement	Details
March 25, 2025	Hydro Change - Increase at Twin	From USBR: We are going to increase the release from Twin Lakes by 15 cfs today at 0900 hrs. After the gate operation, we’ll be releasing 15 cfs project, about 1 cfs accounts and the rest is native. Total release target is 50 cfs.
March 24, 2025	Hydro Change - Increase at Twin	From USBR: We are going to increase the release from Twin Lakes by 20 cfs today at 0930 hrs. After the gate operation, we’ll be releasing 14 cfs project, about 1 cfs accounts and the rest native. Total release target is 35 cfs.
March 24, 2025	Water Order FAP 25-08	Mount Elbert Powerplant General We are starting to bring water down from Turquoise Reservoir to make additional room for spring imports. Sugarloaf Dam Tuesday, March 25, 2025 08:00 Hrs. Begin to move 350 cfs from Sugarloaf Dam to Mt Elbert Forebay through the Mt Elbert conduit. Maintain until further notice.
March 17, 2025	Water Order FAP 25-07	Mount Elbert Powerplant GENERAL End winter water operations Twin Lakes Dam Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 00:00 Hrs. Stop storing native flows in Twin Lakes. Continue releasing 15 cfs of project release down Lake Creek. We will need to add the Native inflow on top of this release in the coming days.
January 24, 2025	Water Order FAP 25-06	Mount Elbert Powerplant GENERAL Mt. Elbert conduit is out of service. Sugarloaf Dam Monday, January 27, 2025 @ 0800 Hrs. Decrease the release from Twin Lakes from 150 cfs to 110 cfs. Tuesday, January 28, 2025 @ 0800 Hrs. Decrease the release from Twin Lakes from 110 cfs to 75 cfs. Wednesday, January 29, 2025 @ 0800 Hrs. Decrease the release from Twin Lakes from 75 cfs to 45 cfs. Thursday, January 30, 2025 @ 0800 Hrs. Decrease the release from Twin Lakes from 45 cfs to 15 cfs. Maintain until further notice.

Waterflow Levels

The information below 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 Summary

Program Water

1000

Flow Program Releases

793

Estimated Program Water Remaining

207

Waterflow Gauge Locations

Gauge	Value	Water Flow Data
Wellsville	235 cfs	View Dashboard