
Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area
State Park in Salida, CO
Hours:
Park: Open 24 hours a day, year-round
Visitor Center: Mon.-Tues., Thurs.-Sat. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wed. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed 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
Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area
State Park in Salida, CO
Hours:
Park: Open 24 hours a day, year-round
Visitor Center: Mon.-Tues., Thurs.-Sat. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wed. 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed 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
Navigate to:
Announcements
Date | Announcement | Details |
---|---|---|
July 2, 2025 | Decrease in Twin Release | From USBR: We're going to decrease the Twin release by 25 cfs at 08:00 this morning (2 Jul). After the gate operation, we'll be releasing 210 cfs, less than 1 cfs of account and the rest native. |
July 1, 2025 | Increase in Twin Releases | From USBR: It looks like there was a little rain up there yesterday so we're going to increase the Twin native release by 25 cfs at 08:00 this morning (1 Jul). After the gate operation we'll be releasing 250 cfs, about 1 of account and the rest native. |
June 24, 2025 | Decrease in Twin Release | From USBR: The native flows into Twin and Turq continue to decline so we're going to decrease the release from Twin today by 25 cfs at 0800 hrs. After these gate operations, we'll be releasing approximately 225 cfs, about 2 cfs from accounts and the rest native. |
June 23, 2025 | Decrease in Twin Release | From USBR: We're going to decrease the release from Twin today by 25 cfs at 0800 hrs. Our Admin account is slightly negative and this cut should help zero it out. After these gate operations, we'll be releasing approximately 250 cfs, about 2 cfs from accounts and the rest native. |
June 22, 2025 | Decrease in Twin Release | From USBR: We're still following the native inflows down. We'll decrease the flows from Twin by 125 cfs- 60 cfs at 07:00 and 65 cfs at 07:30 this morning (22 Jul). After the gate operations, we'll be releasing 275 cfs, 2 cfs from accounts and the rest native. |
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. |
|

Colors of Water
View the Colors of Water report on the Arkansas Basin Water Operations Dashboard.
Waterflow Summary
Program Water
1000
Flow Program Releases
0
Estimated Program Water Remaining
1000
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
Gauge | Value | Water Flow Data |
---|---|---|
Wellsville | 754 cfs | |
Below Granite | ||
Nathrop | ||
Parkdale |