
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.
Closures
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: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday.
Closures
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:
Closures: Fisherman's Bridge, Ruby Mountain -
Fisherman's Bridge Recreation Site is under complete closure until 4-15. Ruby Mountain Recreation Site is closed through 5-18. 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. For more critical access updates (including wait times), see Closures.
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. |
|
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.
Announcements
Date | Announcement | Details |
---|---|---|
September 23, 2024 | Increase in Twin Release | From USBR: |
September 19, 2024 | Increase in Twin Release | From USBR: We are going to increase the release from Twin Lakes by 25 cfs today (9/19/24) at 1:30 pm. After the gate change we'll be releasing about 88 cfs, about 62 of which is account water and the rest native. |
September 18, 2024 | Water Order FAP 24-37 | Mount Elbert Powerplant GENERAL Sugarloaf Dam |
September 10, 2024 | Water Order FAP 24-36 | Mount Elbert Powerplant General Sugarloaf Dam |
September 9, 2024 | Decrease in Twin Release | From USBR: We’re going to decrease the release from Twin Lakes by 50 cfs on Tuesday, 10 Sep 24, at 08:00. After the gate operation, we’ll be releasing 65 cfs. USGS is sampling for water quality at Lake Fork this week. We’ve reduced the flows from Turquoise to 9 cfs to aid their efforts. When they finish sampling, we’ll maintain the release at 9 cfs until we know whether or not we’ll get the power generating unit back at Mt Elbert at the end of the month. |
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 | 356 cfs |