Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area | |
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Location | Chaffee / Fremont / Lake / Pueblo counties, Colorado, USA |
Nearest city | Salida, CO |
Coordinates | 38°32′16″N105°59′33″W / 38.53778°N 105.99250°W |
Area | 6,193 acres (25.06 km2) |
Established | 1998 |
Visitors | 1.2 million(in 2023 [1] ) |
Governing body | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Bureau of Land Management United States Forest Service |
The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) is a state park in Colorado, U.S. The park is jointly administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, and the United States Forest Service. The park's joint headquarters and visitor center is in Salida, Colorado.
The recreation area stretches along the Arkansas River for approximately 148 miles (238 kilometers) from Leadville, Colorado to the Pueblo Reservoir near Pueblo West, Colorado. The area includes more than 25 developed recreation sites and fishing easements along the river adjacent to U.S. Highway 24 / U.S. Highway 285 and adjacent to U.S. Highway 50. The recreation area includes sections in and near the Colorado towns of Buena Vista, Salida, Cañon City and Florence. The recreation area includes parts of Browns Canyon National Monument, established in 2015. The national monument is accessible through the recreation area's Ruby Mountain and Hecla Junction river sites. In a 152-mile (245-kilometer) stretch that includes the recreation area, the Arkansas River decreases 4,650 feet (1,420 meters) in elevation. [2] [3]
Chief among the activities available in the park is whitewater rafting down the Arkansas River. Most river rafters choose to hire local commercial outfitters to supply rafts and guides to manage their rafting trips. The recreation area is one of the country's most popular rafting sites. The rapids range from Class II to Class V. Additional activities include fishing, picnicking, hiking, wildlife viewing, horseback riding, mountain biking, camping and OHV riding. [2] [3] Other activities include kayaking, boating, gold panning, rock climbing, snowmobiling, and ice fishing. [4]
Visitors are subject to Colorado State Park Fees. As of 2024, the fees are $10 per day per vehicle and $4 per day per person for any non-vehicle access to the recreation area (for example, walking, bicycling, riding a horse). Yearly passes are also available for purchase. The area includes about six established campgrounds, and dispersed camping is allowed in some areas with certain restrictions. Camping fees are charged in addition to visitor fees. [5] [6]
Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,436. The county seat and the only municipality in the county is Leadville. The highest natural point in Colorado and the entire Rocky Mountains is the summit of Mount Elbert in Lake County at 14,440 feet elevation.
Buena Vista is a statutory town located in Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 2,855 at the 2020 United States Census.
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas River Valley. The headwaters derive from the snowpack in the Sawatch and Mosquito mountain ranges. It flows east into Kansas and finally through Oklahoma and Arkansas, where it meets the Mississippi River.
The Royal Gorge is a canyon of the Arkansas River located west of Cañon City, Colorado. The canyon begins at the mouth of Grape Creek, about 2 mi (3.2 km) west of central Cañon City, and continues in a west-northwesterly direction for approximately 6 mi (9.7 km) until ending near U.S. Route 50. Being one of the deepest canyons in Colorado, it is also known as the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas (River), with a maximum depth of 1,250 ft (380 m). The canyon is also very narrow, measuring from 50 ft (15 m) wide at its base to 300 ft (91 m) wide at its top, as it carves a path through the granite formations below Fremont Peak and YMCA Mountain, which rise above the north and south rims, respectively.
Tennessee Pass elevation 10,424 ft (3,177 m) is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The pass was named after Tennessee, the native state of a group of early prospectors.
Johnson Village is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The population of the Johnson Village CDP was 299 at the United States Census 2020. The Buena Vista post office serves the area.
Tarryall Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 68.5 miles (110.2 km) long, in Park County in central Colorado in the United States. It drains a rural portion of north and central South Park, an intermontane grassland in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Denver. It rises in the high Rockies in several forks along the Continental Divide in the Pike National Forest southwest of Boreas Pass. It descends to the southwest through a short canyon, emerging into South Park near Como, Colorado. It crosses U.S. Highway 285 east of Red Hill Pass northeast of Fairplay, the county seat of Park County, then meanders towards the southeast, joining the South Platte from the east in the southeastern corner of South Park.
Curecanti National Recreation Area is a National Park Service unit located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Established in 1965, Curecanti National Recreation Area is responsible for developing and managing recreational facilities on three reservoirs, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Morrow Point Reservoir and Crystal Reservoir, constructed on the upper Gunnison River in the 1960s by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to better utilize the vital waters of the Colorado River and its major tributaries. A popular destination for boating and fishing, Curecanti offers visitors two marinas, traditional and group campgrounds, hiking trails, boat launches, and boat-in campsites. The state's premiere lake trout and Kokanee salmon fisheries, Curecanti is a popular destination for boating and fishing, and is also a popular area for ice-fishing in the winter months.
The Metolius River is a tributary of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, United States. The river flows north from springs near Black Butte, then turns sharply east, descending through a series of gorges before ending in the western end of Lake Billy Chinook. The unincorporated community of Camp Sherman lies astride the southern end of the river. The name of the river comes from the Warm Springs or Sahaptin word mitula, meaning white salmon and referring to a light colored Chinook salmon and not a whitefish.
San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over 14,000 feet (4,267 m) high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado.
Twin Lakes is a pair of glacier-carved alpine lakes about 15 miles (24 km) south of historic Leadville, Colorado. They are downstream along the Arkansas River, whose headwaters are by Leadville. The lakes, however, are on a tributary, Lake Creek, which joins the Arkansas just below the lakes. After dredging, the lakes now have a surface area of 2,700 acres (11 km2), and they serve as a reservoir to store water for use in the Front Range. Both east and west lakes are recreation areas for boating and fishing.
South-Central Colorado is a region of the U.S. state of Colorado. It can be roughly defined by Chaffee County in the northwest, El Paso County in the northeast, Las Animas County in the southeast, and Conejos County in the southwest. Some notable towns and cities there include Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Cripple Creek, Cañon City, Salida, Buena Vista, Monte Vista, Alamosa, Walsenburg, and Trinidad. The landscapes of South-Central Colorado were made known to the Western world by the explorations of Zebulon Pike and Kit Carson, who were later followed by settlers, many of whom came by the Santa Fe Trail. The upper tributaries of the Arkansas River and South Platte River provide ample whitewater rafting and are famous for trout and bass fishing in scenic settings such as Royal Gorge. Much of the local economic system is dependent on mining, forestry, ranching, and tourism related to these endeavors. South-Central Colorado has so far largely escaped urbanization, allowing visitors to experience something of the American Old West.
Granite is an unincorporated community with a U.S. Post Office in Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The zip code of Granite is 81228. According to the 2010 census, the population is 116.
U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from West Sacramento, California, to Ocean City, Maryland. In the U.S. state of Colorado, US 50 is a major highway crossing through the lower midsection of the state. It connects the Western Slope with the lower Front Range. The highway serves the areas of Pueblo and Grand Junction as well as many other smaller areas along its corridor. The long-term project to widen the highway from two lanes to a four lane expressway between Grand Junction and Montrose was completed in January 2005. Only about 25% of the remainder of highway 50 in Colorado is four lane highway.
Fountain Creek is a creek that originates in Woodland Park in Teller County and flows through El Paso County to its confluence with the Arkansas River near Pueblo in Pueblo County, Colorado. The 74.5-mile-long (119.9 km) creek, once known as the Fontaine qui Bouille, is a tributary of the Arkansas River.
Lake Pueblo State Park is a state park located in Pueblo County, Colorado. It includes 60 miles (97 km) of shoreline and 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land. Activities it offers include two full-service marinas, recreational fishing, hiking, camping and swimming at a special swim beach.
The Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center (NWDC) is a multi-campus nature preserve and educational center in Pueblo County, Colorado. It includes a 611-acre mountain park, a lodge, a gift shop, a museum in Beulah, Colorado, a small museum and educational center, an open-space park on the Arkansas River in Pueblo, and an adjacent raptor education and rehabilitation facility.
John Martin Reservoir is a reservoir on the Arkansas River in Bent County in southeastern Colorado. Built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it is used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. John Martin Reservoir State Park lies on its shore.
The California Gulch site consists of approximately 18 square miles in Lake County, Colorado. The area includes the city of Leadville, parts of the Leadville Historic Mining District and a section of the Arkansas River from the confluence of California Gulch downstream to the confluence of Two-Bit Gulch. The site was listed as a Superfund site in 1983.