| Arkansas River Rafting Trips |
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Put-in: |
Granite, CO |
| Take-out: |
Numbers put-in |
| Difficulty: |
Class III-V
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| Length: |
5.5 miles |
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Put-in: |
Numbers Put-in |
| Take-out: |
Railroad Bridge |
| Difficulty: |
Class III+ < 1000cfs
Class IV: 1000 cfs to 22
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| Length: |
5 miles |
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Put-in: |
Railroad Bridge |
| Take-out: |
Buena Vista baseball fields |
| Difficulty: |
Class III < 2200 cfs
Class IV > 2200 cfs
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| Length: |
7 miles |
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Put-in: |
Buena Vista baseball fields |
| Take-out: |
Johnson's Village |
| Difficulty: |
Class III
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| Length: |
2.5 miles |
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Put-in: |
Johnson Village Bridge |
| Take-out: |
Fisherman's Bridge |
| Difficulty: |
Class II
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| Length: |
6 miles |
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Put-in: |
Fisherman's Bridge |
| Take-out: |
Stone Bridge |
| Difficulty: |
Class III-IV
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| Length: |
12 miles |
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Put-in: |
Stone Bridge |
| Take-out: |
Salida Whitewater Park |
| Difficulty: |
Class II, III
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| Length: |
9.3 miles |
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Put-in: |
Salida Whitewater Park |
| Take-out: |
Rincon |
| Difficulty: |
Class II, III
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| Length: |
9.4 miles |
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Put-in: |
Rincon |
| Take-out: |
Pinnacle Rock Recreation Area |
| Difficulty: |
Class II, III
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| Length: |
27.9 miles |
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Put-in: |
Pinnacle Rock Recreation Area |
| Take-out: |
Parkdale Recreation Area |
| Difficulty: |
Class III-IV
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| Length: |
7.7 miles |
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Put-in: |
Parkdale Recreation Area |
| Take-out: |
Centennial Park |
| Difficulty: |
Class III-IV
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| Length: |
11.5 miles |
| Towns near Arkansas River Rafting |
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Rafting on the mighty Arkansas River
The Arkansas River stretches across America for 1460 miles from the Continental Divide near Leadville, Colorado to the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Mississippi-Arkansas state line. That makes the Arkansas River the 6th longest river in the United States. From its source below Mount Elbert (14,431 ft), the highest peak in the state, the Arkansas River drops a whopping 10,000 ft in the first 125 miles as it courses through Lake, Chaffee and Fremont Counties. This mountainous section of clear water creates a playground for whitewater rafting as the Arkansas River provides some of the nation's best known whitewater rafting on the Granite Gorge, the Numbers, Browns Canyon and the Royal Gorge.
Yet before it became a rafting destination, the Arkansas River already had a colorful history as big and wild as the American West itself. The first European to see the Arkansas river was a Spaniard named Juan de Ulibarri who came across the river in 1706 near present day Canon City. He arrived during the spring runoff when the river filled its banks with a swirling mass of chocolate brown water carried down from the mountains above. He quickly dubbed the river "Napestle" -- a Native American word that means "red water".
Nearly a century later Zebulon Pike and his men traveled the rugged upper reaches of the Arkansas Valley on their mission to explore the southern sections of the Louisiana Purchase.
Today, the Arkansas River Valley has been settled and provides an excellent opportunity to experience some of the best white water rafting in the nation. Throughout this section of our website, you'll find the Arkansas River rafting outfitters that can make your dream vacation happen.
Written by Nathan Ward and Brad Goettemoeller
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