Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

About

Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area stretches 152 miles along the Arkansas River from Leadville to Pueblo Reservoir, jointly managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management. The river corridor is recognized as one of the nation's top whitewater destinations, offering everything from gentle Class II floats to challenging Class V rapids, along with 102 miles of Gold Medal trout fishing. Developed campgrounds are distributed across six river sections. Ruby Mountain (22 sites) and Hecla Junction (23 sites) serve the Buena Vista to Salida stretch near Browns Canyon National Monument. Salida East offers 33 sites including a yurt. Point Barr (12 sites) is the only location where gold panning is permitted. Rincon has 8 sites, and Vallie Bridge provides 16 tent-only walk-in/boat-in sites with an accessible fishing pier. All developed sites include vault toilets, potable water, picnic tables, grills, and trash service; most offer RV hookups. Dispersed camping is available throughout AHRA outside developed areas. Dispersed campers must provide portable toilet devices, bring fire containers (rock rings prohibited), and observe the 14-day limit per 28-day period. Fire restrictions follow federal and county regulations, with the most restrictive applying.

Directions

The visitor center is located at 307 West Sackett Ave, Salida, CO 81201. Campgrounds are distributed along US-24/US-285 (Leadville to Buena Vista) and US-50 (Buena Vista to Pueblo). Ruby Mountain and Hecla Junction are accessed from US-285 between Buena Vista and Salida.