{"id":292,"date":"2026-05-22T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=292"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:03:00","slug":"low-flows-on-the-arkansas-river-have-rafting-outfitters-communities-bracing-for-a-rocky-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=292","title":{"rendered":"Low flows on the Arkansas River have rafting outfitters, communities bracing for a rocky summer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With snowpacks in Colorado\u2019s river basins at record lows after the saddest winter ever, the flows in the state\u2019s rivers and streams likely have already peaked. That\u2019s a bummer for the state\u2019s rafting industry, which floats rural economies across Colorado with more than 450,000 rapid-riding visitors a year.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Polis signs executive order banning sugary drinks at state functions<\/a><\/p>\n

The weak flows will be especially hard for Colorado\u2019s Upper Arkansas River Valley, the workhorse of the state\u2019s rafting industry. There are about 45 river outfitters in the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area between Leadville and Ca\u00f1on City who host as many as 250,000\u00a0 commercial rafting visitors every year, almost 75% of them coming from out of state. Those vacationers riding the most rafted river in the country direct into the local communities every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2026 river season in Colorado is looking grim. The warmest March in Colorado history evaporated an already weak snowpack, leaving the Arkansas River basin at 24% of normal in late May, when the rafting season typically kicks off. The troubling horizon for river recreation harkens to 2002 and 2012, when similarly sad winters reduced the Arkansas to a trickle. In 2002, dropped 68%. In 2012, the number of commercial rafters dropped 21%.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick glimpse of the 10 lowest monthly average flows for July on <\/strong>the Arkansas River at Nathrop<\/strong> since the U.S. Geological Survey started measuring in 1965.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to adapt\u201d\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Brian Ellis was a raft guide in 2002 on the Arkansas River. That summer, as wildfires raged across the state and rivers dribbled, the Arkansas River rarely climbed above 300 cubic-feet-per-second, or cfs, marking one of the most challenging years ever for the region\u2019s rafting outfitters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still ran trips through Labor Day,\u201d says Ellis, who now owns Wilderness Aware Rafting in Buena Vista. \u201cThat was a really rough year that outfitters had to endure. But we learned a lot and honed techniques and skills that we applied again in 2012. This year we\u2019ll be relying on those strategies again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Arkansas River rafting season will happen. It will just be a bit different. There will be fewer paddlers on smaller boats. If guests are ready, they will captain their own stand-up paddleboards or inflatable kayaks, which are called duckies. Trips could take longer. Paddlers in rafts are going to play a larger role, helping guides navigate more technical lines through rapids. Lower sections of the river with more water \u2014 like the Royal Gorge \u2014 will see more traffic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The calls from vacationers are coming in. Demand is there. And outfitters are ready.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to adapt. Our guides are going to have great attitudes and people are going to have a great experience,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cWe are ready for a good season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado rafting days peaked in 2021 as vacationers escaped the pandemic shutdown on the state\u2019s roiling rivers. Visitation that year reached 622,186. Every year since, the statewide tally has fallen, hitting 469,549 in 2025.<\/p>\n