This page features ground-based and drone-captured photos and videos of the Arkansas River in central Colorado.
The Arkansas River begins near Leadville, Colorado and travels nearly 1,500 miles until it reaches the Mississippi River in Arkansas, losing some 11,500 feet in elevation along the way. The Arkansas River drains more than 160,000 square miles and is the sixth-longest river in the United States.
In Colorado, the Arkansas River is supplemented by water exported from the adjoining Colorado River Basin. The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, managed by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, transports water through the Continental Divide that eventually reaches fast-growing communities on Colorado’s Front Range.
The photos and videos on this page show the river between Leadville and Salida, a popular stretch of the river for rafting and angling.
| Date | March 31, 2021 |
| Location | Arkansas River Valley, Colorado (map) |
| Credit | Mitch Tobin/The Water Desk |
| Rights | Free to reuse under Creative Commons license. |
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