Colorado White Water Rafting on the Arkansas River

The Arkansas River offers more than 100 miles of world-class Colorado White water and its central location provides easy access from any Colorado vacation destination. Colorado white water rafting from Colorado Springs, Colorado is just 45 minutes away and rafting from Denver, Colorado is just 2.5 hours. If you want the best well rounded white water experience in Colorado, go rafting in Buena Vista, Colorado and soak in the Hot Springs. Hands down the best white water rafting in Colorado is rafting the Royal Gorge. Rafting in Canon City is the closest rafting to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

White water Rafting the Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River is the best white water rafting trip in Colorado.

Colorado locals will tell you that the Arkansas River has the best white water rafting in the state.

The Arkansas River offers something for nearly all ages and abilities. Choose from family, intermediate and advanced white water on one hour, half day, full day or overnight Colorado rafting trips.

Raft with the best and experience why the Arkansas River is the most commercially rafted river in the United States.

River Runners has been a licensed outfitter certified by the State of Colorado since 1972. We offer fully guided beginner and advanced rafting trips on the Arkansas River every day May – September.

The Arkansas River has more than 100 miles of prime Colorado White water Rafting among the 14,000-foot peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Boaters can find anything from roaring Class IV and V rapids to milder Class II and III sections, which are ideal for beginner and family trips. The river’s popularity derives in part from its proximity to Denver and Colorado Springs, but mostly because of its unique beauty and fun white water. The Arkansas is also recognized as one of Colorado’s premier brown trout rivers with an estimated 2,000 trout per mile.

The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA)

The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) – a cooperation of Colorado State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management – manages the river for 150 miles from the historic town of Leadville, through Colorado’s tallest mountains, all the way down to Pueblo on the edge of the Colorado plains. The AHRA maintains six established campgrounds along the river with fire pits, picnic tables, pit toilets, and RV hook-ups. Area visitors enjoy fishing, hiking, camping, picnicking, rock climbing, and even gold panning along the river’s shores, but white water rafting and kayaking remains the most popular activity. On any spring or summer day, hundreds of private and commercial rafters and paddlers challenge the churning rapids or glide through the calmer sections of the Arkansas River. Colorado’s Best White water Rafting is HERE on the Arkansas River!

Go White water Rafting in Colorado with River Runners

• Launch right from River Runners on all Browns Canyon white water rafting trips – no shuttle to the put-in.
• Choose from two convenient Colorado rafting locations – one on the banks of the upper Arkansas River and one across from the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park turn-off.
• Raft with the best – River Runners is an established river outfitter that has been taking people white water rafting on the Arkansas River since 1972.
• Learn from your first phone call why River Runners has grown to be one of the largest rafting companies in Colorado.
• Trust in our professional raft guides who go through double the training hours and miles required by Colorado State Parks and take people rafting every day throughout the summer.
• Experience why the Arkansas River is the most popular white water rafting destination in the United States.

Choose from two Colorado White water Rafting Locations near Denver and Colorado Springs

Royal Gorge Rafting Center - located 8 miles west of Canon City, Colorado on US Highway 50 across from the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park turn-off. Go white water rafting just 1 hour from Colorado Springs, and 2 hours from Denver. Riverside Rafting Resort – located 6 miles south of Buena Vista, Colorado. Walk to your raft with no shuttle to the put-in on all Browns Canyon rafting trips. Our rafting resort on the Arkansas River is just 2.5 hours from Denver and 2 hours from Colorado Springs.

Why trust anyone else?

There are 52 rafting companies on the Arkansas River in Colorado, but River Runners is one of the largest and most established in the valley. We have been teaching people how to raft since 1972 and take pride in every aspect of our rafting business. Colorado’s white water rafting season is only about 100 days per year May-September. During this time River Runners takes more than 21,000 people down the Arkansas River and we work hard to give each and every guest a positive and memorable experience.