Salida offers outdoor adventures, cultural events, and natural hot springs. Whether you want to raft, fish, hike, bike, zipline, cat ski, or explore the creative district, there is something for everyone.
Deep in the heart of land-locked Colorado sits the watersports town of Salida and a river known for its world-class rafting. The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area is 148 miles of river park, providing a challenging playground for rafters, kayakers, and standup paddleboarders.
Mt. Princeton's mineral pools sit thirty minutes up the road, set against the Chalk Cliffs. Cottonwood and Salida hot springs are even closer.
Monarch Mountain — Colorado's best-kept secret — is 20 miles west. No lines, deep snow, top-to-bottom in twenty minutes. In summer the same pass opens to wildflower meadows and Continental Divide hikes.
Mt. Shavano, Tabeguache, Antero, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Oxford, Belford, Missouri. Ten fourteen-thousand-foot peaks within an hour. Pack water, start early.
Historic downtown is filled with artisans of every genre, including advertising and architecture, blacksmithing and metal, ceramics/pottery, digital media, fiber arts, videography, fine art, graphic design, murals, music, performing arts, photography, sculpture, and writing.