Sitting alongside the Arkansas River east of Monarch Pass, Salida (pop. 5,504; elev. 7,038) is a riverfront railroad town gradually switching over to the tourist trade. Close your eyes to the sprawl of Wal-Mart and McDonald’s along US-50, and head a dozen blocks north to the historic downtown. Here along the riverfront, a half-dozen brick buildings along 1st Street house slightly hippyish cafés—like the Laughing Ladies (719/539-6209) at 128 W. 1st Street—and outdoor recreation shops, including Headwaters (719/539-4506), at 228 N. F Street, which rents and sells mountain bikes and kayaks and is the best source of information on the area’s wealth of recreational opportunities.
East of Salida, river rafters can be seen riding the rapids of the Arkansas River for most of the next 45 miles; over a dozen different rafting companies have operations along this beautifully scenic stretch. Steeply walled sandstone gorges alternate with broad meadows and sagebrush plains all the way to Royal Gorge and Cañon City, and campers may want to avail themselves of a nicely sited KOA Kampground, along the riverside at Cotopaxi.
