Things to do nearNumbers Recreation Site

Numbers Recreation Site takes its name from the numbered rapids that define this storied stretch of the Arkansas River, a section that has earned a reputation among the whitewater community as one of the premier intermediate-to-advanced runs in the Rocky Mountain West. The canyon walls here are composed of ancient Precambrian granite, sculpted over millennia by the river's persistent current into the narrow chutes and hydraulic features that make the run so technically demanding. Paddlers typically enter at the upper put-in and work their way through a rapid succession of Class IV drops, reading the water carefully between each move. Spectators gather along the rocky banks to watch, and the site functions as a gathering point for the regional paddling community throughout the warmer months.

Beyond the whitewater, the surrounding landscape rewards those who simply come to sit beside a fast-moving river in a mountain setting, with the Collegiate Peaks visible on the horizon and stands of cottonwood and willow lining the lower banks. Anglers work the eddies and tailouts for wild trout, and the site falls within the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, a state-managed corridor that protects the river from its headwaters near Leadville down through the Royal Gorge.

That management framework keeps the banks clean, the access points maintained, and the fishery healthy. Numbers Recreation Site rewards anyone drawn to rivers in their most elemental and forceful form.