Wow, cool killer dam on Ark just above Salida

cstork · 06-12-2006

I just ran the Ark Stone Bridge to Salida with my kid last weekend. It was a fun stretch at 2500 cfs. Bongo Billy's is a nice place to wait for shuttle.

There is a pour-over dam 1-3 miles above Salida that had amazing hydraulics with 2000 cfs going over the 6 foot drop. The boil line was 40 feet back. Pretty impressive. If you go in there, I bet your body will be circulated for hours. I wish I had a picture of the hydraulics.

There were two clear signs about 300 feet before the dam directing people to the boat chute on the left.

Have there been any cases of people missing the signs and going over the dam?

kayakArkansas · 06-13-2006

If so they did not come out......bad place to be.....I've never heard of anybody missing the signs....you'd have to be pretty drunk to miss them

Mr. Coffee · 06-13-2006

Actually, I have heard rumors that many years back, a guide taking some folks on a fishing trip, forgot where he was in the river and went over the drop. All survived to tell the tale.

I can also verify that AT LEAST three crazy-as-you-can-be local Salida folks went over that thing in some duckies and kayaks to see if it was possible to run. They made it. Of course, don't use this as a reason to try and run it yourself! Personally, I'm so scared by that thing, I am usually paddling in the weeds on river left!

Mike Harvey · 06-13-2006

Back when Gary Lacy built the boat chute through that dam (1989?) during the design phase there was a drowning there. Since the boat chute I am not aware of any drownings. Still at high flows that dam is nasty. We were actually asked to explore options at that site which may include removal. The Division of Wildlife owns the dam itself.

caverdan · 06-13-2006

Removal would be great...............if they can do a better job of actually removing it, than they did at the damn site in BV.

Anyone know when or if they are going to do something with the old BV damn?

basil · 06-13-2006

Yea, that dam is nasty at high water.

But, it's not as bad as the foot entrapment danger between the boulders at the BV & Salida play parks. I can see kids tubing or swimming the new BV play park, getting a foot caught between the boulders, and they are done for.

freeheelintodd · 06-13-2006

the bv and the granite dams are easier at high water. For the bv dam forget about the right side..just go a little right of the rooster on the left