Salida in Chaffee County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
FIBArk: First in Boating on the Arkansas
Oldest and Boldest
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 23, 2025
1. FIBArk: First in Boating on the Arkansas Marker
Salida hosts the nation's oldest whitewater paddling festival the third weekend of every June. This four-day festival blends a world-class whitewater competition with raft racing and light-hearted events.
FIBArk began in 1949 as a bet between two Salidans who challenged each other to a canoe race from Salida to Caρon City through the Royal Gorge, then considered impassable to boats. Only two of the original 23 contestants completed the 56-mile-long race. Back then, racers paddled 20-foot-long wood and canvas kayaks; today's plastic freestyle boats measure under seven feet.
The Classic
This 26-mile-long race between Salida and Cotopaxi is run in separate events for different craft, including rafts, kayaks, and canoes. The winners must negotiate Class III and Class IV rapids on the way to the finish line.
Freestyle
Freestyle kayaking, also called "hole riding" or "rodeo" kayaking, got started by accident when a kayaker got caught in a hole, the tricky currents on the downstream side of a boulder or other obstruction, and used acrobatic movements to get out. Kayakers now seek out holes for play, and freestyle is the most popular segment of whitewater kayaking.
Pro Raft Race
Professional rafting guides compete in a downriver race.
Slalom
Striped poles hanging
this page online
Hooligan Race
The Hooligan Race is open to anything that floats anything. Hooligans compete in costume and the winner is not only the fastest "boat," but also often the only one still afloat! A large, enthusiastic crowd turns out to watch this chaotic and hilarious spectacle every year.
Information provided by the Arkansas River Trust, Salida, Colorado. Photos courtesy of Denise Ronald, Mountain Mail.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Sports • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is June 19, 1949.
Location. 38° 32.281′ N, 105° 59.487′ W. Marker is in Salida, Colorado, in Chaffee County. It can be reached from the intersection of West Sackett Avenue and G Street, on the right when traveling north. The marker is in the Arkansas River Overlook plaza near the southeast corner of the historic Salida Steam Plant. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 220 West Sackett Avenue, Salida CO 81201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s Arkansas River Valley, in the Colorado High Rockies and on the Continental Divide. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Water Use and Water Rights (here, next to this marker); The Salida Steam Plant (within shouting distance
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 23, 2025
2. Arkansas River Interpretive Kiosk
Looking southwest (away from the river) from the Arkansas River overlook. This marker is the leftmost of three interpretive panels in the kiosk. West Sackett Avenue crosses in the background. The historic Salida Steam Plant is partially visible in the right background.
Also see . . . History of FIBARK'S Whitewater Festival (Fibark.com).
Excerpt: The FIBArk boat races started June 19, 1949 when six boats entered the Arkansas River in Salida on their treacherous 57 mile run to Canon City through the vertical cliffs of the Royal Gorge Canyon. Fueled by the spring snowpack runoff from the mountains of the Continental Divide and 5 or 6 feet above normal level, the river water ripped down the canyon creating tremendous currents and boiling rapids where the valley walls narrow and the river floor drops.(Submitted on February 12, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
An invitation to death claimed the boaters as they looked over the course, but of the 23 entrants in the race that year only two experienced Swiss boaters reached the finish line. The following year the race was shortened to 45 miles excluding the dangerous Royal Gorge waters ending in Parkdale. Although 10 boats entered, again only one man finished the race of tremendous endurance. The third year the race eliminated portages and was set at its existing length of 25.7 miles from Salida to Cotopaxi. Eleven boats entered that year and 10 were able to finish. This classic downriver race is still the longest whitewater race in the United States.
World class athletes have been invited to Salida and over the years, boatmen from France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Scotland, Israel, Italy, England, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico, Canada, and the USA have all pitted their skills against the roaring, boulder-strewn river. The City of Salida embraced the event wholeheartedly and a three-day festival and elaborate parade were soon organized. The boat races were advertised around the state and dignitaries were invited for the festivities. A Boat Race Queen, her attendants and hostesses represented the annual Salida-Arkansas Races and in 1951 and 1953 a movie starlet and star reigned over the boating weekend. A special train was arranged by the Denver Rio Grande Western to carry hundreds of people as it followed the race down the river from Salida and estimations of 10,000 people or more lined the banks of the Arkansas to watch the boaters battle for survival. Whitewater hell/The meanest stretch of whitewater in the world/The longest, oldest, most prestigious and perhaps the toughest race in North America many such expressions have been coined to describe the 25.7 mile river course over which one of the nations most unique races is held each June in Salida.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 13, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 11, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 64 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 12, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
