History

Arkansas River Trail

A tributary of the Mississippi River, the Arkansas River originates near Leadville, Colorado. It flows east-southeast for 1,460 miles through eastern Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The drainage basin of the Arkansas River covers 160,500 square miles of land. It is the second-longest tributary in the Mississippi-Missouri system and is the sixth-longest river in the United States.

The Arkansas River has three distinct sections. At its headwaters, the river runs fast and steep, dropping 4,600 feet in 120 miles, making it ideal for whitewater rafting. At Cañon City, Colorado, the Arkansas River valley widens and flattens considerably. From there, through the rest of Colorado, Kansas, and most of Arkansas, the river winds through the Great Plains as a wide, shallow, slow-moving river perfect for floating and leisurely boating. In eastern Oklahoma, the river is wide enough to accommodate barges and large river craft, making it a vital passage for the transportation of goods. The Arkansas then flows into the state with which it shares its name, running through mountains, plains, and forests until it joins the Mississippi River near Napoleon, Arkansas.

Historically, Native American nations lived near or along the Arkansas River, including the Osage and Cherokee peoples. The Arkansas River played an important role in trade and transportation both pre- and post-European settlement. The river served as a major shipping route to transport deer, bear, otter, beaver, and buffalo skins. Agricultural products such as corn, rice, beans, and peanuts were also transported on the Arkansas River. Later, the Santa Fe Trail would follow alongside the Arkansas River from Great Bend to La Junta, Colorado.

More recently, the Arkansas River has been the subject of litigation between the states through which it flows over the allocation and use of the river’s water supply. Two interstate compacts exist, one for Kansas-Colorado and a second for Kansas-Oklahoma, to ensure cooperation between states to keep the Arkansas River water flowing and clean for the communities and wildlife who rely upon it.

The Arkansas River National Water Trail flows from Great Bend to the Kansas-Oklahoma border, winding through and around the prairie and several communities. The River Trail was established in 2016 as a joint project of the National Park Service and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, with support from the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams (KAWS). Check out the National Recreation Trails & National Water Trails website for more information on the Arkansas River and other water trails of the U.S.