A popular recreation area between Buena Vista and Salida is fully jammed with logs and debris carried to the Arkansas River by recent flash flooding, with the blockage now starring in drone videos released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
There isn’t much to be done for now about the unwanted solid-wood raft wedged atop a river section frequented by trout anglers and floaters, the state agency says. With no roads near that stretch of the river, the jam is too big and remote to clear by human means for now.
The plan amounts to “leaving the blockage alone and giving the area a wide berth as the river does its work,” the agency’s southeast region spokesperson said.
The blockage stretches for 100 yards, and anyone using the river is required to portage around it. Nobody should try to cross the debris raft or try to remove parts of it, state officials said, as the floating wood is unstable.