Surf a wave in the middle of town

You don’t need an ocean to surf in Chaffee County. In both Buena Vista and Salida, crews shaped the bed of the Arkansas River to throw up standing waves you can ride without ever floating downstream.

Buena Vista’s park sits along the river beside the South Main neighborhood, where engineers built a string of whitewater features for kayaks, paddleboards, and rafts. The riverbank around it has grown into a full park: climbing boulders, a pump track, the Amy Lynch Memorial Disc Golf Course, an off-leash dog park, and trails into the Midland system. You can spread out a blanket and just watch the surfers trade turns.

Twenty miles south, Salida has rebuilt its in-town Scout Wave more than once, most recently shaping it to hold a rideable face across a wider range of river levels so surfers can catch it on more days of the season. On a busy summer morning, a line of riders waits its turn right in the heart of downtown.

This is separate from June’s FIBArk festival, and it runs all summer. One honest catch: how good the surf feels depends on how much water is moving. Some flows are glassy and fun; very high or very low water changes everything. Check current conditions and access on the South Main river park page before you go.