On Friday, May 15th, 40 high school students from Des Moines, New Mexico visited Browns Canyon National Monument for a half day field trip. The students and teachers hiked downstream from Hecla Junction along the Arkansas River, stopping to view the rugged scenery of the granite spires and hoodoos of Railroad Gulch. The students learned about the massive 1899 flash flood that destroyed the 7 percent grade of the Calumet Branch of the D&RG narrow gauge railroad that traversed eight miles from the mouth of Railroad Gulch to the Calumet mine in Turret.
“Seidel’s Suckhole” rapid on the river provided the backdrop for FOBC board member Dave Beaulieu’s harrowing tale of his 2025 raft flip in Seidel’s, his subsequent entrapment under the raft, and his self-rescue! READ MORE
June 2026 Newsletter
