The new store location, right next to The Viking, is awesome! I have minimal river gear experience, Shelly & everyone answered all of my 500 questions and hooked me up well! No need to go anywhere else for outdoor water gear in the area. read more

CKS Retail Store - New Store Location in BV - Outdoor Gear Near Me - Buena Vista, Colorado

We wanted to kayak the Twin Lakes, but we had a rental car with no rack. CKS set us up with an inflatable two-person kayak that fit easily into the rental. The rental staff were great! They gave us complete instructions for inflating the kayak and we were on our way in no time. We had a great day paddling for a very reasonable fee. read more

Great everything sports store! From clothing to hats to boats and waterproof everything! Very friendly and knowledgeable personnel. I love how they know their customers and remember them on the first name basis so when you ya back they ask you about the trip you just took on the river and you can literally be there and talk for a Long time. Love it love it! read more

CKS Retail Store - Outdoor Gear Near Me - Buena Vista, Colorado

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I always hate to give a business a bad review, but in this case, it's warranted. My wife, Grandson and I stopped by to check out this store in Buena Vista. As we were looking through the store my 12 yo grandson spotted the Fly fishing flies, being an avid fisherman, he was checking them out. I was walking up to my grandson just as one of the guys working there grabbed him by both shoulders and was saying "I need you to take those flies out of your pocket". My grandson was mortified and turned his pockets inside out revealing nothing but a IPhone and a few cents of change. Just because a 12 yo was looking at the fishing wares he was accused of stealing. I told my wife to put down the arm load of goods and that we were leaving after explaining what happened. I don't appreciate his actions. read more

CKS Retail Store - Outdoor Gear Near Me - Buena Vista, Colorado

My husband, grandson & I were passing through Buena Vista on a road trip. We decided to stop and browse through some of the local shops including this one. Our grandson loves to fish & he collects bait. He was looking at their fly fishing flies when an employee (or owner) approached him & accused him of stealing several. He put both of his hands on our grandsons shoulders while telling him to empty his pockets! Luckily, my husband was nearby & witnessed the man's actions. My husband approached our grandson & asked if he had any of the flies & asked him to empty his pockets, which he did. There was nothing but change in his pockets. I don't appreciate at all how he accused, belittled, & put his hands on him. Not cool to treat a child this way. If he had a question directed at our grandson...he should have approached us, the adults. read more

We purchased inflatable kayaks from them over 3 months ago. They have no idea what pump and gauge works with these units, so we haven't been able to use them yet. We still don't have a solution, and they refuse to take them back. read more

CKS is awesome. I went in to check out some drysuits for river SUP and received wonderful help from the staff. Since they were so helpful, I told them everything on my river shopping list and they helped me for THREE HOURS, patiently answering questions and making suggestions to make sure I found the right dry suit, boat, paddle, and pfd. Lydia worked with me while my paddling partner and I tried on every single pfd they have, multiple dry suits, and even had us sit in the boats with all our gear on to make sure everything felt right. She was incredibly knowledgeable and fun to work with. I got a great set up at an awesome price and it was a fun experience working with the staff at CKS. I returned to this shop to check out the gear to buy because I had such a good experience when I rented SUPs a few years ago from CKS. Every time I have gone in, the service has been great and the gear is high-quality. Good service and relationships with the people who sell me gear are important to me. I also love contributing to the local recreation economy of such a great outdoor focused town. I live in Denver, but I'll be making the trip to Buena Vista whenever I have river gear needs. read more

This is my favorite store (and my husband's too). They have tons of gear for your water related adventures, but they also have a great boutique vibe in the front area. I always find just what I need and then some. Great selection of casual clothes, hats, stickers, bags. read more

First time doing SUP for my stepdaughter and me. Staff people were friendly, helpful and efficient. Equipment in perfect shape. Reasonable prices. I'll be back for sure. read more

Flew out to Colorado Springs to see a friend and told him I have to go to Colorado Kayak! It was a two hour drive but worth every minute. The employees were really helpful, they answered all questions and were heavily vested in the sport. One rep, Noah who usually works in the warehouse took his time in discussing paddling and our options for renting/demoing boats. Noah should be frontline staff! He gave great advice on local rivers and convinced me to come back next year for a huge paddling event! Unfortunately, the water level was low but Noah did a good job outfitting and telling us what section of the Arkansas River to run. Unfortunately, they sold their demo play boats otherwise he suggested the play park. They do have the biggest selection of whitewater gear I have seen in one place. CKS sells a lot of stuff at retail but you can occasionally find really good deals. You can also apply the money you spent demoing on the purchase of a boat. They do not run shuttles, it would be awesome if they could but the staff and selection are what makes this place 5 stars! read more

Such an awesome shop! Super knowledgeable staff, excellent selection of kayaks and gear. One of the all time best kayak shops in the country! read more

These people are great. I had an order with that ended up with an issue due to one of their suppliers, and they jumped on the situation and made it right. Highly recommended! read more

As far as shopping for outdoor gear, what sets apart the stellar retailers in Colorado from the rest of the pack is the expert knowledge that they supply to the customer. It is really refreshing to walk into a paddleshop and have a veteran paddler tell you about gear that they actually use, and know a lot about. Also, I have warrantied some items, and CKS is awesome about helping out this process. read more

Best paddle sports store/warehouse/online shop in the world! Straight shooting advice from people out using what they sell. The staff not only is the most helpful but they listen as well. Items are brought in or stocked upon request. Prices are spot on and sales are happening ALL the time. Rentals, lessons, hands-on service brought right to you on the bank of the Arkansas river. read more

Love going into this store. All the gear you will ever need for the rio. Staff is very knowledgable and always stoked to share information to get you out paddling safely. read more

I am a fly-fisher who uses a one-man pontoon on high mountain lakes. I had lost the valve stem release out of the back of the truck as we were driving. Without it my little boat wasn't aired up enough to use safely. Lucas, who works at CKS was amazing!! He listened intently, showed me a boat with the same type of valve to check for accuracy, took me to the back of the shop, dug through buckets of spare parts and FOUND IT!! It speaks volumes about their awesome customer service! Thank you so much!! read more