Salida is the statutory city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The populat…Salida is the statutory city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The population was 5,666 at the 2020 census. A post office has been in operation at Salida since 1881. Salida, meaning "exit" in Spanish, was named on account of its location near the point where the Arkansas River flows out of the valley and into Bighorn Sheep Canyon, upstream from the Royal Gorge.