City: Cañon City, CO

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (888) 333-5597 or (719) 275-75

Address: 4218 CR 3A

Description: Records show that Spanish missionaries visited the Royal Gorge area as early as 1642. Fur traders and trappers subsequently visited the region during the 1700s. And in 1806, explorer Zeb Pike established a camp at the eastern portals of the Gorge and sent a scouting party to explore the canyon. Today, the area surrounding the gorge is privately owned. There’s no way to see the famous attraction without forking over an admission fee, so go ahead and do it. It’s a fun place to spend a day. The world’s highest suspension bridge, completed in 1929, sways over the 1,200-foot-deep chasm, making some folks queasy and others exhilarated. You can walk or drive across the 1,260-foot bridge (which is a generous 18 feet wide). If you choose to ride America’s longest single-span aerial tram, you might want to know it cost $350,000 when it was built in 1968 and it traverses 2,200 feet from rim to rim. It only goes about 11 miles an hour, so you get a good look down at the gorge on your way across. Don’t worry. For safety’s sake, wind-warning gauges are working at all times and the tram will not operate during severe weather or gusty winds. Visitors also can board the 1930 incline rail that drops 1,550 feet from the rim to the bottom of the gorge. All three of these are listed on the National Historic Register. If you want a tame approach to your visit, you can take one of the new mule rides or perch atop a miniature train—both go to the rim. But if you want a real thrill, check out the Skycoaster! Built in 2003, we can only liken it to being shot out over the chasm at 50 miles an hour, sort of like being flung from a giant slingshot. Snaking through the bottom of the gorge is the churning Arkansas River, where you might spot the bright dots of whitewater rafts bobbing along. To try that exciting experience, check out the local outfitters. The Royal Gorge Route Railroad runs through the canyon below.

City: Cañon City, CO

Category: Tours & Attractions

Address: 401 Water St.

Description: The Royal Gorge wasn’t always a peaceful place. In 1877, when silver was discovered on the upper waters of the Arkansas River, it sparked a controversy between two competing railroads: the Rio Grande and the Santa Fe. Both wanted the rights to build the new freight railroad to carry the ore down from the mountains. From dynamiting competitor’s railway efforts to exchanging gunshots, the Royal Gorge War eventually evolved into a 6-month court battle. The Santa Fe was unhappy with those results and hired legendary gunfighter and US Marshal Bat Masterson and part of his Kansas posse to help protect their crew and materials, while the Rio Grande countered with a 200-man posse led by former Gov. A. C. Hunt. The Rio Grande railroad eventually won out. Today, the only trains traversing the tricky railbed are carrying tourists. The relatively short ride offers a different perspective on the canyon, and you can have lunch or dinner while you’re riding, if you like. They also have mystery trains, a Santa Express, and other special train rides throughout the year.