Ever been to an attraction you thought should be a national park or national monument? Well, there are two such offerings in this neck of Colorado. One is the Garden of the Gods which attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year and is, in actuality, a park owned by the city of Colorado Springs.
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| I took this picture of the Garden of the Gods from the mid-point up Cheyenne Mountain from the top of the Will Rogers Shrine which sits above the zoo |
The other attraction which I was surprised wasn't a National Monument was the Royal Gorge. This is a canyon cut by the Arkansas River just outside of Cañon City, Colorado. Like the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, it turns out the Royal Gorge is actually a city park owned by Cañon City.
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The Arkansas River and the Denver, Rio Grande Railway
are at the bottom of the gorge
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As this part of the country became settled by Europeans, the Arkansas River gorge was an engineering problem, not a tourist attraction. How to build railroad track at the bottom of the gorage as well as some kind of bridge that could be anchored to the cliff walls and would be high enough for railway engines and cars to pass under.
The railroad was just a vital in 19th century Colorado as it was everywhere else. In 1879 an engineer from St. Louis came out to Colorado to supervise the building of the bridge as well as the laying of the railroad track. The 'hanging bridge' cost $12,000 to build; that's the equivalent of $1 million today. Today, there's only a portion of 274 foot bridge left, mostly a tourist attraction and part of the steam engine rail trip you can buy at the old railway station in Cañon City. The old fashioned steam engine pulling a couple of cars will chug from Cañon City, through the gorge and back to the town.
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And there's the third way to see the gorge: river rafting. (I'm shooting this
picture hanging over the edge of the swaying suspension bridge,) |
Today, there are many bridges that span the Arkansas River, but the hanging suspension bridge over the river is a pedestrian walkway and a big part the Royal Gorge tourist attraction. Every time a golf cart rumbled across the suspension bridge, it swayed and vibrated. There are two other ways to cross the Arkansas River in the Royal Gorge 'Park': One is by gondola, and the other is by zip-line. To give the suspension bridge an extra pizzaz, the flags of all fifty states fly in reverse alphabetical order as you walk back across the bridge after the gondola ride.
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In a nod to our New Yorkers, Drake is showing that flag, and you can
see the suspension bridge in the background |
It was actually more fun to see the gondola from the bridge than the actual ride itself since the goldola took less than one minute to cross the gorge. This is not the Grand Canyon, but don't get me wrong, the Royal Gorge is impressive. The gondola was a slow poke compared to the zip line which took less than 30 seconds, and seemed to involve lots of screaming.
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While the gondola ride was less than exciting, the rocks in this canyon and the
entire area were amazing. |
As we were ambing across the suspension bridge, Drake noticed you could look down between the planks and see the tracks and river.
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| Of course, I couldn't resist trying to take a picture. Obviously, the blurry part are the two planks, and the water is about 1000 feet below us. |
I think this excursion would have been a bit disappointing except for two things: First, Cañon City was founded in 1860, and it has some really impressive 19th century buildings which line Main Street for several blocks. Second, we found a two mile hike, completely deserted, along the canyon rim with amazing rocks and which culminated in a unique view of the gorge above the park.
As always, if you want to see more pictures, click on the link:
