On Monday we headed west on route 50 out of Pueblo toward Cañon City and the Rockies.
The major attraction here is the city-owned Royal Gorge Amusement Park. Yesterday we headed over to the park where the central attraction is the Royal Gorge Bridge. The bridge was constructed in 1929 and is the original bridge to nowhere. The bridge is still the highest suspension bridge in the world at more than a thousand feet above the Arkansas River below.
We spent about five hours at the park and had an enjoyable time. As we entered the park we were greeted by a water clock that displays the time, date, month and year. After parking and paying an $18 admission fee each we walked directly to the bridge that goes from the north side of the canyon to the south side. From the center of the bridge there is a view of a mountain peak called Mount JFK. You can see why from the photo.
On the south rim we walked up the hill through a model miner's town and through a zoo with big horn sheep, elk and bison. The only additional-charge attraction in the park is the Sky Fl yer swing that raises its victims to about a hundred feet in the air and then releases them to swing out over the canyon.
We did not partake of this opportunity!After walking up from the swing to a great viewing point called "Inspiration Point" we headed back down through the zoo to the theater and restaurant at the south end of the bridge. After the seventeen minute movie about the park we had some barbecue at the restaurant and then headed back up the hill.
This time we walked to the south terminal of the tram that travels across the canyon. The tram is the longest single span tram in the country. The trip across provides yet another view of the gorge.
When we reached the north side we walked a couple of hundred feet to the entrance for the incline train (steepest in the world) that took us to the river at the bottom of the gorge. It was fun to stand at the bottom an look up at the bridge far above. Several of the many rafts that float the river came by and we were treated to the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande passenger train that runs through the gorge out of Cañon City.
Although the park is over commercialized and everything seems to be the highest, longest and steepest, it was nevertheless an enjoyable day at Royal Gorge. We are now parked at the Fort Gorge RV Park across the street from a couple of rafting companies and a bar and grill.
We plan to spend the remainder of our week here doing some running, hiking and exploring.
