Royal Gorge – Canon City, CO

Welcome to new follower Pidge.  I’m so glad you’ve joined us.

On Friday we visited the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park.  The campground gave us a coupon so it cost us $19.29 a person to get in the park.  We definitely felt it was worth it.

The bridge was built in 1907 strictly as a tourist attraction to bring people to the gorge.  It is 1,053 feet high and is the world’s highest suspension bridge.  It took 5 months to build, and no lives were lost during construction.  I’m always so amazed at the ingenuity of people so long ago.

 

 

Included in the admission price is a trip across the bridge.  You can walk, drive your car or take a trolley across.  Also included is a ride on the aerial tram, a wildlife park, a ride on the incline railway, and a movie about the bridge.

The aerial tram is the world’s longest single-span aerial tram.  It is 2,200 feet long and is 1,178 feet above the Arkansas River.  It was built in 1968.  It takes about 5 minutes to get across.  I was a bit scared to go on it, but once we were moving, I was fine.  It was an amazing view.  I took the picture above from the viewing platform on the north side of the gorge.  You have to look closely to see the tiny little red tram near the center of the picture.  That tram is actually large enough to carry 35 people!

Here’s a view of the bridge from the tram.

 

 

 

 

 

For an additional charge you can experience the Royal Rush Skycoaster.  There were 3 girls who were brave enough to give it a try.  They were strapped into a harness, lifted up about 100 feet and let go to swing 1,300 feet over the gorge.  Top “flying” speed is about 50 mph.  No thank you :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wildlife park had elk, bison and big horn sheep.  They had a white bison.  I’ve never seen a white one before.

 

 

The incline railway is the world’s steepest incline railway.  It is 1,550 feet in length with a 100% grade.  You stand in cars that are kind of stacked on top of each other.  It takes about 5 minutes to ride down.  It was built by the same construction crew that built the bridge.

 

 

 

Here’s a view looking up at the bridge and aerial tram from the bottom of the incline railway. The tram is the tiny speck in the center of the picture.

 

The bridge can be seen from our campground which is about 5 miles away.  The large a-frame structure behind the bridge is the skycoaster.

 

These birds are flying around all over the campground.  They look gray when they are sitting, but are very blue when they fly.  Does anyone have any idea what kind of birds they might be?

I leave you today with a puzzle.  The mountain in the picture below is supposed to be a profile of a famous person.  Can you guess who it is?  I’ll tell you tomorrow :)

 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!