We found ways to experience the views from on high in Cañon City, Colorado!

We traveled the Skyline Road, a  2.6 mile single lane road sitting atop a razor edge mountain top above Cañon City.

We enjoyed the novelty of this one way road, without guardrails, with non existent shoulders, and a view that drops to the depths on at least one and sometimes both sides.  It is not a road for the timid!

Skyline Road was built in 1905 by sixty inmates at the nearby territorial prison.  Sentences were reduced by 10 days for each month a prisoner worked on the road.

This dinosaur display sits where ankylosaurus footprints were found in 1999. 

We also saw the views from on high at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park.  The bridge was built by 80 men over seven months in 1929 as a tourism site. 

Businessman and bridge builder Lon Piper saw the Royal Gorge in 1928 and had a vision for tourists to enjoy the views from the middle of the gorge, not just on either side.  The Royal Gorge bridge was the world’s highest suspension bridge for over 70 years and is still America’s highest suspension bridge, 

The bridge’s length is 1,260 feet with a width of 18 feet.

There are 2,100 strands in each cable and 4100 cables, weighing 300 tons.

There are 1,292 planks on the bridge deck and 250 are replaced annually.

Standing on the bridge you are 956 feet above the Arkansas River.   We could see the train tracks and the rafts – both of which we will be enjoying later in the week!

There is much to do in the park including activities and amusements for kids, adults and very adventurous adults.  We were just adults.  

When Randy asked me if I wanted to ride the zip line chairs across the gorge, I said I could be talked into it.  I don’t think he expected that answer but ultimately, we decided against it.

We saw the resident big horn sheep a few times.

We watched a short movie on the history of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park in the theater.  

A 2013 forest fire destroyed nearly all park building and facilities on both sides of the gorge.  The bridge survived nearly unscathed.  One hundred planks were burned and most of those were repurposed for the walls of the new visitor center.   Demoltion and rebuild began almost immediately and the park reopened 14 months later.

After walking across the gorge on the bridge, we rode back across on the gondola.  

The views from on high are stunning!

We weren’t quite so high on the classic Royal Gorge Zip Lines but high enough for my purposes.   We rode 9 lines and hiked 3/4 of a mile in between.  

We chose not to take our camera or phones and to rely on their photographer.  We then chose not to purchase their photos and thus, we give them some free advertising to use them.  The company did great so we don’t mind advertising for them.

I didn’t usually take time to enjoy the views from on high while zipping, being focused on the landing site and the guide’s instructions to brake.  

Randy enjoyed the zip lines more than I did but I enjoy most museums more than he does so that is fair.

Cañon City has been awesome so far! Looking forward to more!