Royal Gorge - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Tunnel Drive Trail is an out-and-back hiking trail located in Cañon City, Colorado. The trail parallels and overlooks the Arkansas River and the Royal Gorge Route Railroad. Popular with locals, the trail starts just inside the Cañon City city limits and then, crossing out of the city, it goes on State of Colorado and BLM land.

The Museum of Colorado Prisons was initially known as the Colorado State Women's Prison when it first opened its doors in 1935.The Museum was established with a view to collect, preserve, conserve, exhibit, and interpret the historical heritage of the Colorado Prison System. The Museum was also opened to serve as an incentive for historical research, education, and scholarly writings on the subject. It was equally meant to be a means to deter criminal activity.

Fremont Peak looms over the desert community of Cañon City Colorado and makes up an imposing section of the northeast rim of the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River. This scrappy little desert peak is part of a very small sub-range of mountains called the Gorge Hills. It is the highpoint of a narrow ridge of land with abrupt drops on both the east and the west. As a result, a visit to this peak is a pleasantly invigorating desert outing with knock-out views.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Cañon City, Colorado. A 1950s-era train makes daily 2-hour excursion runs from the Santa Fe Depot through the Royal Gorge along a famous section of the former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.

The Royal Gorge Bridge is a tourist attraction near Cañon City, Colorado within Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, a 360-acreamusement park located along the edge of the Royal Gorge around both ends of the bridge. The bridge crosses the gorge 955 feet above the Arkansas River and held the record of highest bridge in the world from 1929 until 2001 when it was surpassed by the Liuguanghe Bridge in China.

Buckskin Joe was a western-style theme park located west of Canon City, opened in 1957 and closed in 2010. It was a re-creation of the Buckskin Joe mining camp. It features of the park included gun fights, 30 authentic buildings from the Colorado 19th century frontier, themed entertainment, full service saloon and restaurant. There was also the Mystery House and a horse-drawn trolley ride. The town featured a donkey as the mayor.