The Royal Gorge is a canyon of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

located west of

Cañon City A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. The canyon begins at the mouth of Grape Creek, about west of central Cañon City, and continues in a west-northwesterly direction for approximately until ending near U.S. Route 50. Being one of the deepest canyons in Colorado, it is also known as the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas (River), with a maximum depth of . The canyon is also very narrow, measuring from wide at its base to wide at its top, as it carves a path through the

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

formations below

Fremont Peak Fremont Peak can refer to one of several peaks. In the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in Nor ...

and YMCA Mountain, which rise above the north and south rims, respectively.

Natural history

The path of the Arkansas River was already set when the granite uplift that would eventually form the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

began. About 3 million years ago, as the mountains began to rise from the surrounding plains, the Arkansas Riverthen only a small streambegan to wear away at the stone it flowed across. Scientists estimate that the mountains surrounding the canyon rose at a rate of approximately one foot every 2500 years. Over the

millennia A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

, this small stream grew, cutting a deep channel for itself through the surrounding granite. The gorge's peculiar shape, contrasted to broad canyons such as the Grand Canyon, can be attributed to this long, direct erosion through hard rock.

Early history and European settlement

Before

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an settlement, Native Americans of the

Ute people Ute () are the Indigenous people of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and Colorado in the Southwestern United States for many centuries un ...

wintered in Royal Gorge for its protection from wind and relatively-mild climate. The Comanche,

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

, Sioux and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

used Royal Gorge on buffalo hunting expeditions as an access point to mountain meadow regions such as South Park Basin. Colorado's Rocky Mountain region fell under

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

claims, and conquistador expeditions of the 17th century or fur traders may have seen Royal Gorge in their traversal of the area. The first recorded instance of a European arrival, however, is the

Pike Expedition The Pike Expedition (July 15, 1806 – July 1, 1807) was a military party sent out by President Thomas Jefferson and authorized by the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States ( ...

of 1806. Zebulon Pike's group built a crude shelter in the gorge and explored the area, descending on horseback over the frozen Arkansas River. Nearby

was founded in 1860 to exploit possible mineral deposits in the area. Discovery of silver and lead near

Leadville The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

in 1877 prompted a race to build rail access to the area. Royal Gorge was a bottleneck along the Arkansas too narrow for both the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

and the

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

to pass through, and there was no other reasonable access to the South Park area. Both railroads thus took to fighting the " Royal Gorge Railroad War", two years of essentially low-level guerrilla warfare between the two companies. Federal intervention prompted the so-called "Treaty of Boston" to end the struggle. The D&RGW completed its line and leased it for use by the Santa Fe. In the 1890s Royal Gorge was used as a passenger route for transcontinental rail travel. As many as four trains per day went through the gorge, though in time the establishment of alternate routes through the mountains made the Royal Gorge fall from favor for transcontinental use, and passenger train service on the main line was discontinued in 1967. A sightseeing train now follows the route through the gorge.

Modern history

On May 7, 1879 the first excursion train traveled through the Royal Gorge after years of court battles between the Denver & Rio Grande and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF or Santa Fe) railroads. The

Royal Gorge Route Railroad 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 W ...

now operates excursion trains through the Royal Gorge throughout the year. The train travels 11 miles through the canyon from Cañon City, Colorado to the caretakers house. In 1906 Guy U. Hardy, a local newspaper editor and future Congressman, lobbied to establish a park at Royal Gorge by having the land ceded to the City of Cañon City. Royal Gorge Park was then created. In 1929 Cañon City authorized the building of the Royal Gorge Bridge, which at above the river held the record of highest bridge in the world from 1929 to 2001. The bridge is the centerpiece of Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, an amusement park with rides and attractions on both sides of the gorge. The land and bridge are owned by the city and leased to a

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

-based company called the ''Royal Gorge Bridge Company'' which has held the leasing rights since 1947. Another Dallas-based company called ''Leisure and Recreational Concepts'' was hired by the Royal Gorge Bridge Company in 1984 to handle daily operations of the park. In 1955, portions of the film '' Big House, U.S.A.'', starring Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, Lon Chaney Jr., William Talman, Charles Bronson and

Felicia Farr Felicia Farr (born Olive Dines; October 4, 1932) is a American former actress and model Early years Farr was born in Westchester County, New York. She attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied sociology at Penn State. Career Farr beg ...

(credited as Randy Farr), were filmed in Royal Gorge Park and Cañon City. On June 11, 2013, a wildfire broke out near the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park which ultimately destroyed 48 of 52 buildings in the park on both sides of the gorge. The bridge was only lightly damaged, with some scorched planks requiring replacement. The park was rebuilt and opened once again on August 30, 2014. In the summer months,

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

is a very popular activity in the Royal Gorge. Tourists travel from around the world to tackle the Class IV rapids of the Arkansas River and enjoy the scenery of the gorge. Named rapids in the gorge include Sunshine Falls, Sledgehammer, Wallslammer, Corkscrew, the Narrows, Boateater and Soda Pop Rock. River recreation in the gorge is regulated by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) and daily user fees are required to launch at all of the recreation sites upstream of the gorge. There are many commercial rafting companies which are licensed by the AHRA to run the gorge and summer weekends can see hundreds of rafts packing the river. BASE jumping, bungee jumping and rock climbing are generally not permitted at the Royal Gorge. Occasionally, during special events such as the ''GoFast Games'', bridge jumps have been allowed by the city and the lessee of the bridge and park.

Gallery

Image:A028, Royal Gorge Bridge, Colorado, USA, 2001.jpg, Gorge and bridge from south rim Image:D&RGW 5774 on the Hanging Bridge 8 65x4 (12217162733).jpg, Train and Hanging Bridge Image:Royal Gorge Bridge Tram (looking east).jpg, Looking east from bridge Image:Royal-Gorge Bridge Panorama 2012-10-28.JPG, Gorge and bridge from north rim

References

External links