The Royal Gorge is a

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, 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 t ...

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 Colorado, specifically ...

located west of Cañon City,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. 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 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. 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 (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

formations below Fremont Peak 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

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 () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, 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 p ...

, 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 The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

, can be attributed to this long, direct erosion through hard rock.

Early history and European settlement

Before

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an settlement, Native Americans of the

Ute people Ute () are an Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, Indigenous people of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau in present-day Utah, western Colorado, and northern New Mexico.Pritkzer''A Native American Encyclopedia'' p. 242 Historically, their t ...

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

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, 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 Colora ...

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

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 claims, and

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

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 of 1806.

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...

's group built a crude shelter in the gorge and explored the area, descending on horseback over the frozen Arkansas River. Nearby Cañon City was founded in 1860 to exploit possible mineral deposits in the area. Discovery of silver and lead near Leadville 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 largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

and the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad 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 Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

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 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 an 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 a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

-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 the movie Sensations of 1945, Hubert Castle plays the role of Olaf, “The Great Gustafson,” who performs a high-wire publicity stunt above the canyon. It is notable that Cañon City’s own Bird Millman never did attempt such a feat herself. In 1948, images from the park appeared in Canon City (film), which is based on the true story of a prison break. 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 (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 BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

, bungee jumping and

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

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. The cost of admission has increased over the years. In 2023, the price was USD$32 for adults, USD$27 for age 3 to 11.General Admission & Rides; Royal Gorge.
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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