Royal Gorge Bridge and Park

Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by

The Royal Gorge Bridge is the highest suspension bridge in the United States and of course, because we are in the West, has significant railroad history. It sits about thirteen miles outside of Canon City, one of the towns central to the Railroad Wars. As is so common for this area of the country, two competing railroads were fiercely battling for the land rights to pass through the gorge with only enough room for one track. In 1880, when the dust had finally settled, guns placed back in their holsters, and the Supreme Court has spoken, the railroad was completed and placed into operation and ran for nearly 100 years. About 40 years later, Lon Piper gave life to his dream of building a bridge to give people the opportunity to witness its grandeur from the best possible vantage point. The rest is history.

Railroad History of the Gorge

In the late 1800’s Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (ATSFR) and the Denver and Rio Grande Company (DRGC) were attempting to cross the Arkansas River Valley to connect lands south of the Arkansas River to Leadville, Colorado. Silver had been discovered with the promise of gold and both railways were eager to capitalize. ATSFR had tracks in Pueblo, about 35 miles east and DRGC had tracks less than a mile west. Unfortunately for DRGC, proximity meant nothing and ATSFR sent a crew to the gorge to begin laying track. Having been outgunned by gunfighters hired by ATSFR years earlier, this time around DRGC hired their own and the Railroad Wars were on. For about two years, guerilla style warfare ensued between the two companies until the courts intervened.
The case eventually found itself headed to the Supreme Court, but during that time, Bat Masterson and Doc Holiday and about fifty additional men were hired by ATSFR to hold the line at the ATSFR railway roundhouse in Pueblo. A minor skirmish ensued and Masterson and Holiday were routed. Legend has it Doc Holiday purchased a solid gold tooth for one of the men who had lost his during the fight. And with that, the Railroad Wars were effectively concluded with DRGC winning the day.

Lon Piper’s Vision

In 1928, Lon Piper saw the Royal Gorge for the first time. Upon seeing it, he dreamed of building a bridge across the gorge and immediately collaborated with Engineer George E. Cole. In an astonishing seven months of construction, eighty men completed the world’s highest suspension bridge. Seventy years later, Royal Gorge Bridge remains the highest suspension bridge in the United States and among the 25 highest bridges in the world. I has also expanded to include several attractions such as a Via Ferrata, Royal Rush Skycoaster, Zip Lines, and Gondolas.

Did you know?
Length – 1,260 feet Width – 18 feet Main Span – 880 feet Towers – 150 feet high
Weight of cables – 300 tons Bridge capacity – 2,000,000+ pounds 1,000 tons of steel in floor of bridge
1,257 planks in deck – about 250 replaced annually 1,053 feet from the top of the bridge towers to the Arkansas River

Royal Gorge bridge spans the Arkansas River and… showing my complete lack of geographical knowledge of the US, I had no idea the Arkansas river went as far west as Colorado. Point of fact – the rivers source is actually in Colorado and runs down to the Arkansas River Valley. Clearly I am completely east coast – centric. Good thing we are on this unending road trip. Keeps the brain limber. Back to the bridge – it held the title of the highest bridge in the world from 1929 until 2001. When built, there was a 75 cent fee to cross it. It is currently owned and operated by the town of Canon City. And, 90% of the park burned in 2013 due to a wildfire that jumped the gorge walls. The suspension bridge, other than 100 scorched boards, was the only thing to survive in the 360 acre park. Enough of the history lesson. On to the fun stuff.

Via Ferrata

We began the day with the Via Ferrata, which is Italian for Iron Path.  (Woohoo! Via Ferrata, here we come.) First used by the Italian military to cross the Dolomites in WWI, they are now largely the exclusive reign of non-technical recreational climbers in Europe, although there are now a dozen or so in the US as well. It was just good fun and quite a bit of sweat equity.  (More like – Feel the burn.) Essentially it is mountain climbing but instead of having to find hand and footholds in the rock, someone has kindly gone before and conveniently placed iron rungs to remove the guess work.  (Please. They only put those little rungs in a few spots. There was still a lot of scrambling and finding your own foot/hand holds. Someone is clearly still high on adrenaline.)

I guess you could say it’s mountain climbing for dummies, or an advanced version of mountaineering.  Either way, the sensation of clinging to the side of the Gorge several hundred feet from the bottom is pretty invigorating and gives you some epic views.   At about the halfway point there is a 12-14 inch wide metal bridge crossing onto a small outcropping of rock that will either cure you of your fear of heights forever, or turn you right back around.  Angela made it across without holding on to the guide rails and I can’t begin to say how impressed, proud, and jealous, I am she made it.  (I rocked those rocks. And that little bridge, too. I did, however, happen to get the one picture of Shawn when he was trying it with no hands. SO, it does look like he rocked it too.)

For the old, fat guy, my core isn’t what it used to be and I jiggled both myself and the bridge way too much to even attempt a no-hands crossing.  Meanwhile, our guide did it backwards with a half gainer dismount to stick the landing. (Nobody likes a show-off. She was adorable though. So we cut her some slack.) The rest of the trip was a vertical climb of 200-300 feet to finish out the course.  Absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend any Via Ferrata for those looking for a bit of safe, high altitude adventure.

The rock circled below is the rock pictured above.

Aerial Gondolas

Naturally, we forgot cash for a tip.  Fortunately, the gondola is part of the cost of park admission and we rode on one of America’s longest single span (meaning there aren’t any supports at any point over the Gorge) cable cars across the Gorge to quickly get some cash and then ride it right back to the other side. 

I’ve always been a fan of gondolas and the trip across in this one was just as spectacular as any other for the aerial views of the Gorge.  I don’t believe I have been in one since a rather unfortunate skiing incident with Angela just over 30 years ago and all I can say is “You’ve come a  long way, baby!” (It wasn’t the gondola that was the issue. It was trying to navigate a t-bar by myself up a sheer cliff that did it for me, but that’s a story for another time.)

A couple of side notes for any engineering geeks out there – the tension wheel at the top of the Gorge actually slides about 6-8 feet along a rail to reduce or increase tension as the Gondola crosses the Gorge. I had to ask as I watched it in action because only one of the cars is on that system while the other is static. The operator told me that they can operate the active cable in winds up to 30MPH which will ‘limit’ the maximum sway of the car to 6-8 feet left to right. He said the pulley system can handle much more, but the staff is not a fan of cleanup for the passengers who can’t. We had virtually no wind, so I can’t comment on the veracity of his claim. (Though I did love the sign on the inside of the gondola. Just in case things go horribly wrong. Keep calm and gondola on.)

We rounded out our day strolling back across the suspension bridge, taking in some great views of the valley and just generally contemplating how satisfying our life is at the moment.  (The grounds were gorgeous AND, because it’s the west, you can walk right up to the original suspension cables. Amazing engineering!)

Considering Royal Gorge never even made a blip on our radar until the RV broke, it is one more happy accident far surpassing our expectations.