COME TO LIFE / High-Flying Adventure HIGH-FLYING ADVENTURE IN THE ROYAL GORGE REGION COLORADO The 10-mile-long Royal Gorge sports the nation’s highest suspension bridge, dangling more than 1,000 feet above the crashing Arkansas River below, but that’s not the only reason to visit Cañon City. SIDETRIPS South of Cañon City, spend a day peeking back into historic Cripple Creek. The city first came to life in the middle and late 1800s when the Gold Rush drove fortune-seekers to the area to mine the riches. Get a hands-on look at the gold-seeking era with a tour of one of the area’s mines. At the Mollie Kathleen Mine , you’ll don a hard hat and descend a thousand feet below ground to learn about historic and modern-day mining techniques, see a vein of gold and ride in a mine cart. Hop on the historic steam loco-motive, the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad (open May–October) through the historic gold mining district. Visits to the Cripple Creek Heritage Center and the Cripple Creek District Museum are also informative forays into the town’s past. Stroll Bennett Avenue, where nostalgic street lighting, wide sidewalks, shops, restaurants and more can fill a leisurely evening. And join today’s fortune-seekers at the town’s numerous betting tables at more than a dozen casinos. Cut your losses or collect your winnings and then head to the historic Butte Theater for a theatrical treat. The drive from Cripple Creek to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument — where you’ll find a 35-million-year-old lakebed filled with insects, leaves and even huge redwoods frozen in time by volcanic eruptions — along County Road 1 is a short but beautiful segment of the Gold Belt Tour, a National Scenic Byway. 1 With a growing reputation as a homebase for epic rock climbing, mountain biking, ziplining, fishing and river rafting, adventure-seekers are increasingly drawn to this area. The new South Cañon Trail System , which you can catch right in town, offers 10 miles of trails that connect the Arkansas Riverwalk, Ecology Park, the Section 13 trail system and Grape Creek to thousands of acres of BLM-managed public land. And some of the best fishing in the state can be had on the Arkansas’ Gold Medal trout waters , including the area around Parkdale (just above the Royal Gorge). For family explorers, Tunnel Drive is a flat, two-mile stroll along an old railroad bed that offers a bird’s-eye view of the Arkansas River and spectac-STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Cañon City (page 190), Coaldale (page 192), Cotopaxi (page 192) Cripple Creek (page 193), Florissant , Florence , Penrose (page 203), Texas Creek (page 205) QUICK TIP 166 / For a great souvenir, head to the Gold Mine Rock Shop , frequented by rockhounds, jewelry makers, arrowhead hobbyists, fossil fans and landscapers. It is considered the place to purchase rocks and gems of superior quality. COLORADO.COM THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: FLORISSANT FOSSIL BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT, EFRAÍN M. PADRÓ; ROYAL GORGE BRIDGE & PARK. OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM LEFT: ROYAL GORGE ROUTE RAILROAD, KENNAN HARVEY; FREMONT CENTER FOR THE ARTS, EFRAÍN M. PADRÓ.
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2018: Page 166
