Royal Gorge: the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River
As far as ravines go, the Grand Canyon gets all the attention, but there are plenty of other amazing canyons out there. One of the most impressive is Royal Gorge, just outside Cañon City, Colorado. I went there in 2010 and snapped these photos.
Royal Gorge Bridge
![Royal Gorge Bridge - angled view](https://steve-lovelace.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/royal-gorge-bridge-angle-1024x797.jpg)
The Royal Gorge Bridge was the highest bridge in the world from 1929 to 2003.
![Royal Gorge Bridge from Park](https://steve-lovelace.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/bridge-from-the-park-1024x768.jpg)
I found the bridge unnerving to walk across, because of the way that the wooden planking rattled whenever a car passed me by.
![Royal Gorge Bridge from Below](https://steve-lovelace.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/bridge-from-below-1024x768.jpg)
We took a funicular to the bottom of the gorge. This is the bridge from hundreds of feet below. Unreal.
Cable Car
![Cable Car platform](https://steve-lovelace.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/cable-car-platform-1024x767.jpg)
This is the platform from which we boarded the cable car. It really does look this precipitous in real life, too.
Giant Swing
![Giant swing](https://steve-lovelace.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/royal-gorge-swing-1024x768.jpg)
That weird-looking structure is a giant swing that swings you over the edge of the gorge. What I really liked about this picture is the rainbow in the corner.
Great White Buffalo
Discussion
Have you ever been to Royal Gorge? If so, what did you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.
I want to go see the Royal Gorge Bridge. It looks very deep.