The Royal Gorge of Colorado

The Arkansas River is a river that runs through the Rocky mountains of Colorado, and on into the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas for a total of 1450 miles before it empties into the Mississippi River, and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico. However, located in the state of Colorado is a twelve-mile stretch of canyon that is known to be the most scenic canyon in the world. This stretch of canyon is called the Royal Gorge. It is also known as the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River.

The location of Royal Gorge is just outside of Canyon City, Colorado. The base of this gorge measures about fifty feet in width. The top of the Royal Gorge is about 100 feet in width. The measurement from top to bottom is about 1200 feet in depth. The twelve-mile stretch of this canyon goes through granite of the Fremont Peak. It is said that the Arkansas River cuts through the canyon at a rate of one inch every 210 years. Which is how the canyon came to be after 300 million years. The water from the Arkansas River just kept cutting away at a constant rate, and thus, a canyon was formed.

Zebulon Pike was the first white person to discover the Royal Gorge. Zebulon Pike was also the first person to discover Pike’s Peak. There is a marker at the mouth of Royal Gorge to designate the campsite where Zebulon Pike camped in Dec 1806 as he came upon this canyon.

There have also been bones from dinosaurs discovered here in this area from about 200 million years ago. The state of Colorado also has a state Dinosaur called Stegosaurus.

In 1890, passenger trains ran through the Royal Gorge on the average of four times a day. Gradually, there were other routes that were established through the mountains. Then in 1967, the service to the passenger trains was shut down. Now there is a sightseeing train that follows this same twenty-four mile round trip route for the purpose of allowing the tourists the pleasure of getting a close up view of this most beautiful canyon.