Looking for a change of pace, I decided to head down river to Cañon City to check out the mountain bike trails at the Royal Gorge. I had heard about them from some Salida locals and watched a few videos online and was interested in trying them out for myself.
But first, a little back story. You see, I grew up in Cañon City. When I was a kid, the Royal Gorge Bridge was the highest bridge in the world. The WORLD. It was a point of pride among residents of my home town. In the early 2000s the bridge lost its title as world’s highest to a bridge in China but maintained the honor of world’s highest suspension bridge for a couple more years. Then it was surpassed by yet another bridge in, you guessed it, China. Clearly the Chinese love their bridges. According to Wikipedia, since then, it has fallen to 26th highest in the world. It’s still the highest in the U.S.
During my high-school years I worked a couple of summers at the Royal Gorge flipping burgers for minimum wage at the cafe on the south rim. Every day the Royal Gorge van would load up our crew of just-happy-to-be-employed teenagers in Cañon City and drive us up to the bridge for our day’s work – concession operators, gift shop clerks, grounds crew, and restaurant workers. At the end of the day, we’d all be vanned back down the hill to Cañon City.
So yeah, I’m familiar with the place. But it has been over ten years since I’d visited. And I had never seen the mountain bike trails. Those are a fairly recent development and, as I discovered, a welcome, less touristy addition to the Royal Gorge attractions.
And because the Royal Gorge is one of those places that deserves to be photographed with something other than a GoPro, here are a few pics to set the scene.
The Royal Gorge with the Arkansas River far below.
The Royal Gorge Bridge.
Zoomed-in shot of the bridge with the arial tram heading across the gorge.
As part of the ride, I also made a side trip to the summit of Fremont Peak, which is adjacent to the park and an easy hike from the Royal Gorge trail system.
Epic on the summit.
Summit log.
Popular place!
The trails themselves are an enjoyable mix of flowy, high-desert single track sprinkled with challenging rock features. Fun riding with nice views of the Royal Gorge and surrounding area.