A Hole Day

I've lived in Colorado most of my life, but there are a good number of tourist attractions around the state that I've never been to see. On Saturday of this past weekend, I crossed one off the list, driving the two hours with my boyfriend to see the Royal Gorge.

A 1,000-foot deep canyon carved by the Arkansas River, Royal Gorge became a tourist spot in 1929 when the Royal Gorge Bridge was built. It was the highest bridge in the world for the rest of the century, and even today remains the highest bridge in the United States. And indeed, the view is stunning:

But impressive though it is, there is something that rings a bit false about the place, and a quick internet search revealed why. The bridge wasn't built out of any need to get from here to there; it was built specifically to turn the place into a tourist attraction, to make it the "Grand Canyon of the Arkansas."

There are attractions there -- an air tram you can ride across (we did), an inclined railway you can ride to the bottom of the canyon (did that too)...

...and other activities. But apparently the place is a "through Labor Day" sort of attraction, because a lot of the food stands and other areas were already closed down for the season. And some of what's open is a bit lackluster. Walking across the bridge, for example, we could hear the sounds of someone committing karaoke homicide on "Two Tickets to Paradise." Or so we thought. When we rounded the corner and saw an actual performer with his name on the sign... well, let's just say that song is never going to be the same for me.

Ultimately, I felt glad that I live here in Colorado and spent only a few hours to get there. If it was the sort of thing I'd traveled across the country to see, I think I'd have been underwhelmed. It's no Yosemite, I guess I'm saying. Or maybe I'm saying that the view was beautiful, but no more so than the view from the top of a Colorado 14er -- and there's something about earning that view through a challenging hike that made the drive-to-Royal-Gorge experience less special.

If you live in Colorado, by all means put the Gorge on your list. (For a summer month.) You shouldn't go as long without seeing it as I did. But don't expect to make a whole day of it.

Or maybe I'm just jaded by all the gorgeous scenery in Colorado.