Cañon City, Colorado -- Combine a 1,250-foot-deep canyon with a historic railroad route and one of the best dinner trains anywhere and it all adds up to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad.
It took the Arkansas River three million years to carve the Royal Gorge out of granite and now more than 20,000 visitors each year take a two-hour excursion train to admire the stunning scenery along a section of track that once was part of the historic Denver & Rio Grand Western Railroad.
Known as "The Climate Capital of Colorado," Cañon City boasts mild winter temperatures, making the Royal Gorge Route Railroad a year-round destination for tourists. In fact, two of the most popular events are both in the winter: the Santa Express Train and the romantic New Year's Eve Dinner Train that departs the depot at 6:00 p.m. December 31.
On most railroads, everyone wants their photo made with the engineer, but on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad, it's executive chef Jeremy Garnett that gets top billing. Garnett develops ambitious menus, often from local ingredients in season, although his Colorado-inspired multi-course meals have been known to make exception for fresh mahi-mahi flown in from Hawaii.
If Garnett isn't fishing and hunting in the Rockies, most likely that means he is simmering and sautéing superb meals in the railcar kitchen to the delight of guests from around the world.
Cañon City was platted in 1858 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Twenty years later, when miners developed the richest silver camp in the world 100 miles to the west in Leadville, the need for a railroad through the canyon was so urgent that it set off the Royal Gorge Railroad Wars, as the Rio Grand Railroad and the Sante Fe Railroad battled to see which company would make a fortune serving the booming ore-rich communities springing up along the Upper Arkansas River.
Today, in addition to the world-famous Royal Gorge Bridge, Cañon City is famous for its white-water rafting, ATV'ing, rock climbing, bicycling and hiking.
Upstream, float fishing trips on the Arkansas River offer easy access to a healthy population of brown trout.
If all that's not enough to hold your interest, in 1999, a dinosaur track formation was discovered on Skyline Drive in Cañon City and the ensuing excavation exposed evidence that dinosaurs once roamed the Arkansas Valley.
In 2013, raging wildfires destroyed 48 of 52 buildings in the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, but the popular tourist destination has built back better than ever.
And a dramatic restoration currently underway in Canyon City's National Historic District will result in an even more fascinating downtown area.
There are countless ways to make memories that last a lifetime in area known as "Gateway to the Real West," but don't be surprised if conversation on the ride home centers around a savory meal enjoyed on a dinner train passing through a three-million-year-old canyon.
photos by Allen and Cindy Rich
