Cañon City and Royal Gorge

Cañon City is an undeniably quirky town. From its easy access to the nearby Royal Gorge, a dramatic slash in the earth, to its aggressive strip-mall veneer (softened, fortunately, by some handsome old buildings), you'd think Cañon City existed solely for tourism. Nothing could be further from the truth: Cañon City is in Fremont County, called "Colorado's Prison Capital" by some. In Cañon City and nearby Florence there are 13 prisons, including Supermax. While this may seem like a perverse source of income to court, the prisons have pumped more than $200 million into the local economy.