Cañon City

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's livelihood stems from its lordly position as "Colorado's Prison Capital"—there are nine prisons here and four more in nearby Florence. Fremont County citizens actually lobbied to get these 13 prisons, which may seem like a perverse source of income to court but have pumped nearly $200 million into the local economy.