I did a search and realize this is very touristy now, an amusement park of sorts, but i was there as a kid and want ours to experience it, too. Two questions:

- Approx how long to do it all?

- Best place to stay in Canon City: Best Western or Comfort Inn? Which is more centralized, near shoppes etc?

Thanks!

I'm sure there were things to do we weren't interested in but we just parked in the parking lot before the bridge (where you have to pay) and walked to the edge and looked down.

All we wanted to do was see it and that satisfied us.

I did the tram as a young teenager and to this day (30 years later) I am still afraid of heights.

Thanks, Connie. Good idea; we may just do that!

Where did you stay? Are you familar with either the BW or Comfort Inn?

TIA!

It's a shame what they have done to Royal Gorge. It used to be a nice quiet, interesting place, with a minimal admission, to a honky tonk, prohibitve admission junk place.

We stayed in Cannon city several days in june 2000.Planed on spending time at Royal Gorge but just did not think it was worth it after looking,Instead we did a raft trip and went to a tourst trap called "BUCKSKIN JOES".It was corney but our our kids had a blast.dont remember the price but it wasnt bad at all.we stayed at a holliday inn with a indoor pool the kids loved

I stayed at the St Cloud in July 2001:

http://www.good-hotels-usa.com/color...y/st-cloud.htm

Unfortunately the link on the page no longer works, so I don't know if they're out of the web page business or out of business altogether.

I really liked the historic hotel. It has a manually operated elevator that is the oldest in Colorado. They even let me sit on the 100 year old horse hair couch in the lobby. The rooms were nice done and the bathrooms very clean, though you knew you were in an older building. No surprise there's no pool.

The next morning we walked over to the Royal Gorge train station and rode the trian up the gorge. We had a package deal to get off at the Royal Gorge, ride the incline to the top, look around the park and bus back to Canon City. My Dad, niece, nephew and I really enjoyed it.

We had a great Italian meal at a local institution: Merlino's Belvedere

Wanted to take my (then) 13 year old nephew to the Colorado State Prison Museum but it didn't work out.

I've never noticed the touristy-ness of the Royal Gorge Bridge b/c everytime I've seen it (I live in CO) its been from 1000 feet below, rafting underneath it on the Arkansas river. In my humble, its the only way to see it. (I've seen all levels of rafters, so no excuses!)

Ani, thats a great idea, but i'm not sure we'll have enough time. We'll be on the homestretch of our 3+ wk adventure, coming from Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, and headed to I70 and home the next day.

I realize its touristy now (not that theres anything WRONG with that ) but would still like to see some of it. I guess we'll play it by ear when we get there.

Thanks, all!