Take a scenic railroad ride on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad

Melissa had her heart set on doing a train ride through the mountains and, with all of the many train rides available, she was drawn to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad that takes you on a scenic railroad ride along the rapids of the Arkansas River. And she decided that it would be a wonderful way to celebrate her Mother’s Day weekend. And that didn’t exactly work out as planned.

We ended up not riding the train, and seeing some of the reviews online after we made that decision, reinforced our displeasure and ultimate disappointment. But everyone has a bad day. And sometimes you have to chalk it up to “things happen” and give it another chance.

Well, we gave it another chance, and we are glad we did. First impressions, while important, are not always accurate. And reviews, while often insightful, are also not always accurate.

Before going on to actually talk about the ride through the Gorge, I want to make a point to say that while online reviews are helpful, the ability and privilege to publicly post is also often misused and sometimes abused. Melissa and I not only tell stories of adventures, but included in those stories are reviews, whether overtly stirring the pot or somewhat covertly sending a message, we always give the facts – ALL of the facts – and present it in a way that our followers can make their own judgments. And to be clear…never would anything be said to intentionally ruin anyone’s livelihood. That’s just not right and it’s definitely not the purpose. The purpose is, hopefully, if something is done wrong, that wrong is corrected. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t feel that way.

And also to be clear, a lot of people don’t make the effort to post a review when they are happy, they make the effort to post a review when they are NOT happy. And so there is not a truly good balance. I mean there are lots of good reviews but, generally, what are you going to say when you are happy? People LOVE to complain.

And what we discovered on our ride during our ride on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad a couple of weeks later is that the negative reviews we DID see were unjustified. Perhaps, like what happened to us on Mother’s Day Weekend that someone was having a bad day, but we paid careful attention to look for the very things people were complaining about, and found it all to be unjustified.

What we CAN justify is taking the time to step BACK in time, mosey to an old Western town, and take an historic train ride through a spectacular gorge.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad is in Cañon City, Colorado, a roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes ride from Longmont.

Cañon City is home to the famous Royal Gorge Bridge and Royal Gorge Park, which has been become a popular amusement area for water enthusiasts who want to experience the Gorge. The Royal Gorge Bridge is the highest bridge in the United States, spanning 1,260 feet and crossing 955 feet above the Arkansas River.

The Royal Gorge Railroad offers up to four departures daily throughout the year, starting at 9:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m., taking passengers on a two-hour ride along the Gorge and allowing for breathtaking views. The train is equipped with four working kitchens and offer a “multi-course gourmet train experience.”

There are four ways to capture the experience – coach class ($109 for an adult, $104 for a child), deluxe class ($134 adult, $129 child), vista dome ($144 adult, $139 child), and riding with the engineer ($245 adults 13+).

While it might seem a bit expensive, consider the experience, relatively speaking, it is not out of line with the costs of any other attraction you may have to pay while traveling the world. We recently made a 40-minute visit to the aquarium in Denver at $29 each…to look at dirty, unkempt fish tanks with cloudy water, and two misplaced tigers. But that’s an entirely different story.

You don’t have to choose the most expensive car, they each offer great views. And there are two cars available that are completely open, and so you can ride outside and get completely unobstructed views of the mountains, the rock formations, the running rapids, and some wildlife. OK, you might not get COMPLETELY unobstructed views, you may just get some unintentional and even intentional photobombing but, hey, if you want your own private train, rent the entire thing out for yourself.

As for pictures, you get some great shots just from sitting in your seats, however, no doubt you will not get that clear image or you might even see a reflection, as I got Melissa’s striped shirt way too many times. But the shots from the open cars were spectacular.

We did not take the opportunity to order any food, however, others around us did and it was quick and actually looked pretty good. We honestly took the ride specifically for the views, and we didn’t want to be distracted by eating a meal and then missing the sights….we feel like that would have defeated the purpose.

You can also grab a pre-boarding or post-trip snack at the Happy Endings Caboose Café. It’s advertised as “Espresso, Ice Cream, Cold Brews, and More!” You will see the Café as you cross the tracks and enter the parking area. It is a cute little old caboose converted into a snack bar with a small gift shop opposite the counter where the staff takes your order. They have a few unique ice cream flavors so give it a try.

The service on board was great the entire time. Specifically, we were attended to by Daniel who was not only friendly, but he was equipped with a wealth of interesting information that he shared.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad is not the only game in town. Well, it is, it’s the only one in Cañon City. But it’s not the only one in the State of Colorado. But what makes it great is the unique route it takes in a remote area outside of a nice, quaint Western town.

It’s not easy getting an operation to work. But the staff of Royal Gorge River Railroad, people like Rainey, put a dynamic effort in to ensure that passengers have a great and awesome experience. So sit back and enjoy the ride and then get outside and take some breathtaking pictures. You never know what will be waiting around that bend.