FREMONT COUNTY –
It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend in Canon City, with the Arkansas River back open to rafters in the Royal Gorge, thanks to lower water levels, and the Royal Gorge Park and Bridge drawing in record visitors.
“We’ve had a blast, it’s beautiful, and we’ve really enjoyed it,” said Heather Spradley, visiting the Royal Gorge with her family from North Carolina.
On Thursday, the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park was packed with tourists from all over the country.
“Gorgeous, yes awesome,” said Twonia Coleman and sister Augillian Lewis.
Coleman was visiting from Tennessee, staying with her sister in Denver. For some, including Spradley and the sisters, the Royal Gorge isn’t completely new.
“We came years ago, when they had the little train out here, but it’s been at least seven or eight years,” said Spradley. “It’s a brand new experience, everything’s updated.”
Coleman and Lewis said they grew up near the Gorge, but moved away. This visit was their first time at the park.
“I lived here all my life, all my young life, and I said why haven’t we ever been to the Royal Gorge? We’ve never been here before. And they said it’s because it’s high up and we are afraid of heights,” Coleman and Lewis explained.
And while the heights haven’t changed, a lot has, including a brand new visitor center, zip line and children’s play area.
“They’ve rebuilt it, it’s our time to support the Royal Gorge,” said Lewis.
And tourism is going to new heights too, Royal Gorge park manager Mike Bandera estimates they have about 10 percent more visitors this year than they did at the same time in 2012, before the fire.
“We’re very optimistic looks like it’s going to be one of the best summers in recent history really,” said Bandera.
Bandera said the rise in rafting is helping too, because the more a region has to offer, the more people are going to visit the area.
“It goes hand in hand, we share a tremendous amount of people with rafting and so we get their people, they get our people,” Bandera said.
Bandera estimates the park will have about 15,000 visitors over the holiday weekend alone, a great sign for tourism in all of Fremont County.
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