Colorado Living

Royal Gorge Bridge & Park – Bring the whole family!

Royal Gorge is a treasure of Colorado, located about an hour southwest of Colorado Springs. And it is as magnificent as the name suggests! Our first encounter with the Royal Gorge was on a train ride aboard the Royal Gorge Route Railroad. While on the train, the guide pointed out a bridge way up at the top of the gorge. And we knew we had to walk across that bridge!

Royal Gorge Bridge and Park is a super fun place for the whole family, including the fur-kids! With your general admission ticket, you get entry to the bridge, theater, visitor’s center, playground and the gondola. But honestly out of everything, the bridge was still my favorite! Online adult tickets (13 years and older) are $27, children 6-12 are $22 and children 5 and under are free.

I recommend going early to avoid the crowds, especially on a weekend! All the rides and the visitors center open at 10 am, but the bridge opens at 8 am. We decided to get there about 9 am to enjoy the bridge before it became too busy. (Highly recommend!!) When we arrived, there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot, versus when we left a little after 12 pm, the lot was nearly full.

Since the visitor’s center wasn’t open yet when we got there, we went straight into the park and down to the bridge. On the way down to the bridge, there are several scenic spots to take pictures, so make sure to explore. There are several places in the park to grab a bite to eat, a drink or a quick snack. You’ll get a map upon entry which will have the locations of all the attractions.

Royal Gorge Bridge has had quite the history. Completed in 1929, this bridge sits 955 ft above the Arkansas River. The bridge held the record for the world’s highest bridge from 1929 – 2001 and is still the highest bridge in the United States. In 2013 the park was nearly destroyed by a wildfire that consumed about 90% of the 360 acre park. Thankfully, the bridge itself was left untouched except for 100 burned boards that had to be replaced. More about the Royal Gorge and the bridge’s rich history including times of Native Americans and Railroad “wars” can be learned onsite in the Plaza Theater. They even have a mini documentary and a Historical Expo with photographs and historical items of the Royal Gorge.

The bridge itself is pretty awesome! It is “America’s Highest Suspension Bridge” sitting 955 ft high. The bridge is made up of 1292 wood slats, and is 1260 ft long. You’ll see along the railings of the bridge are all 50 state flags, and we of course had to take a picture of our favorites. You can spend as much time as you like on the bridge, even walk back and forth. We definitely spent most of our time on the bridge. We were even lucky enough to see the Royal Gorge Train pass under us!

As I mentioned, dogs are allowed. We love taking our pups on adventures, so this was a big plus! Dogs are allowed almost anywhere in the park, except indoors. Yes, they’re even allowed on the Aerial Gondolas!

The lady at the ticket booth recommended that we take the gondola on the far side of the bridge and to get in line a few minutes early since the lines can get pretty long. We probably ended up in line right about 10 am. We waited no more than 30 minutes for the gondola. Right now (because COVID) each group gets their own gondola, and they sanitize after each group. So the wait does take a little longer than usual, but totally worth it in my opinion.

Aerial Gondolas will take you 2200 ft across the Royal Gorge to the other side, alongside the bridge, 1200 ft up. The ride is really fun, but really SHORT! Seriously don’t blink or you’ll miss it, which I almost did. You can ride it as many times as you want, but you will have to wait in line each time. Again, I also recommend crossing the bridge and taking the gondola from the far side. When we got off the gondola near the entrance of the park, the line was super long!

Our pups did great on the gondola, though Bailey was a little nervous about being able to see through the slats on the bridge. But they were both champs! However, if your dog isn’t acting as well as you thought they would or you really want to go on one of the other rides or go in a building, Royal Gorge Bridge & Park has a solution! They have five kennels onsite, for free! Did you catch that? Five free dog kennels! I thought this was such a great idea. And even though I thought my dogs would be fine, it was nice to know I had a backup plan if things started to get a little rocky.

There are a few other rides and activities that are not included in general admission. The Cloudscraper Zipline looks amazing! This zipline soars 1,200 feet up and across the Royal Gorge. We got to witness some zipliners while waiting in line for the gondola and it looked like so much fun! A ticket for the zipline will cost you $45 extra, and you will still need to purchase a general admission ticket. You can also experience the “World’s Scariest Skycoaster”, the Royal Rush Skycoaster at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. It essentially looks like a giant swing that swings back and forth over the Royal Gorge at speeds up to 50 mph. Honestly, this ride is so not for me! Check out a video of the Royal Rush Skycoaster here and choose for yourself. The skycoaster will cost you an additional $30. You can also ride with a total of three people and they give you a deal of the ride price, $55 for two riders and $75 for three riders. Both of these rides are weather dependent and have age, height and weight restrictions. So make sure to check out the rules before purchasing a ticket.

If you’re really up for an adventure while at Royal Gorge, check out the Royal Gorge Via Ferrata. Via Ferratas are protected climbing routes that use steel cables that are secured to the rock surface. Climbers attach themselves to the cables to climb the rock walls. Sounds kind of amazing, right?! Well if you’re up for climbing the Royal Gorge, this is for you! According to the Royal Gorge website, there are a few different Via Ferrata tours available, including a beginner Revelation Tour, a more advanced Royal Tour, and private tours. Pricing starts at $135 per person. Check out the website for more details and pricing.

It’s a good idea to check the weather and the website before heading out. Depending on the weather, some of the rides may not be operating that day. But fear not, tickets are good for one full year from the date of purchase. Also, if bad weather strikes or something else happens when you’re at the park and you’re not able to do some of the rides, get your ticket validated for free next-day admission.

There is so much to explore at Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. I feel like we barely scratched the surface of everything there is to do. We will most certainly be back!

Seven Falls

My husband and I took a weekend away to celebrate our 3rd anniversary last year. We picked Colorado Springs since we only live about an hour and a half away, and the town is known for being very dog friendly. After many internet searches about what to do in CO Springs, I heard many good things about Seven Falls. Just like it sounds, Seven Falls is seven waterfalls strung together on the side of a canyon. Pretty cool, huh?! And they allow dogs, which is always a bonus for us! However, I couldn’t really find that much information on The Broadmoor (the resort that runs the Seven Falls tourism) website for Seven Falls. So I put together a guide on what we learned from our little adventure that will hopefully help you enjoy the falls to the fullest.

First of all, parking is a little confusing. But it is free! There are “directions” on the website, but they weren’t that helpful. It’s easy enough to put the 1045 Lower Gold Camp Rd parking address into the GPS. But when you pull up to the Norris Penrose Event Center, it gets a little complicated. After driving around the parking lot, trying to figure out where we were supposed to park and with no one there to ask, we finally just parked in a semi-empty lot. There’s a shuttle that takes you from the parking lot to the falls… which was nowhere to be seen. Turns out, we parked in the wrong lot. After turning into the events center, there is a separate, not very clearly marked parking lot for Seven Falls goers on the left side down the hill as you drive in, right before you hit the events center. That is where the shuttle will pick you up. There are bathrooms available here. If you wait you may have to use port-o-potties later in the park.

If you’re like us and plan to take your pup with you to the falls, we found that dogs are allowed on the shuttles and pretty much everywhere in the park, except inside the restaurant. So don’t worry about taking your four-legged friends. Our shuttle driver absolutely loved having our pups onboard, and he gave Juno so many scratches. If you do bring your dogs, do not let them drink from the streams. We saw a warning about parasites in one area, so just best to avoid all the water.

After the shuttles drops you off and you walk down a short path, there will be a ticket booth where you’ll purchase tickets and also receive a “map” of the park, which is mostly a cartoon drawing of the .8 mile walk to the falls. As of now, adult tickets are $16 for the whole day, including re-entry for the day. But make sure to check the Broadmoor website for pricing updates. Fun sidenote: when it says “bathrooms”, it really means port-o-potties, just so you’re aware. So just make sure to bring some hand sanitizer…like we even leave home without it anymore!

You’ll see on the Broadmoor Seven Falls website that it is only a .8 mile walk to the falls from the ticket booth. Easy, peasy we thought, especially since it’s on a paved walkway. And we were right! It’s just too bad I missed the little part about the 224 steps to the top of the falls. As in 224 very steep, narrow stair steps to the tip top of the falls. Yup… missed that little detail! Well, in our minds, a little over a 1.5 mile walk round trip on a paved walkway was nothing, so we were not too worried about forgetting our water. Oops! Needless to say after the trek up and down the steps, we purchased a giant bottle at their conveniently placed gift shop. So if you’re a dummy like us, don’t fret. You can buy water at the shop. Also, if you’re not up for the walk to get to the falls, there is a tram that will take you from the ticket booth to the falls and back again for $2 per person. But if you want to go to the top of the falls, you’ll have to take the stairs.

Once you walk the .8 miles to the falls, there will be a little restaurant and gift shop. Keep walking past the restaurant and you’ll literally run into the falls…. And the 224 steps to the top. Since our dogs are in pretty good shape from going on hikes with us and playing together like 24/7, we thought it would be no big deal for them to climb the steps.

Joke’s on us!

Juno, our oldest pup about 7 years old at the time was a champ on the steps both up and down! Bailey, our 6 month old Aussie pup on the other hand, was completely freaked out that she could see through the steps and refused to climb. So Marcus had to carry her up the 224 steps and down 224 more steps on the way back. To put that in perspective, according to the website, Seven Falls is 181 feet tall. That’s like climbing a 17 story building!

Once you get to the top after climbing and I repeat very steep, very long 224 steps and reach the top, there will be a few trail options. We opted for the shorter trail this time, Midnight Falls Loop Hike which ends up being shorter than 1 mile round trip. There are two longer hikes, one to Inspiration Point and the longest, Stage Road Loop Hike which is about 3 miles, that takes you to both Midnight Falls and Inspiration Point. But we didn’t really feel up for one of the longer hikes at this time.

Once you finish hiking, it’s back down the steps. Going down is faster than going up, but the steps are pretty steep, so make sure to hang on to the railing if you’re like me and gravity seems to affect you more than the average person. There is a landing about halfway down the steps to take a quick break, if needed.

We thought we were done for the day when we got back down, but then discovered a little tunnel off to the side with an elevator at the end. We went in the elevator, with the dogs of course. No sign saying we couldn’t, so assuming that was okay. Once we reached the top, that was the view I had been waiting for. From here you can see all of the 7 waterfalls individually that make up the Seven Falls. Make sure you hit this spot up for sure!

One last thing to mention is that you can zipline at Seven Falls. When I heard this, I was like yeah, yeah. I’ve been ziplining before. No big deal. But when you see how tall those canyon walls are and how high those zipliners go when they jump off the top, it’s exhilarating to watch. Truly! You do have to book the Soaring Adventures zipling tours separately through The Broadmoor, but it looks completely worth it! We are planning a trip back, leaving the puppies at home this time to try out the zipline adventure for ourselves. Will report back!

10 Surprising Things About Colorado

When we moved from Texas to Colorado, we expected things like colder winters, mountains, and people not saying “y’all”. But we had no idea how much different Colorado would be, not just in location or climate, but everything from the booze laws and chain laws to social hiking and landscaping. Now, there are way more differences that we’ve learned than what’s represented on the list below. And remember, just because something is different doesn’t make it bad! I’ve found it very interesting to learn all about Colorado and share what we’ve learned with people who may not have known these things either. So here’s a list of the most surprising and interesting things we’ve learned since moving to Colorful Colorado .

You can’t buy wine in the grocery store. Seriously! When Marcus and I first got here, we went to Target to get groceries for dinner and a bottle of wine. And I could not find wine anywhere! So I eventually Googled it and found out that you have to go to the liquor store. They literally just started selling full-strength beer in grocery stores in January of 2019. But as for wine, you have to go to the liquor store. But on the plus side, liquor stores are open on Sundays.
You can basically find a craft brewery on every corner. As I’m sure you know, craft beer is HUGE in Colorado. Seriously though, you can probably throw a stone in any direction and you’ll hit a brewery! According to brewersassociation.org, there are over 400 breweries in just Colorado, second only to California. And it’s growing every year! Since beer is everywhere here, you’ll often see it or some kind of alcoholic beverage with any meal while eating out. Which is good with me, because I love a mimosa with my brunch!
Many Coloradans can drive in the snow, but don’t like to drive in the rain. And when I say “can”, I really just mean they feel more comfortable driving in the snow rather than a heavy downpour. Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t pass several cars on the side of the road who lost control from going way too fast on a wintery day. Because yeah, that happens. But when it comes to rain, it seems like cars tend to drive slower.
There are not many thunderstorms in Colorado. I mean those all-night long, house-shaking thunder storms that result in several inches of rain that we get in the south. Marcus and I thought it was the weirdest thing when we hadn’t had a storm in so long. It does rain, especially in the spring and summer. But you’ll get random 15 minute afternoon downpours that just come and go so quickly. Although it really is sunny most days in Colorado, Marcus and I are convinced that the reason they say you get 300 sunny days a year in Colorado is that they just count if it’s sunny at some point of the day, even if it’s cloudy later.
Snow gets old after a while. Coming from Texas, I had never really experienced a “real” snow before, well at least that I remember (I was a baby, ha!). So the first “real” snow was very exciting! But then, you get the 2nd snow, then the 15th snow and so on. And it’s really just cold!! And since the weather is so crazy here, I’ve seen snow as early as October here and as late as May. It even snowed in June this year in the mountains! Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy snow, but after months of scraping your windshield, shoveling the driveway (shout out to my awesome hubby for this!) and driving on icy roads, yeah I’m ready for summer.
Driving in the mountains takes forever! We moved from Texas, so I understand long car rides. That was just a part of living there. So when we first moved to Colorado, I didn’t understand why it took so long to get places when it was only a few miles away. Well, we soon learned it’s because driving up a mountain takes time, especially in the winter. So it may only take you like 20 – 30 minutes to drive to the base of the mountain, but then you spent almost an equal amount of time trying to drive up the mountain.
Sooo many Subarus…. literally so many!! We figured this one out when we first visited and were looking for a house. And it’s one of those things that you can’t unsee. Once you realize it, you just see Subarus everywhere! Then we wondered why so many? We found out that Subarus come standard with All-wheel drive, something that really comes in handy during these Colorado winter months.
Hiking is a social activity. I was used to people going to the movies, having an outdoor BBQ, spending the day at the lake or hanging out at a bar, which people still do here, it’s just after a hike. Here, people go hiking as a family, like the whole family. Even babies in carriers. Or hiking with their friends. You’ll often see several families hiking together. College students will even go for hikes to hang out. Obviously, you still see people doing normal activities, but more often than not, if it’s a nice day, everyone will be hiking.
It’s very rare to see grass right against buildings. I didn’t know this one until we were looking to buy a house. Marcus started noticing at all the houses we were looking at that everyone had some sort of rocks in their landscaping and that the grass was never right next to the house. Our realtor explained that the soil in Colorado has lots of Bentonite or other water-absorbing minerals. When over saturated, Bentonite will rapidly expand causing the foundation of your house to shift. So to avoid that, people will use rocks (no moisture) right up against their foundation instead of grass, which obviously needs moisture.
There are low-quality air days called Ozone Action Days. I first heard this on the news, and I was like what the heck is that? Isn’t Colorado with all it’s great outdoors supposed to have fresh mountain air? Yeah… nope! On low-quality air days near Denver, they recommend those with respiratory issues should stay indoors and keep physical activity to a minimum. They even suggest on those days that you bike or carpool to work so you don’t make the problem worse. Crazy, right?!

We’ve experienced so many new and exciting things since moving to Colorado. But we are loving every minute of living here and enjoy learning about our new home. I can’t wait to add more things to this list as we immerse ourselves even more into Colorado life!