Looking for a great vacation but need to stay close to home? We had the opportunity to go down south (but not too far south) to Canyon City and the Royal Gorge area. What a fun way to spend a long weekend! The resort is located within minutes of the Arkansas River and the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park along with other attractions such as the Royal Gorge Route Railroad and historic Cañon City, and visitors can enjoy adventures such as fly fishing and back-country Jeep tours.
Echo Canyon invited us to stay in one of its nine one- and two-bedroom “cabins” which were not at all the rustic accommodations we expected, but rather, a two-story amazing luxury cabin with a fabulous view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, fully-equipped kitchen fireplace and comfy beds enough for the whole family. Open year around, the cabins include six two-story, 800-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-and one-half-bathroom loft cabins and three 600-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom king cabins.
The living areas include a fully equipped galley-style kitchen, flat-screen television, eat-in granite bar and leather couches. A highlight of each cabin is an ambiance-maximizing double-sided gas fireplace that can be enjoyed inside and outside along with 400 square feet of outdoor living space featuring drought-tolerant plantings such as blue fescue and Karl Forster grasses.
The luxury cabins are decorated in contemporary mountain style with fireplace mantles created from locally sourced timber from the original Royal Gorge Bridge, which was damaged after wildfires destroyed much of the park in 2013.
Echo canyon has also opened four new glamping tents to complement the four tents and nine luxury cabins it introduced last summer. All accommodations include free WiFi (including the tents!) and places to grill and sit out in the amazing Southern Colorado weather!
Royal Gorge Cabins are owned and operated by Echo Canyon River Expeditions which also offers event space and campsites in addition to the cabins and tents. We were blown away by the delicious food at the resort’s 8 Mile Bar & Grill – an indoor/outdoor space that is a fabulous place to relax after your adventures of the day!
As the name implies, it also offers a variety of whitewater rafting adventures on the Arkansas River, and we had an adventurous morning rafting with its guide down the Arkansas. My kids were first-time rafters, so we enjoyed the guide and had a wonderful time learning how to row and navigate the rapids.
We also loved visiting the Royal Gorge Bridge – as much as I’m a long-time Colorado resident, this is one attraction I had never visited. The bridge burned in 2013 and all but two buildings were destroyed. Echo Canyon River Expeditions has done an amazing job of building the attraction back and the gift shop, restaurants and attractions in the park were fun for the whole family (and dog friendly, which surprised us). If you don’t want to spend the money, you can park in its parking lot and look from the side at the great bridge – which was built at the turn of the century for no reason at all, but to settle a bet!
We also enjoyed our ride on the Royal Gorge train. We just took an excursion out and back to see the bridge from the bottom of the canyon and to enjoy its food and beverage services, but we’d love to go back and check out the Mystery trains and the Holiday trains which look festive.
All in all we had an amazing time and enjoyed your vacation which was just two hours from home, but felt like a week away at a fabulous resort!
