History of the Royal Gorge

Echo Canyon River Expeditions sits just a few miles from the North rim of the famous Royal Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River. Over the past three million years, the Arkansas River has carved its way out of the Rocky Mountains, into the eastern plains, before heading to the Mississippi River and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico. The Arkansas River is the longest tributary of the Mississippi River. The total length of the river from Colorado, through Kansas and Oklahoma, and finally into Arkansas is about 1450 miles. It carves away at the surrounding granite of the Royal Gorge at the rate of about one inch every 210 years.

Some of the earliest and largest dinosaurs roamed this region about 200 million years ago. There have been several species of dinosaurs found in Colorado, including Allosaurus, Comptosaurus and Stegosaurus, the Colorado state dinosaur.

The first white man to discover the Royal Gorge was Zebulon Pike, the same man for whom Pikes Peak is named. At the mouth of the Gorge is a Colorado Historical Society marker denoting the location believed to be the camp of Zebulon Pike and his team when they first located the Gorge on December 7th, 1806.

The historic Royal Gorge Route is 127 years old and offers several departures daily throughout the summer months. In addition, you may choose your class of service ranging from Coach class through Gourmet Lunch Trains as well as their World Class Dinner Train.

Read the history of a related popular colorado attraction, the Royal Gorge Bridge.