Tunnel Drive just outside of Canon City, Colorado, is a fun little hike, but if you go in late morning, it’s pretty much all exposed to the hot sun. The trail is dirt/rocks, quite wide, and winds along the ridge above the Arkansas River. As we hiked, we saw the Royal Gorge Line train chug by, we watched rafters float along, and we saw some wildlife, as well. (Also a used condom, whoo hoo.) The trail features three tunnels dug through the rock, two of them rather short and one quite long. The road was originally built to service a redwood water main from the river to Canon City. The trail is only two miles in length, but we only hiked the first mile of it. (Wally, who is 3, insisted upon riding on Daddy’s shoulders most of the way, and Daddy didn’t think he could do the whole hike with his extra burden.)
Eager hiker for the first few steps! The Royal Gorge Line. The first tunnel.
The last (longest tunnel). A cactus.
Hike completed: July 23, 2007. Total mileage: Just over 2 miles.
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January 25, 2008 at 2:09 pm
david
howdy,
I stumbled upon your entry from a blogroll on the “View from here” blog. Anyway, just last night I was researching Canyon City and the Royal Gorge Railway, and now this! Is the route (hike) easy to find? Is there a trail name?
thanks!
February 8, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Sarah
Hi, The trail is named Tunnel Drive. It used to be a road, apparently.
We were uncertain about finding it, but it is REALLY easy and is on most maps of the town of Canon City. Additionally, there is a WONDERFUL visitor shack on the main drag through town, and we found the volunteers there to be most helpful. They gave us directions to find it.