Canon City, CO Summary

To most visitors Canon City is promoted as the gateway town to Royal Gorge, home to the world’s highest suspension bridge, which rises over the Arkansas River at 1,053 feet. Constructed in 1929, the bridge is a brilliant engineering feat that spans the world’s steepest incline railway, plunging at a 45-degree angle to the canyon floor.

The town’s population of nearly 15,000 also caters to tourists who stop to visit the Colorado Territorial Prison Museum Park. Still used as a penitentiary, the prison has a museum in an adjoining cell block, including its famous gas chamber, which was last used in 1967.

Canon City’s Main Street is characteristic of most nineteenth-century towns, with classic Victorian buildings framing the downtown sidewalks. Canon City was once a leading movie town during the silent picture era. Cowboy star Tom Mix lived periodically at the Hotel St Cloud while he was making movies.

Located along Hwy 50, Canon City is serviced by buses.