I have to give a huge shoutout to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad train ride I took today. My…read morehusband and I have visited The Royal Gorge Bridge previously and thought that was an incredible experience but the train ride topped it, believe it or not! The scenery was worth every penny and worth the drive out to Canon City. I've been to some beautiful places in my life like Germany, The Netherlands, Alaska, Austria and seen some breathtaking views but I would put this train ride in the top 10 experiences in my life. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, we had great seats on the train but the sights were the winners. Life is short. Take the train ride.

What an incredible experience from beginning to end!…read more Our trip from California started with Sharon, who helped us with our reservation. She was warm, patient, and extremely helpful in making the modifications we needed. From that first interaction, we felt like we were in good hands. When we arrived, Rainey was thoughtful and accommodating, especially since my wife and I were traveling with her parents, who needed a little extra support and assistance. Her kindness was greatly appreciated. Then we met Susan in the gift shop...an absolute gem. We immediately connected when I mentioned that my late mother's name was also Susan. I asked if she knew the meaning of her name, and she replied, "Lily." That stopped me in my tracks because the book I'm writing about my mother is titled The Lily of the Valley. I promised Susan that when it's finished, I'll send her a copy. In fact, our conversation inspired me to sit down and write while we waited to board the dome train. Once aboard, Thomas, our server, was awesome. He was knowledgeable, informative, personable, and made us feel less like customers and more like family. His service added so much to an already memorable ride. The scenery is spectacular, but what really made this experience special were the people. Sharon, Rainey, Susan, and Thomas each contributed something memorable to our day. A truly wonderful experience and one we highly recommend. It was absolutely worth the investment...and gave us memories we'll carry home to California with us. Truly a happy ending and we' come again. LOL!

There are two distinct ways to reach the top of Pikes Peak, which sits 14,115 feet above sea level…read moreaccording to the monument we dutifully took a group photo in front of. You can drive yourself up a winding ribbon of mountain asphalt while wondering if the human coming around the hairpin turn possesses basic driving skills. Or you can board a train and let a red Swiss-built mechanical crawler drag you up the side of a giant rock. We chose the later. We boarded the Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway at the base depot in Manitou Springs as part of an organized tour group. This spared us from the depot parking lot, which appeared to be a complicated test of human patience that you pay a premium to experience. The boarding process is orderly because seats are seemingly assigned by a computer algorithm. I say this, because no human would assign seats in such a manner unless they deeply enjoyed practical jokes. Our half of the train car was packed tightly while leaving the far end three-quarters empty. Spreading the riders out more evenly would seem like an obvious improvement. The seats themselves are molded high-density plastic that any rider of underfunded public transit will instantly recognize, arranged in rows facing one another. This configuration forces passengers to stare directly into each other's eyes while their legs interlock like puzzle pieces. At six-foot-three, I was deeply grateful for an aisle seat. Two of my companions, both under five-foot-six, sat across from one another and found themselves in an arrangement that surrendered all known concepts of personal space. The climb takes about one hour and fifteen minutes along nine miles of track. Our guide provided historical facts, geological context, and a steady stream of terrible dad jokes. They informed us we were on the right track, which was technically accurate. Outside the windows, the aspen trees gave way to evergreen timberline, which eventually dissolved into barren rock, sky, and absolute silence. At the summit, the atmosphere becomes thin and cold. We had just come from a week of intense heat, yet tiny snowflakes were drifting through the air in July. My lungs, accustomed to normal atmospheric pressure, spent the first ten minutes attempting to negotiate a trade agreement with the mountain air. Eventually, my nervous system adjusted. The summit visitor center feels modern, warm, and smells delightfully of their famous high-altitude freshly fried donuts. On the journey back down, the universe provided a magnificent surprise. A rainbow appeared in the canyon directly at eye-level. Every human in our car stopped talking at the exact same moment and simply stared through the glass. No digital camera could properly capture it. Some moments refuse to be translated into pixels. I would choose the Cog Railway over driving up the peak without hesitation. You must simply pack warm layers, prepare for the altitude, and accept that your knees will spend two hours making close friends with a stranger. The mountain is magnificent. The seating configuration is not.

My second time here. Love it…read more Great time riding the rails. Your guide was excellent and gave a lot of info. The railway station was clean and well organized. Pro tips: bring a sweatshirt, sun glasses, and give yourself at least twenty minutes to park. They leave on time and don't care that you're running to catch the train. Our train left someone behind.

We had a fabulous experience staying with Colorado Jeep Tours. We camped up on top overnight…read morethrough Harvest Host, which included tickets to the park for our return hike over the bridge. This made it so easy to be at the office by 8:00am for our jeep tour and zip line. The view from the camp space was the scene from the Colorado license plate! Gorgeous! Zip line was safe and exciting, (although the video was disappointing. ) You get a total "behind the scenes" look at the Royal Gorge park as well as Temple park. Highly recommend!

Great staff! Very organized! Great ride . Drivers are…read morewonderful . It's nice to be driven around and enjoy the views.

This hotel has a lot of space - there's a separate sitting area away from the bed and a lot of…read morespace to spread out and get work done. The bed is comfortable, the AC was cold, and the shower nice and hot with good water pressure. The front desk service was friendly. The price was reasonable, and it was quiet. It's not the Ritz, but it ticks all the boxes for a mid-priced hotel.

What an absolute fucking joke of a hotel…read more I have stayed in some shitty places before, but this place takes the crown. We found approximately 15 fucking roaches in our room, including one that crawled onto my girlfriend. Not one roach. Not a random bug. A full-blown fucking infestation. Then came the customer service, which was somehow even worse than the roaches. At around 2:00 a.m., the front desk employee appeared to be half asleep behind the desk. When I reported the infestation and asked to speak with a manager, I was refused. No apology. No urgency. No attempt to make the situation right. Just attitude and a clear message that they didn't give a shit. After getting nowhere with the hotel, I called corporate thinking surely someone would take a room full of roaches seriously. Nope. Their response was basically, "We'll get back to you in about a week." A week? You rented me a room with roaches crawling all over it and your solution is to put me in a queue? The roaches were disgusting, but the complete lack of accountability was what really pissed me off. This hotel took my money, put me in a room that should never have been rented to anyone, then acted like I was the problem for complaining. If you're considering staying here, save yourself the headache, the disgust, and the possibility of bringing roaches home with you. Spend your money literally anywhere else. Absolutely fucking unacceptable. Update my friend has bites and the hotel said this The property has advised us that, according to their records, they did not find any cockroaches in the room during your stay. They have also informed us that, following the circumstances surrounding your stay, your name has been placed on the hotel's Do Not Rent List, meaning that they will no longer be able to accommodate you at the property. Unfortunately, the hotel has also confirmed that they are not willing to approve a refund or compensation for this reservation. We understand that this is not the outcome you were hoping for, especially considering the issues you reported during your stay. As the hotel is the party holding the payment and their approval is required for us to process a refund related to these circumstances, we are unfortunately unable to issue a refund without their authorization. So because I called them out on their bulshit they will no longer let me get rooms at their hotel I currently have a case with code enforcement and OSHA and the health inspector