A Trip to Royal Gorge and Great Sand Dunes National Park

Colorado is an amazing place. Within a few hours of Denver, there are unlimited numbers of landscapes to see and explore. In celebration of my birthday, Anna and I took the trip down to Cañon City to see the famous Royal Gorge Bridge. The bridge, originally built in 1929, held the title of “Worlds Highest Bridge” until 2001. The place itself is a little campy, set up nearly like an amusement park. The most authentic part— and what makes the trip worthwhile— is the view.

From the Royal Gorge, we headed west to Poncha Springs and then south on a very long, very straight road down into something you wouldn’t expect in the middle of Colorado: sand dunes!

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve is an  amazing landscape in the middle of Colorado. The sand dunes are the tallest in North America, and a real pain to climb. Every step up has you sliding back a few inches. It was an incredible challenge to climb a tall dune, but it was also incredibly fun to run back down. And, you wouldn’t expect a desert landscape to be cold, but be warned: the winds are intense, the sand can be brutal, and it can get really, really cold.

I had an incredible time on this day trip, and if you live in the Denver Metro area, I’d highly recommend both of these amazing places.