Skyline Drive: Driving the Razor Edge

Following the raft trip and the train ride, we drove Skyline Drive -- a true adventure not duplicated elsewhere in the country.

This was my third drive on Canon City's famous Skyline Drive. The first was three decades ago with Uncle Jake who then lived down the road in Pueblo, and the second was when my sons were young.




This 3 mile paved, single lane, one way road was built by prison inmates in 1932 and towers 800 to 1000 feet above Canon City. No -- RVs and vehicles over 20 feet long are prohibited.


Drivers who are acrophobic and passengers who fear heights and steep dropoffs (like my Mom) should also avoid the drive. This area was an inland sea stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic during the Cretaceous, so there are many trace fossils (the result of ancient animals burrowing, walking, feeding, and being fed upon) in the rocks up on the drive.


But for the rest of us, it is a unique driving experience. The road below on the right is Colorado Highway 50. The drive begins a few miles west of Canon City, and the exit is on 5th Street in the city. Make a right turn and you'll get back to Hwy. 50.