February 21, 22, 23
The AirBnB where we stayed in Canon City was blocks from the Arkansas River. There is an 11 mile Riverwalk Trail alongside the river, some small sections of which we hiked during our stay in the city.
February 21
Just before 7:00 am local time, we headed to the trailhead, a scant 2 minute drive from the AirBnB.
The Arkansas Riverwalk Trail, in whole, is listed on AllTrails as an easy 11+ mile trail with 367 feet of elevation gain, however there are numerous trailheads along the trail that allow access to the path. We elected to drop on to the trail from one such access point.
The Arkansas River originates in nearby Leadville and flows nearly 1,500 miles southeast to the Mississippi River in south Arkansas. We walked a half mile chunk of that 1,500 miles Wednesday morning.
The river was not fast moving, but it was flowing enough for it to make the familiar sounds of a running river.
It was a cool morning- I was wearing a nice, heavy Carhartt hoodie, and, to be honest, I wished I had my gloves with me. As we walked east, the direction the river flows, the dormant cottonwood trees reminded me of walking on the bosque in Albuquerque.
Directly across the river from the spot where we accessed the trail was a pasture with a handful of cows. One of them had made its way to the bank on the north side of the river.
The path was flat and well maintained and peppered with the exercise spots you’ll see from time to time on trails: balance beams, stretching platforms, things like that.
There were several small flocks of geese that were quickly flying, just skirting above the surface of the water, familiar calls emanating from the small groups of birds.
We encountered a trio of elderly folks on a leisurely stroll, then, as we approached the half mile mark where were opted to turn around, we came across a gentleman riding a recumbent bicycle. Those were the only people we saw on this early morning stroll.
We found a marker, a picnic table, where we turned around and made our way back from where we came. There was a short alternate path that bordered a large obstacle course that looked like something out of an army movie where any of your protagonists have to climb a tower and monkey bar across a large expanse, then run through a path of tires, then climb ropes.
The course was in a state of disuse and was very overgrown with knee-high grass. I’m not sure if it was just shut down for the winter season, or if it was shut down for good. The ubiquitous wall that the soldiers would have to scramble over appeared to have some graffiti on it, and it looked old. I’m not sure if this was an indicator of its normal usage or not.
We made it back to the car in one piece. We made our way across highway 50 to the historic downtown area of Canon City and found ourselves at The Bean Pedaler, one of many coffee shops on Main Street.
It was quite clear that the shop was themed after the abundant bicycling community found in Canon City. There was bike decor all over the wall, the logo is centered around a pedal sprocket and the shop is planted right next to a bicycle shop with a passthrough between them.
I went in while Brandy waited with Ash in the car. There was one woman working in the shop and she was in the middle of another customer’s order. In between drinks, she took my order- a large Americano and a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin for me, and a large chai latte for Brandy. After I paid, the barista went back to finishing the other customer’s order, ours quickly followed.
We took our drinks back to the house and got to working.
February 22
Thursday morning, we wanted to do the same walk we had done Wednesday. I was up early, as usual, so I got up, got logged in to my work computer, did some administrative work then got Brandy up. She did a little bit of her own work then, at 8:00, we headed out to the Arkansas Riverwalk trail. Instead of walking east like we’d done Wednesday, though, we headed west.
We came across a small section of some light rapids that made for a pretty good video opportunity. I took some video and stitched it together with other footage from later in the week and posted a fancy-schmancy video up on YouTube:
When we’d reached the bridge where 9th Street crosses over the trail, we turned around and made our way back. As we made the turnaround, a couple of geese flew in, honking away as they splashed down into the water. Ash watched them intently until he was certain they weren’t a threat, then we headed on our way back to the car.
Once back, we both got to work and finished out our last work day of the week.
February 23
We were both off on Friday and we were anxious to go ride the Royal Gorge Route Railroad, but before we headed out to do that, we went for one last stroll down the trail. We took Ash once more and decided to stretch out a little, opting to push to the 1 mile mark. Once there, we took a rest and watched the water flow past. It was very peaceful as we sat and took in the scenery and the sounds and the cool air.
Once we were well rested, we made our way back, getting back to the car at around 8:45.
Conclusion
The Arkansas Riverwalk Trail is well maintained and, at least the stretch we hiked, has a TON of benches, picnic tables, trash cans and restrooms. It really is a more-well appointed trail. Again, this is from about 9th Street in Canon City to about 1.5 miles east of there. I can’t speak to the rest of the 10 miles beyond that.
Brandy has mentioned that she’d like to return to this AirBnB for a more lengthy stay. If we do, we’ll be certain to hike that trail again.
As always, pictures from these hikes can be found on my Photo Diary page. Make sure you follow along the rest of the trip on the main hub for the winter 2024 edition of our visit to Colorado.
Until next time!
-Phil