Skyline Drive is a scenic roadway in

Cañon City, Colorado Cañon City is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 17,141 at the 2020 United States Census. Cañon City is the principal city of t ...

. It was built by

inmate A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

labor in 1905. The road starts from

U.S. Highway 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

and gradually inclines up the side of a

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

. When the road crests, it winds, climbs, and falls like a roller coaster until near its end, where a scenic outlook overlooks both the city to the east and the highway to the west. The single-lane, one-way road rises about above the surrounding terrain. There are no guardrails despite sharp drop-offs, and the drive is about long. The road ends in a

residential neighborhood A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

, and becomes a residential street that intersects with 5th Street, where signs point south toward US 50 and "Historic Downtown Cañon City," allowing drivers to head downtown and return to the highway.

Geology

The drive sits on the top of Skyline Ridge, a hogback composed of upturned

Dakota sandstone The Dakota is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary geologic unit name of Formation (stratigraphy), formation and Group (stratigraphy), group rank in Midwestern North America. The Dakota units are generally composed of sandstones, mudstones, clays, and ...

. Outcrops of the

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

and the Fountain formations can also be seen. Along the drive is the "Dinosasur trackway," a fenced-off area along the road adjacent to some exposed strata, which showcases the fossilized footprints of

ankylosaurs Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. ...

walking towards the west.

References

External links

*{{Commonscat-inline, Skyline Drive (Cañon City, Colorado), Skyline Drive Streets in Colorado Transportation in Fremont County, Colorado Cañon City, Coloradobr>Skyline Video