Royal Gorge Route Adventure Journal
How could one train ride become the beginning of a longer stay?
Royal Gorge Railroad
THE CHALLENGE
The Royal Gorge Route Railroad is already a destination, but a train ride can easily become a single-day experience.
The opportunity is to connect the railroad with the company’s lodging, dining, retail, and surrounding Cañon City experiences to give visitors more reasons to stay.
THE INSIGHT
People may come for the train. They stay longer when they can picture everything that could happen around it.
Where should we stay? Where should we eat? What can we do tomorrow?
The opportunity is not simply promoting more things to do. It is making the entire trip easier to imagine and plan.
THE CONCEPT
Start with the train. Stay for the experience.
The Royal Gorge Route Railroad Adventure Journal turns the train into the anchor for a larger trip.
PLAN: Choose a train experience and build a day trip or three-day getaway around it.
EXPLORE: Connect lodging, dining, local favorites, free activities, wildlife, and regional attractions.
REMEMBER: Collect stickers from Royal Gorge Route locations, save tickets and photographs, journal the trip, and keep everything together in a built-in pocket.
FROM TRAIN RIDE TO GETAWAY
The journal helps visitors see what staying longer makes possible.
Day 1: Check into the Inn, explore downtown, and have dinner at Antithesis.
Day 2: Start at Happy Endings, experience the Royal Gorge Route Railroad, then explore museums, shopping, or local favorites.
Day 3: Enjoy breakfast and something light before heading home, such as Tunnel Drive, the Riverwalk, or Skyline Drive.
It is not about filling every hour. It is about making another day feel worth staying for.
1 day plan
sticker or stamp collection
stay longer for region
3 day plan
more around area to do
share your photos
WHY IT WORKS
Extends the Stay: Connects the train with lodging, dining, retail, and regional experiences.
Makes Planning Easier: Day-trip and three-day options help visitors picture the experience before arriving.
Creates Cross-Promotion: Company properties and local experiences become part of one journey instead of separate promotions.
Creates a Keepsake: Stickers (Each location can have its own stamp or special stickers), photographs, tickets, notes, and a memory pocket gives the journal value after the trip ends.
Encourages a Return Visit: Different train rides, seasons, and experiences give visitors a natural reason to come back.
REFLECTION
This concept originally began as a journal for the larger Royal Gorge region. Learning more about the company changed the strategy.
The Royal Gorge Route Railroad became the anchor, with dining, lodging, retail, and regional experiences extending the journey around it.
The journal gives visitors a simple way to answer one question: We are coming for the train. What else could we experience while we’re here?
Good destination marketing helps people picture the trip before they ever arrive.
Royal Gorge Route Railroad Journal Storyboard
back pocket for memorabilia
Back of book
Additional Notes
Save your tickets in the back-page pocket, and once you have completed all the Royal Gorge Routes, send in a photo of the stubs to get your conductor's pin or patch. Or we can add an extra spread for a train-ride stamp for each route, but then they have to remember to get the stamp when they pick up their tickets. To this day, I still carry around my state wildlife journal to get my stamp! The giveaway is over, but it is still exciting to participate!
A CONCEPT CREATED FOR THE DIGITAL MARKETING & DESIGN MANAGER POSITION
Contact me at 42jenniferharrison@gmail.com to discuss the Ad campaign or the Royal Gorge Route Railroad Mobile App Wireframe concepts I have.
*AI was used to storyboard the idea. If the product comes to life, it will all be made in Adobe Illustrator with Royal Gorge Route Railroad colors, fonts, and graphics that match the brand guidelines.
©Salt & Pines LLC