One of Colorado's newest tourist attractions is the easy way to get to one of the oldest. Bill Clarke's one tank trip takes you to Glenwood Springs.

You can drive to Glenwood Springs in about three hours. The canyon's a great place for water sports like rafting or taking the bike path down toward town. But this year, there's a tram ride up the mountain and ittakes less than five minutes to get up to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

The caves are maybe seven million years old had been closed to the public for a half-century.

Owner Steve Beckley bought the land and opened about a half mile of the cave system for an easy one hour walking tour and opened three more miles for more expert cavers.

Beckley's seen it all, including the tight spots.

"It would take us three hours of belly crawling. I would squeeze through about a half inch at a time," Beckley said.

The limestone caves were first opened to the public back in 1886 but had been closed for decades when Beckley bought the land and reopened the caves a few years back.

The lighting is just enough to highlight nature's handiwork and in some places, like in a five-story cavern called The Barn, you'll be left speechless. Step out on the balcony at Exclamation Point, where a steel railing separates you from the Colorado River, and the view is beyond breathtaking.

"We're 1,300 feet above the river here," Beckley explained.

At the park, kids can pan for precious metals and semiprecious stones the way the old miners panned for gold.

Your ticket up the mountain is good for two trips a day --one for the cave tour and one later in the day, maybe for dinner or cocktails at the top of the lift at sunset.

The Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park will be open every day through the end of this year, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Bill's Trip Notes

We couldn't stop talking about the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and owner Steve Beckley. There's a Web site with all the info you'll need about the park. It's GlenwoodCaverns.com.

If you want to bike through Glenwood Canyon, Canyon Bikes in the Colorado Hotel in Glenwood (just across the street from the pool) runs van service to a drop off point 13 miles upstream. It should be relatively easy, even with the occasional slight uphill climb as the paved path meanders along the river. Go to CanyonBikes.com for more info. Bikes and the two daily Amtrak passenger trains that come through the canyon are the best ways to see the river and to appreciate all the planning and hard work that went into building the freeway through the canyon.

Rafting is a great way to enjoy the river itself, though for most of the journey downstream you'll be too preoccupied to focus real clearly on the shoreline.

On a personal note, I spent six weeks in Glenwood Springs some years ago covering a notorious murder trial. During that time I found the people in this small town to be open, friendly, and very good hosts. Glenwood suffers unjustly for that terrible exit ramp and the miserable set of turns that gets you from I-70 to Colorado Highway 82 and on to Aspen.

And by comparison with its jet-set counterpart, Glenwood is somewhat lacking in the gourmet meal department. The restaurant in the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is a good place to have a leisurely dinner and watch the sun set. Or you can go to Florindo's on Grand Avenue for a meal that's among the best Italian in the Roaring Fork Valley. Daily Bread, also on Grand Avenue, has a reputation for superb breakfasts and baked goods. And I remember a cheeseburger there... ah well.

Stick closely to the speed limit and you CAN make it to Glenwood Springs and back on a tankful of gas. And if you have to add a little extra juice on the way back, so what? This One Tank Trip is worth it.