In January 2021, a semi-truck crashed into our building. Three years later, that accident became Canon City's most unexpected success story.
It was a quiet January morning in 2021 when a semi-truck lost control at the intersection of Fourth Street and U.S. Highway 50. The truck plowed into the Royal Gorge Rafting and Zipline Tours office — the building that had been home to the adventure company for years. The damage was devastating. The building was a total loss.
For most people, that would be the end of the story. File the insurance claim, rebuild the office, move on.
But the team at Epic Adventures saw something else in the wreckage: an opportunity.
The Idea Takes Shape
"What if we didn't just rebuild an office?" That was the question that changed everything. The location — right on Royal Gorge Blvd in the heart of Canon City — was too good for just another office building. The team started dreaming bigger.
What if they built a restaurant? Not just any restaurant, but one with a rooftop patio overlooking the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the Arkansas River, and Centennial Park. A place where locals could gather after work and visitors could celebrate after a day of rafting and ziplining.
Breaking Ground
Construction began in September 2022 on a brand-new 4,000 square-foot, two-story building. The design called for a full indoor bar and kitchen on the ground level, with a sprawling 2,000 square-foot open-air rooftop patio up top. A wooden pergola would provide shade while keeping the sky open for those legendary Colorado sunsets.
If you've driven down Royal Gorge Blvd during construction, you probably saw the steel going up and wondered what was coming. The answer was something Canon City had never seen before.
Opening Day
On April 13th, 2024, we cut the ribbon and opened the doors for the first time. The response from Canon City was overwhelming — lines out the door, every table full, the rooftop packed with people soaking in views they'd driven past a thousand times but never seen from 20 feet up.
That first night, watching the sun set over the mountains while the bar buzzed with conversation and laughter, it hit us: this was exactly what Canon City needed.
From Accident to Institution
Today, Whitewater Rooftop Social hosts live music every week, partners with local organizations for fundraisers, and has become the go-to spot for celebrations from birthdays to bachelorette parties. We've been featured in the Canon City Daily Record and have earned a 4.8-star rating on Google.
The semi-truck that crashed into our building in 2021 destroyed an office. But what it really did was clear the way for something Canon City didn't know it was missing.
Come see for yourself. The view from the rooftop is worth the visit.