Excitement is reaching a high pitch as Saturday approaches, marking the opening of the Iron Mountain Tramway, which will ferry visitors to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

The 4,300-foot long tramway, located west of Two Rivers Park on Two Rivers Plaza Road, will open at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 26. The gondola ride will take seven and a half minutes, with a three-and-a-half-minute wait between gondolas. The tramway will run until 10 p.m. every day.

The eight tram gondolas can each transport a maximum of six passengers at a time and up to 270 passengers per hour. All are handicap- and wheelchair-accessible.

Parking is provided at the tram ticket office, to the north across Two Rivers Road, and at Two Rivers Park.

Round-trip tram ride tickets are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $7 for children.

For those who want to ride the tram and take a tour of the historic Fairy Caves and Glenwood Caverns, the ticket to ride and tour is $15 for adults and teens, $13.50 for seniors and $10 for children. The ticket office opens at 10 a.m.

Remember, buses no longer take visitors up to the caverns and there is no parking for private cars.

Also opening this weekend is Exclamation Point restaurant. It offers inside and outside dining, and there are two observation decks that look down on Glenwood Springs.

A full day of activities is planned for Saturday.

A ribbon-cutting celebration at the tramway base is set for 10 a.m., with music by the Glenwood Springs High School Pep Band and Melissa Miller.

People can start boarding the tram after the ribbon cutting and ride up the mountain for more festivities at the top of Iron Mountain.

A Ute Indian blessing and celebration will be held at 11 a.m.

At noon, a duo of Austrians will entertain the crowd with yodeling, and the Flying Dog Bluegrass Band will play starting at 2 p.m. At 5 p.m., Dave Hill will entertain with his acoustic guitar, leading the day into a more mellow mood.

Cave Tours will be offered all day long, and specials on appetizers and drinks will be offered all day at the Exclamation Point Restaurant.

A special supplement to the Post Independent, “Welcome Tram,” is included in today’s paper. It has everything you need to know about the tram, the caverns and the restaurant as well as a history of the development of the caverns and the caverns’ geology.

The caverns originally opened in 1895 but closed at the onset of World War I. They remained closed for 82 years until Steve and Jeanne Beckley reopened them in 1999. They were recently named one of the 10 Best Places to go Underground by USA Today.

The caverns and the tram will be open year-round. During the summer the tramway will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.