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The air is crisp, and the leaves are bursting into vivid hues. Maybe you’re planning a road trip to admire the beauty. But getting your fill of fall foliage from behind the wheel can turn into an awkward juggle between admiring the vistas and navigating traffic. If you hop on a train, you can give the scenery your full attention and view some sights you just can’t see from the highway. Here are five great American train rides that offer day trips for peak-autumn panoramas.
Pennsylvania
East Broad Top Railroad
Tucked away in central Pennsylvania, the East Broad Top Railroad offers a nine-mile round-trip fall foliage excursion from the tiny town of Orbisonia through the picturesque Aughwick Valley. Passengers can choose from enclosed and open-air cars on the line, the only remaining narrow-gauge railroad east of the Rocky Mountains, as the train winds through colorful hills and valleys. Red and sugar maple trees, two common species en route, put on a show as their falling leaves spin in a delicate dance. A stop at Colgate Grove gives passengers a chance to explore the serene surroundings, enjoy a picnic lunch and take a later train back.
From the 1870s until 1956, trains on the East Broad Top hauled millions of pounds of coal from local mines. After its closure, the line seemed destined for scrap, but in 1960, it got a reprieve and began running as a tourist attraction. It became a national historical landmark in 1964. Guided tours of the railroad’s shop facilities give visitors a look at Pennsylvania’s rich railroad history.
Fall foliage trains run through late October. On weekends, three-hour Peanuts-cartoon-themed train rides, including pumpkin picking and children’s activities at Colgate Grove, depart at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $22 to $35 for adults and $16 to $29 for children 2 to 12.
Arizona
Grand Canyon Railway
The railway to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim opened to tourists in 1901, about 18 years before the national park was established, replacing an eight-hour stagecoach ride. Today’s 65-mile train journey takes a little over two hours due north from the depot in Williams, Ariz., and ends a short walk from the South Rim of the canyon (both around 7,000 feet in elevation), passing through ponderosa pine forests, prairie and desert.
There’s more than scenery to this ride. Wild West “outlaws” cause a ruckus when guests are departing, and later board the train, chased by the “marshal.” When that show isn’t playing out, fiddle- or guitar-playing cowboys and cowgirls provide musical entertainment on board. Attendants share the area’s history and point out sights and wildlife, like graceful pronghorns.
Trains depart Williams daily at 9:30 a.m. in October and 8:30 a.m. in November and December. Visitors have about four hours to explore the South Rim area before boarding the return train. Tickets range from $35.98 to $239.98 round-trip depending on passenger age and class of service. Park entrance fees are separate.
Iowa
Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad
On some parts of the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, just north of Des Moines, Iowa, the forest is so close outside the vintage train cars, it feels within arm’s reach. Then suddenly, the steam engine emerges from the trees on the Bass Point Creek High Bridge, 156 feet above the water, and the multicolored rolling hills spread out below in all directions.
Built in 1893, the tracks have been used over the years to transport coal, grain, gypsum, freight and passengers, but fell into disuse in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the most scenic 11-mile section of the line was revived as a tourist attraction, and today, riders can choose from enclosed or open-air viewing cars, take a ride where lunch or dinner is included, or stop at a pumpkin patch. Rides last from one to about three hours.
Trains run Thursdays through Sundays in October, and two Saturdays in November. Tickets range from $10 to $35, depending on passenger age and choice of car. Dinner rides cost $110, including the meal. Admission to the on-site James H. Andrew Railway Museum is included with most train tickets.
Washington
Amtrak Cascades
The Pacific Northwest may be known for its towering evergreens, but color-changing species live there too, and their October splendor dazzles riders on the two-hour trip between Seattle and Bellingham, Wash., on the Amtrak Cascades route.
Passengers depart from Seattle’s recently refurbished 1906 King Street Station, passing under the city’s new 20-acre waterfront park and emerging to vistas of the snow-topped Olympic mountain range to the west. The route shows off some of the state’s bounty as the train chugs by cropland, grazing cattle, active lumber mills, lush forests and wildlife habitats. (On the way to Bellingham, sit on the left side of the train to get the best views of Puget Sound.)
Once you arrive in Bellingham, you can spend the day taking in the sculpture collection on the Western Washington University campus, visiting the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention or the Whatcom Museum, shopping, and indulging in local fare like craft beer and oysters before taking a train back south to Seattle that evening.
Trains are scheduled to depart Seattle daily at 8:30 a.m., arriving in Bellingham around 10:30 a.m. The return from Bellingham is scheduled to depart at 6:45 p.m. and arrive around 9 p.m. (There is a $19 bus service available for earlier departure.) Amtrak tickets start around $20 for coach and $50 for business class, each way.
Colorado
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
An 1880s-era steam train travels 45 miles over three and a half hours, each way, between the towns of Durango and Silverton, in southwestern Colorado, offering passengers views of soaring peaks, golden aspens and waterfalls. A two-hour stop in the historic mining center of Silverton (population 701) is just enough time to grab a snack or drink and do a little high-altitude shopping.
The steam whistle and rhythmic clacking take riders back in time as the train passes through the roughly 1.8-million-acre San Juan National Forest, traversing canyons and skirting cliff sides as it traces the Animas River along a total 2,700-foot elevation change, sometimes stopping to pick up hikers along the way.
Two steam trains, at 9 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., and one diesel train, at 8:15 a.m., depart daily through Oct. 12. The 9 a.m. train continues through Oct. 26, the season’s final trip all the way to Silverton. (Winter trains stop at Cascade Canyon, 26 miles from Durango.) Prices range from $69 to $230 based on riders’ ages and the class of service.
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