America's Most Scenic Train Rides: 7 Routes Worth the Time

The fastest way across the United States is a five-hour flight. The California Zephyr takes about 53 hours to get from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay Area, and that is exactly why people book it. Somewhere on the second morning, the train climbs out of Denver into the Rockies, the dining car fills up for breakfast, and nobody is in a hurry anymore.

Long-distance train travel in America is not about speed or even about price. It is about the view, and on a handful of routes the view is extraordinary: canyons that no highway follows, glaciers seen from a sleeping car, a coastline where the tracks run right above the surf. These are the routes we think are worth the time, with what you will see, when to look out the window, and how to choose between them.

The California Zephyr: Chicago to the Bay Area

If you take only one long train ride in the U.S., this is the one most rail fans recommend. The Zephyr covers 2,438 miles between Chicago and Emeryville (across the bay from San Francisco), and the scheduled trip takes a little under 53 hours, according to Amtrak's timetable in November 2026.

The flat Midwest passes mostly at night. Then it gets good. Westbound, the train leaves Denver in the morning and climbs into the Front Range, through the 6.2-mile Moffat Tunnel, along the Colorado River through Gore and Glenwood Canyons, and on into the red rock country of western Colorado and Utah in the afternoon. On the final day it crosses the Sierra Nevada over Donner Pass and drops into California's Gold Country.

Best stretch: Denver to Grand Junction, all in daylight on the westbound train. (Eastbound, the last hours into Denver run after dark in winter.)

The Empire Builder: Chicago to Seattle or Portland

The Empire Builder follows the old Great Northern route across the northern Plains and over the Rockies, 2,206 miles to Seattle (or 2,257 miles to Portland, Oregon, after the train splits in Spokane) in about 46 hours.

Its highlight is the stretch along the southern edge of Glacier National Park in Montana, where the train stops at East Glacier Park in summer and at West Glacier year-round. On the November 2026 timetable, the eastbound train passes Glacier in the morning, while westbound it gets there in the evening, which means daylight only in summer. After that come the Cascades and the Columbia River country in Washington.

Best stretch: Whitefish to East Glacier, ideally eastbound or on a long summer evening.

The Coast Starlight: Seattle to Los Angeles

The Coast Starlight links Seattle, Portland, the Bay Area and Los Angeles, 1,377 miles in about 35 hours. Few routes pack in so much variety: the Puget Sound, Oregon's Willamette Valley, the forests and lakes of the Cascades, the snowy cone of Mount Shasta, and finally a long run along the Pacific between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, often with nothing between the tracks and the water.

Timing matters here. Southbound, the coastal stretch comes in the late afternoon, which is beautiful in summer and partly dark in winter. Northbound, the Cascades section around Klamath Falls and Chemult comes in the morning. If you can only ride part of it, Oregon to California or the coastal segment are the ones to choose. We cover the same coastline by car in our Oregon Coast road trip.

The Southwest Chief: Chicago to Los Angeles

The Southwest Chief runs 2,265 miles in about 44 hours on a route that roughly shadows the old Santa Fe Trail. The scenery is all about the Southwest: the climb over Raton Pass on the Colorado-New Mexico border, the mesas and red cliffs of northern New Mexico, and Native American country around Gallup.

It is also the train for the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff is the station for the canyon, but the train calls there at awkward hours (before dawn on the eastbound train on the November 2026 timetable), so plan a hotel night or two before you continue.

Best stretch: Albuquerque to Raton, in daylight on the eastbound train.

The Adirondack: New York City to Montreal

You do not need two days for a great train ride. The Adirondack runs 381 miles between New York City and Montreal in about 11 hours, and it is one of the prettiest day trains in North America. It follows the east bank of the Hudson River for more than 100 miles out of Manhattan, then runs along Lake Champlain, at times on a ledge just above the water, with the Adirondack Mountains rising to the west.

Heading north, sit on the left for the Hudson and on the right for Lake Champlain. Autumn, when the leaves turn in early to mid-October, is the classic time to go, but the route is lovely year-round. Bring your passport, since the train crosses the Canadian border.

The Pacific Surfliner and the Alaska Railroad

Two shorter options round out the list.

The Pacific Surfliner runs 350 miles between San Luis Obispo and San Diego, and the best of it is the run south of Los Angeles, where the tracks hug the beaches at San Clemente and Del Mar. You can ride the Los Angeles to San Diego section in about three hours as an easy day trip.

The Alaska Railroad is not part of Amtrak, but it belongs on any list of America's great train rides. Its Denali Star runs daily between Anchorage and Fairbanks from May 13 to September 17 in 2026, a 356-mile trip of about 12 hours that stops at Denali National Park. In winter, the Aurora Winter Train covers the same route on weekends (northbound Saturdays, southbound Sundays) from September 19, 2026, to May 9, 2027, with snowy landscapes and a chance of northern lights in Fairbanks. If you are planning a summer cruise, see our guide to the best time to cruise Alaska.

The Routes Side by Side

Coach or Sleeper?

On the long-distance trains, you choose between a reclining coach seat and a private room. Coach is far cheaper and the seats are roomy by airline standards, but two nights sitting up is a lot. A Roomette is a compact room for two with seats that turn into bunk beds, and a Bedroom is larger with its own toilet and shower. On Amtrak's long-distance routes, meals in the dining car are included in sleeping car fares.

Whichever you choose, spend time in the Sightseer Lounge on the Superliner trains (the Zephyr, Empire Builder, Coast Starlight and Southwest Chief), the car with floor-to-ceiling windows built for exactly this kind of trip. Freight trains have priority on much of the network, so long-distance trains often run late. Do not plan a tight connection or a flight on the day you arrive.

Where We Would Start

For a first long-distance trip, ride the California Zephyr from Denver to Emeryville rather than the full route from Chicago. You get the Rockies, the canyons and the Sierra Nevada in about a day and a half, and you skip the night across Nebraska. If you only have a day, the Adirondack out of New York City gives you the Hudson and Lake Champlain without a single night on board. And if you like the idea of a train with a story, read about the City of New Orleans from Chicago to New Orleans, or browse more ideas in our train travel section.