Adventure Has a New Route

The scenery is the show for this inaugural season of the Rocky Mountaineer’s USA route from Moab, Utah to Denver, Colorado. This journey that few people have experienced so far is well worth the trip to the starting line.  It is a packed 4 days.

Rocky Mountaineer is well known in Western Canada for its British Columbia and Alberta rail adventures.  Their Gold Leaf and Silver Leaf classes ride the rails serving up scenery during the day and comfortable hotels overnight.

The USA route was pushed forward by a couple of years because of domestic demand and difficulties getting into Canada.  The services, which just began in August, are modified a bit for the US route.  The height of the tunnels here preclude the use of the bi level Gold Leaf cars.  To adjust, there is a Silver Leaf Plus service that has a beautiful new lounge car for their exclusive use.  The car, which features a bar, is a way of stretching legs and offering a bit of upgraded food and drink.  It does not have the glass vista views of the regular cars, so it is not a place to hang out for the entire journey.

We started with our arrival in Moab, Utah arriving on United Express from Denver into this small but convenient airport.  The Moab Express is the way to get into town if you are not renting a car. Reservations are highly recommended.

In Moab, this adventure oriented town has mountain bike rentals, dune buggies, hiking equipment and hiking maps as well as tours to Arches and other national and state parks nearby.  Arriving a day or two early before train departure is highly recommended as there is so much to see.  The natural scenery is spectacular in every way.  Whatever your adventure desires, get yourself into the park in any way you feel comfortable.  It will be worth it.

Then at 2:00 p.m. the Rocky Mountaineer departs Moab for about four hours of intense scenery to the midpoint of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  The scenery along the way was sheer rock walls, high altitude lakes and rushing rivers.  We even spotted the occasional wild animal.  Arriving in Glenwood Springs we had time for exploring this historic town and a night in the legendary Hotel Colorado before leaving for the train the next morning.  The station is within a few walking minutes of the hotel.

The next day we were off earlier at 9:00 a.m. with shear rock walls and canyons before us within moments of leaving.  At appropriate times we dined on tasty meals onboard.  We also had access to a variety of beverages to satisfy any pleasure at anytime.  There was commentary from the eager and knowledgeable Rocky Mountaineer staff.  The ride this day was all day until 6 p.m. when we arrived in Denver.  There we overnighted at a local hotel, exploring Denver by night.   The day’s scenery was even better than on the first day.

There are so many possibilities of exploring Moab before and Denver afterwards.  Plus Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are not that far away.  The trip can be done in reverse.

The season will end the middle of November but will resume next Spring.  Be a pioneer and consider a new adventure of exploring some of America’s best scenery we can find right here at home.

Let us show you the way.