“You’ve by no means seen Glenwood Canyon fairly like this.” Over lunch in Salt Lake Metropolis, my information Shawn Horman explains the singular expertise of using a prepare by considered one of Colorado’s most spectacular scenic drives.
“Glenwood is a pleasant drive,” he continues, referring to the swath of I-70 that snakes by the canyon. “However it’s fairly hectic – busy, winding round curves.” When you’re driving, he says, you need to maintain your eyes on the street. On the prepare, you’ll be able to sit again and calm down and watch the mountains cross by.
I’m in Utah to board the Rockies to the Purple Rocks prepare route, touring from Moab to Denver. For the following two days, I will journey over 350 miles by towering canyons, historic cities and desert buttes. It’s the one US route by Rocky Mountaineer, a Canada-based firm that additionally runs prepare journeys from Vancouver to spots like Whistler, Jasper and Banff in British Columbia. Recognized for its luxurious providers and glass-domed prepare vehicles, Rocky Mountaineer has run prepare routes in British Columbia since 1990.
What sort of excursions are there?
Shawn’s right here to indicate me round Moab – he’s with Southwest Journey Excursions, an outfit that runs particular person and group journeys throughout the Southwest US. Primary Rocky Mountaineer packages simply embody the prepare from Moab to Denver or reverse (from $1699 for the 2024 season), however passengers should buy add-on excursions to websites like Arches Nationwide Park, Canyonlands and even to the Grand Canyon. From Salt Lake Metropolis, Shawn and I drive to Moab. A haze from wildfires out west lingers over the town skyline and surrounding Wasatch Mountains.
We spend the day wandering round Arches Nationwide Park. After over a decade of journey writing, I’ve gathered a couple of cliches to keep away from and hack phrases to that come up when writing about particular locations – “otherworldly,” “wonderland” and “surreal” simply to call a couple of.
At Arches, these phrases all spring to thoughts. The panorama appears carved by hand, formed to some blueprint designed to encourage awe. To assume that it was merely the correct mix of minerals, time and erosion that birthed these precariously balanced rocks, deep canyons and naturally the eponymous sandstone arches boggles the thoughts.
The detour is a superb begin to the journey. With my boots dusted with purple filth, I really feel able to board the prepare and see extra.
What’s it like onboard?
The next afternoon, I arrive on the station, excited to see extra of the surroundings from the consolation of the prepare. As we board, I discover that the opposite passengers seem like principally retirees, though I do spot the occasional youthful couple trying to see the Rockies from the consolation of a prepare automobile.
The automobile is spacious and cozy. Reclining leather-like seats have loads of legroom, and each one is a front-row view of the passing landscapes. Tall home windows that curve as much as the highest of the automobile present unobstructed views of even the route’s deepest canyons. Every seat has {an electrical} outlet, so I will not want to fret about sustaining a cost as I snap countless pictures of the passing landscapes.
What’s SilverLeaf and SilverLeaf Plus?
On the Rockies to the Purple Rocks route, service is cut up between two courses: SilverLeaf and SilverLeaf Plus. The latter options entry to a lounge automobile, which has extra seating and a full bar with a greater beer and wine choice than discovered on the SilverLeaf automobile. The additional lounge automobile additionally has the impact of splitting the passengers between the 2 vehicles – as soon as we’re off, a lot of the passengers head into the lounge for a drink, leaving a lot of the primary automobile just about empty. I reap the benefits of the vacancy to observe the terrain cross on either side of the automobile.
Absent on this route is the GoldLeaf service, which is frequent on the Canada routes and incorporates a two-level passenger automobile and a galley, the place meals is freshly ready. The tunnels on the US route had been too small to suit the GoldLeaf vehicles, so Rocky Mountaineer added the lounge automobile for its SilverLeaf Plus service, one thing distinctive to this route.
What is the foods and drinks like on the Rocky Mountaineer?
The lounge automobile buzzes with vitality, serving as a social hub the place passengers mingle over drinks. Canapés and a recent caprese salad are precursors to our mains for dinner. Our onboard host, August, describes what’s on the menu: a alternative of roasted rooster breast with fire-roasted corn and poblano salsa, ale-braised quick ribs with pearl onions and foraged mushrooms or a vegetarian possibility consisting of seasonal greens and roasted San Luis Valley potatoes.
The dearth of a galley automobile means the meals is ready offsite and reheated on board. It’s not precisely airplane meals, however it’s shut. The catering service that Rocky Mountaineer contracts to organize its eating expertise additionally offers high-end non-public jet meals in Denver. My roasted rooster is attractively plated, with the corn and poblano salsa layered over the rooster and a sprig of recent rosemary on high. I am pleasantly stunned.
For drinks, a number of the areas greatest producers are represented. The drink listing options wines from Colorado Cellars in Palisade, craft beers from Glenwood Springs and artisanal spirits from Woody Creek Distillery in Basalt, Colorado.
The place do you sleep?
This is not a sleeper prepare. That night, we arrive on the route’s solely cease: Glenwood Springs. A longtime journey vacation spot identified for its scorching springs and entry to the encompassing Rockies, Glenwood Springs has seen guests like Al Capone, Doc Holliday and Teddy Roosevelt. The city has retained a little bit of the Wild West vibe with its major road of low, brick buildings and saloons.
I head over to the Glenwood Scorching Springs Resort to deposit my issues earlier than strolling right down to the new springs pool, a big swimming complicated of 1 giant heated mineral pool and a semi-heated lap pool. Steam rises into the air as night time falls.
The pool is heat and big. Kids leap from the sting, and older children take activates the diving board. Previous to European arrival, the nomadic, hunter-gatherer Ute folks utilized the world’s pure scorching springs for his or her restorative and therapeutic results, naming the spring Yampah or “massive drugs.” The Ute tribes revered the mineral-rich springs not just for their therapeutic properties but in addition as a sacred gathering place for religious ceremonies and tribal conferences, underscoring their deep religious and bodily connection to the panorama. Within the mid-1800s, gold was found in Colorado, and white colonizers started to settle the world. The Utes entered into treaties with the US authorities, however had been finally relocated to reservations in Utah and Southwest Colorado.
Within the Eighteen Eighties, a silver baron named Walter Devereux bought the land surrounding the springs with the assistance of East Coast and British traders. In 1888 Devereux opened Glenwood Scorching Springs, and it shortly grew to become a well-liked vacation spot for the elite searching for therapeutic advantages of its pure scorching springs. It quickly grew to become a middle of social and cultural exercise, internet hosting lavish occasions as a gateway for explorers and miners venturing into the Rocky Mountains throughout Colorado’s silver mining period.
Departing Glenwood Springs
The following day, I head out early to catch a glimpse of the prepare because it arrives in Glenwood Springs. Different passengers mill about, filling disposable cups with recent espresso from a big thermos on a desk exterior the station. Moments later we hear the prepare horn blow, and the locomotive seems from behind a bend within the observe. Passengers snap images because the prepare squeals to a cease.
As we discover our seats, August welcomes us aboard, saying there might be a minor delay whereas one other prepare forward cleared the tracks. Breakfast service would start shortly; our choices are a frittata or a golden waffle.
Breakfast arrives because the prepare travels by Glenwood Canyon. Stretching 16 miles alongside the observe, Glenwood Canyon is likely one of the extra spectacular scenes we cross by, with rock partitions that attain greater than 1300ft. The sky is obvious save for a couple of small clouds, and the solar seems over the canyon ridge, bathing the brown cliffs in morning mild.
As we depart the canyons and peaks of the Rocky Mountains and start our descent down the Entrance Vary, Denver’s skyline seems by the haze. I head out into the open-air vestibule connecting two vehicles, the place it’s simply me, the wind and the view. The prepare snakes down towards the town, and I feel again to Shawn’s assurances that the view from the prepare is a particular one.
Finally we arrive in Denver, the prepare coming to a cease within the fashionable River North Arts District (ambitions are to drag proper into Denver’s historic Union Station, however agreements haven’t been finalized). The railyard is a dense assortment of rails stretched out like sheet music ledger strains in every route. Passengers load into coach buses that can take them to their inns for the night time. Building cranes loom within the distance, paused for the weekend on a Friday night time. It’s a becoming finish to our journey, a future being constructed, after a quick delay. However nonetheless on observe.
Which route? Eastbound or Westbound?
Vacationers on Rocky Mountaineer Rockies to Purple Rocks have the choice to journey both eastbound (from Moab to Denver) or westbound (from Denver to Moab). Each instructions provide gorgeous views, however there are a couple of elements to contemplate when deciding which path to take.
Beginning the journey in Moab has its benefits, reminiscent of the chance to discover the close by Arches Nationwide Park earlier than boarding the prepare. This breathtaking begin units the stage for the scenic journey forward.
Nevertheless, selecting to start out in Denver additionally has its advantages. Denver is served by a serious airport, making it extra handy for vacationers flying in from different locations. This may simplify your journey preparations and scale back the necessity for added transportation.
Furthermore, when you plan to go to Arches or any of the opposite Utah nationwide parks, pairing it with the westbound route from Denver to Moab can create a extra dramatic and satisfying crescendo to the journey. After experiencing the gorgeous landscapes and historic cities alongside the prepare route, you will arrive in Moab, able to discover the distinctive geological wonders of Southwestern Utah.
Alexander Howard traveled to Utah and Colorado with assist from Rocky Mountaineer. Lonely Planet contributors don’t settle for freebies in change for optimistic protection.
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