Trails & Rails Program
Enrich your travel experience and learn about our nation's natural and cultural sights along your route with a National Park Service guide.
Enrich your travel experience and learn about our nation's natural and cultural sights along your route with a National Park Service guide.
Onboard Heritage Appreciation
Enjoy your time traveling across the country with National Park Service volunteer guides and their traveling show-and-tell programs as they explain regional historic and natural resources related to your journey.
Whether visiting iconic natural treasures like the mighty Mississippi River valley, historic landmarks like the Roosevelt mansion in Hyde Park or cultural attractions like New Orleans Jazz National Park, you can connect to public lands and engage in a better understanding of the need to preserve and protect these special natural and cultural resources.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, railroads have played an active role in developing America's national parks and we are proud to be a part of this partnership that provides a fuel efficient and environmentally friendly way to visit public lands.
Learn more about the Trails & Rails program and see what routes have programs onboard.
Travel Through History
Southern California
Coast Starlight
Santa Barbara, CA – San Luis Obispo, CA
Our route between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo makes its way along the California coast, following the route taken by the first immigrant families traveling from New Spain to Alta California. Our guides tell the story of the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition, railroading and the natural history of this unique part of the California coast.
The natural beauty of California is on display, from majestic mountains sweeping down to coastal bluffs, inland valleys to beach communities. Passengers on this section of the Coast Starlight are treated to a part of the California coast inaccessible by public roads, including a behind the scenes view of Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Southern Corridor
Crescent
Atlanta, GA – Birmingham, AL
Amtrak's Crescent corridor through the South journeys from the southern Appalachian foothills, through the ancestral homelands of the Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw, down through the coastal plains to the wetlands of the Mississippi delta and Gulf coast bayous.
The route traverses one of the most diverse US environments and also revisits the cradle of America's civil rights revolution. Because of that diverse environment and deep history it is a corridor with a rich and interconnected cultural heritage and impact. Our guides help interpret that past and point to the iconic places of the route's stories.
Midwest Corridor
Missouri River Runner
St. Louis, MO – Jefferson City, MO
Travel along the Missouri River between St. Louis and Jefferson City, Missouri, on Trains 311 & 318 to see a beautiful stretch of the river, including towering limestone bluffs. Trails & Rails guides share stories of the people who traveled and settled along this section.
Find out about the Osage Indians, Lewis and Clark Expedition, French fur traders, German pioneers and American settlers. All Aboard.
Pacific Northwest
Empire Builder
Seattle, WA – Wenatchee, WA
Experience one of the country’s most beautiful routes between Seattle and Wenatchee, WA on the Empire Builder. The train runs on the shoreline of Puget Sound with stunning views of the Olympic Mountains and local marine life. Tracks crest the Cascade Mountains at nearly 3,000 feet above sea level as they go through the longest tunnel in the U.S.
This region’s history is tied deeply to several Native American tribes who inhabited these lands for centuries are still very much a part of the region. This is a land of geographical, geological and cultural diversity and beauty, all of which guides will describe and interpret on this beautiful journey.
| Train | Primary Season | Route Segment To/From | Participating National Park |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empire Service Train 281/284 |
Saturdays, June - November | New York City, NY - Albany, NY | Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historical Sites & the National Parks of New York Harbor |
| Adirondack Trains 69/68 |
Saturdays, June - November |
Saratoga Springs, NY - Westport, NY |
Saratoga National Historical Park |
| Northeast Regional Trains/Silver Meteor 152/87 & 98/97 |
Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, April - December | Washington, DC - New York City | National Mall and Memorial Parks |
| Cardinal 51/50 | Saturdays & Sundays, April - December | Washington, DC - Alexandria to Charlottesville, VA | National Mall and Memorial Parks & George Washington Memorial Parkway |
| Virginia Service 65/124 | Washington, DC - Alexandria to Williamsburg, VA | ||
| Northeast Regional/Vermonter 147/54 | Saturdays, June - October | Springfield, MA - Stamford, CT | Springfield Armory National Historic Site |
| Crescent Trains 19/20 |
June - September | Atlanta, GA - Birmingham, AL (majority of trips) & Atlanta, GA - New Orleans, LA (a few trips) | Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park |
| Cardinal 50/51 | Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays, January - December | Montgomery, WV - Hinton, WV (one way); Charleston, WV - Clifton Forge, WV (round-trip) | New River Gorge National Park and Preserve |
| Lincoln Service Train 302 | Saturdays & Sundays, June - August | Springfield, IL - Chicago, IL | Lincoln Home National Historic Site |
| Texas Eagle 21 | |||
| Heartland Flyer Trains 821/822 | Fridays & Saturdays, May - September | Oklahoma City, OK - Fort Worth, TX | Oklahoma City National Memorial |
| Missouri River Runner Trains 311/318 | Daily, May - September & Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, September - October | St. Louis, MO - Jefferson City, MO | Gateway Arch National Park |
| Lincoln Service Train 302/318/319 | St. Louis, MO - Springfield, IL | ||
| Texas Eagle 22 | |||
| Carl Sandburg 381 | Saturdays, June - September | Chicago, IL - Galesburg, IL | Pullman National Historic Park |
| Southwest Chief 4 | |||
| Zephyr 6 | |||
| Coast Starlight 11/14 | Daily, April - September | Seattle, WA - Portland, OR | Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park – Seattle Unit |
| Empire Builder 7/8 | Departing Seattle Sundays & Thursdays, Departing Wenatchee Mondays & Fridays, April - September | Seattle, WA - Wenatchee, WA | |
| Coast Starlight 14/11 | Saturdays, June - September | San Jose, CA - Paso Robles, CA | Juan Bautista de Anza National Historical Trail |
| Coast Starlight 11/14 | Saturdays, June - September | Santa Barbara, CA - San Luis Obispo, CA |
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