Here are the trains you can take to national parks in the U.S.

The historic Grand Canyon Railway penetrates into the Grand Canyon National Park daily from Williams, Arizona...and does it in style. You’ll travel in beautiful restored vintage railcars for about two hours and arrive at the South Rim. You can even go back and forth in a single day if you wish, with a three-hour stay at the canyon (although, c’mon, once you’re there, you’ve got to stay!). You may not have heard of Williams, but it’s just three hours from Las Vegas or Phoenix. Some say the train route provides the best way to enter the park, and along the way, you’ll watch the terrain change between high desert, prairie and pine vistas. You can choose your railcar; there are six classes of service, from the Pullman class to the luxury parlor car. And on top of all this, you’ll get live entertainment, from strolling musicians to cowboys who may even hold up the train. And that’s all before you even get to the park, which has astonishing evidence of massive erosion that will take your breath away.

This dramatic arch, part of its own national park, showcases extraordinary views from its 630-foot height. It’s the world’s tallest arch and was designed by Eero Saarinen, the same architect who made the gorgeous TWA terminal (now a hotel) at JFK Airport. You can reach it via the Amtrak plus a half-hour walk (or transfer to a city bus line or rideshare); the Gateway Transportation Center is St. Louis’s multimodal transportation hub, serving Amtrak, bus lines, and light rail. The three Amtrak trains that go to the Gateway station are the Cardinal, the Lincoln Service Missouri River Runner, and the Texas Eagle. Note: The arch is not wheelchair accessible, but the museum under the arch and the paved pathways surrounding it are.

You’ll take Amtrak’s Empire Builder to ride through Montana's beautiful “big sky country” and glide directly into Glacier National Park (different from Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park). There are only two national parks with an Amtrak station right in them—and Glacier’s one of them. The East Glacier Park station is at the park’s gateway. The train’s route begins and ends in Seattle and Chicago, so the park’s accessible from afar. Online commenters noted that taking Amtrak can be faster than driving on the freeway and that this particular train is a “glorious scenic trip,” covering varied landscapes like the plains, the lakes and the mountains. At Glacier National Park, you can see melting glaciers, alpine meadows and beautiful lakes. And you won’t miss your car; a free shuttle takes you to the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The Cardinal train is an Amtrak line linking New York with Chicago, and it offers not just one but three stations within New River Gorge National Park. They are Hinton, Prince, and Thurmond, West Virginia, all located along the New River. The Prince station is a beautiful Art Moderne building (and inside, see a mosaic of a slumbering cat named Chessie). Outside, the platform is covered by a streamlined roof with the word “Prince” atop it like a movie marquee. As you travel the longer route of the Cardinal, you’ll see rolling hills dotted with horse farms, several mountain ranges, the Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia’s raging waters in a way that can only be seen by train. Although the New River Gorge has been a “national river” since 1978, the national park was designated in 2021 and covers more than 70,000 acres. There’s a New River Gorge free shuttle to get around once you’re off the train. This national park, the second one with an Amtrak station in it, is free to enter.

You can easily ride a train to this national park—but there’s no station to disembark inside its confines. The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad offers a two-hour scenic ride called the “National Park Scenic,” which boards at either Akron or Peninsula, Ohio. Jump on a vintage rail car and get a snack at the café car while you enjoy vistas of the national park’s wooded landscapes, grassy farmlands, and curving Cuyahoga River. If you’re hoping to arrive from points out of the state, Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited will get you to Cleveland, just a half-hour drive from the national park. This train is a New York-Chicago line that follows scenic shorelines. You could also get to Cleveland by taking the Amtrak Capitol Limited, a Washington, D.C.- Chicago line.

The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad is a hidden gem; many people have visited the park multiple times and not known the train even existed. Alas, you can’t take this train to the park, but it’s a mere four miles from its southern entrance in the town of Fish Camp. This steam train excursion brings you along the historic railroad lumberjacks used through the Sierra National Forest. There are plenty of options, with open-air cars and closed ones, jazz trains, the historic logger steam train, and even a moonlight special train with dinner and live entertainment at a stopover at Lewis Creek Canyon. The ride lasts an hour, and you can pan for gold at the station and peruse the museum, which showcases the 1800s logger lifestyle.

An important historical site, Harpers Ferry is where John Brown, a fierce Abolitionist, raided the town’s federal armory and incited a slave rebellion in 1859. Famously, his executed body made the rounds of multiple states by train; Union soldiers marched, singing to the lyrics, “John Brown’s body lies a moldering in the grave.” But we digress! You can get to Harpers Ferry by Amtrak’s Capitol Limited, stopping at the 1894 wooden depot, also serviced by MARC commuter trains. It’s a half-mile walk from the depot to the visitor center, or you can take the park’s shuttle; the fare is included in your park entry fee. You’ll see several museums, exhibits about John Brown, and preserved buildings from the 19th century.

Have you not yet paid homage to the wild, zany cacti you can find in Tucson, the giant saguaro? It’s time! You can’t quite take the train to this national park, but you can take the Amtrak Sunset Limited or Texas Eagle to the Tucson station and then take a rideshare to the park (there are no bus lines servicing it, and rental car places are not close). It should take a half-hour of driving. The train station is a historic depot with a museum and restaurant, and the impressive Tucson Museum of Art is a 13-minute walk away. Tucson’s vibe is unlike any other city’s… and Saguaro National Park is in its beautiful foothills with cacti aplenty, Native American petroglyphs, and striking views.

We’ll be honest: it takes about two hours to drive to the national park from Amtrak’s Seattle station, but the Coast Starlight train is a beautiful ride with views from outside the park of its star attraction, Mount Rainier. At a lofty 14,410 feet above sea level, seen with a rim of snow year-round except for mid-July through late September, the mountain is one of the snowiest places in the U.S. The national park is great for seasonal hiking, biking, and scenic drives, but watch for lahars, the volcanic mudflows that are almost like avalanches filled with mud and rock debris.

Of course, you’re wondering if you can take a train to Yellowstone. That would be the most epic way to arrive at one of the most epic national parks. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as boarding the train and disembarking at the foot of Old Faithful, but if you’re good at details and have gobs of time, you can get there by taking a train and a bus. The closest train station is Amtrak’s Salt Lake Central station in Utah, which you’d access on the beautiful California Zephyr train. From there, you still have quite a journey ahead of you: five hours by car, or… hopping onto the Salt Lake Express, which takes about 7-8 hours to get to West Yellowstone. It’s not ideal, but you still get to say you arrived on public transit.