What is the most scenic route?

[traveller]

I would like to ride Amtrak just for fun to see scenic places.

What is the best route to take?

I will definetely take Denver-San Francisco route.

What else would you recommend?

I am considering San Francisco - LA and then LA - San Diego.

Or another option is San Francisco - Seattle. What is the best choice?

I don't consider Empire Builder since it passes mountains at night.

 

[yarrow]

the empire builder goes through the cascades and rockies in the daytime heading east(except in winter when it is dark for the cacades) and the cascades in daylight heading west always and the rockies in daylight in summer.

 

[Guest]

Unlikly as it may seem, a personal favorite of mine it up the hudson from NYC on the Lake Shore Limited (Although Gary Indiana makes the rest of that route somewhat unatractive). Other trains go along the hudson too.

 

[gswager]

Coast Starlight & Surfliner= ocean. It goes through mountains of Mt. Shasta (most scenic) area and Oregon.

CA Zephyr= mountains

San Joaquins= farms

 

[traveller]

Most railroad are following highway. I am also planning to rent a car and drive in Oregon and California.

Is it true that I will see same views from the train as from the highways?

 

[AlanB]

Most railroad are following highway. I am also planning to rent a car and drive in Oregon and California.Is it true that I will see same views from the train as from the highways?

Yes, there are areas where the train does follow the highways. But there are just as many areas where the train is not following the highway. Often train tracks follow rivers, which is one reason that they often provide such pretty views. For example the Cardinal runs through New River Gorge and IMHO easily earns the award for most scenic train east of the Mississippi River because of that run through the gorge in West Virginia.

If one wants to see the New River Gorge you have two choices, white water rafting or Amtrak. There are no roads in that gorge area. I'm sure that others can cite many other examples where only the train goes by or through a scenic area.

Even if the road does follow the tracks, it's a whole lot harder to see the scenery while driving your car. Pay too much attention to the scenery and you may not be coming back home with your car.

 

[Bigval109]

I pick the CZ as having the most scenic route. Starting as you leave Denver. And once again after you leave Reno in route to Emeryville. I took a lot of pictures on that route. More than I expected. If UP would improve the tracks and reduce the slow orders things would be great. In fact I've written the CZ twice in one year on both of my vacations. If I may riding through some of the areas are like sitting on God's Shoulder looking at his handy work. I always ask God to show me some of his beauty that I missed the last time.

 

[LITRAK]

What about the SWC? My friend who is going on that train for the 1st time will probably be excited seeing cornfields.

 

[AlanB]

What about the SWC? My friend who is going on that train for the 1st time will probably be excited seeing cornfields.

 

Your friend will see a lot more than cornfields on the Chief. I can't compare it to the Zephyr, since I've not taken a ride on the Z, but the Chief has some pretty nice scenery IMHO. You can even see some pictures of the scenery in the trip report section in my report entitled "Where in the US is AlanB".

 

[user 683]

What about the SWC? My friend who is going on that train for the 1st time will probably be excited seeing cornfields.

 

I really enjoyed the SWC last October. There were some pretty good views of the snow covered Rockies in the distance, Sandia Peaks near ABQ, and the open fields in Colorado. I saw some antelope and wild horses (at least I thought they were wild). It was great just to sit back and take it all in.

 

I think the EB is next on my list of long distance trains to ride

 

Deimos

 

[railfangns]

What about the SWC? My friend who is going on that train for the 1st time will probably be excited seeing cornfields.

 

I really enjoyed the SWC last October. There were some pretty good views of the snow covered Rockies in the distance, Sandia Peaks near ABQ, and the open fields in Colorado. I saw some antelope and wild horses (at least I thought they were wild). It was great just to sit back and take it all in.

 

I think the EB is next on my list of long distance trains to ride

 

Deimos

 

The Capitol limited has great views going through West Virginia and Maryland

The Cardinal has great views going through the New River Gorge between Charleston WV and

White Sulpher Springs WV Better go eastbound in order to see it all in the Daytime

Crescent is nice between Atlanta and Birmingham you pass through many small towns and you

get to see lots of mountains.Also in VA going northbound is pretty.

But my favorite is the Empire Builder between Cut Bank Mt and Whitefish Mt the mountains are

beautiful and the wild animals are fun to see.