Verde Canyon Railroad

The Verde Canyon Railroad is one of Arizona’s most beloved scenic excursions, offering a four-hour round-trip journey through the remote and pristine Verde Canyon — a dramatic landscape of towering red rock cliffs, ancient Native American ruins, and lush riparian corridors accessible only by rail. Operating over a historic 1912 branch line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway originally built to serve the copper mining town of Clarkdale, the railroad today carries guests through 20 miles of wilderness that has been designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. Vintage open-air gondola cars and enclosed coaches wind through tunnels blasted through solid basalt, cross high trestle bridges over the Verde River, and provide close-up views of bald and golden eagles, great blue herons, river otters, and javelinas along the riparian corridor. The railroad is especially popular during eagle nesting season in late winter when dozens of bald eagles can be spotted along the Verde River. Evening rides, wine tastings, and special event trains round out a robust calendar of seasonal programming. The Verde Canyon Railroad is widely regarded as one of the most scenic short-line railroads in the American Southwest.