American Southwest by Rail: Canyon Spirit’s New 3-Day Itinerary

Through Signature Travel Network’s Education Journey program, I was one of the select Travel Advisors chosen to attend a FAM trip on the Canyon Spirit’s new 3-Day itinerary from Salt Lake City, Utah to Denver, Colorado.

I chose to join the group to experience this tour operator because I grew up exploring the Southwest and National Parks by car. Plus, I love train travel.

Canyon Spirit | Discover the American Southwest

My recent trip on Canyon Spirit’s new itinerary was the perfect journey to experience the Southwest in the most amazing way! Canyon Spirit is the sister brand of the Rocky Mountaineer up in Canada. Both brands are under the Armstrong Collection. In fact, the train came from Rocky Mountaineer and is equivalent to the Silver Service Leaf of that brand for those travelers who know the difference from the Gold Leaf Service. To set expectations, Canyon Spirit is by no means a very luxury experience nor does it have an upper level like Rocky Mountaineer. However, travelers do get pampered by their hard-working staff with 5-star service and culinary delightful appetizers, snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinners! Not to mention a nice selection of wines/beers and crafted cocktails!

Signature Level Vs. Premier Service

Here I will describe the 2 levels to choose from as a passenger: There is the Signature level which has the glass dome viewing, food & drink service, storytelling by the staff and luggage service. The Premier Service includes all of the above plus access to the two bar lounges. One can get up and walk to different train cars where you stand outside between the train cars with open windows. Or, make your way to a bar lounge where one can sit and socialize, play cards or read while viewing the magnificent scenery outside the glass domes! I highly recommend the Premier Service for a superior experience especially for groups! Plus, the bathrooms are bigger and less shaky!

Once the train pulls into the train stations, you can just walk off knowing the staff will take care of your luggage. Luggage service was a joy to discover for me! Our stops included a 1 night hotel stay in Salt Lake City (Utah), Moab (Utah), Glenwood Springs (Colorado) and Denver (Colorado). My luggage was in my hotel room before I arrived! Speaking of the hotels, only the hotel in Salt Lake City is a 5-star hotel. The others are 3-star hotels but each had its own charm and the location was convenient and close to town. Only Moab’s hotel was 2 miles away from town and not as walkable as the others. We were picked up in a charter bus for those stops that were not within walking distance to the train stations.

Towns & Sights

A couple of towns are very noteworthy! There is some time to explore Moab, the gateway to Arches National Park, which is  charming and pedestrian friendly. Arches National Park is breath-taking! Giant red rock formations with different shapes and sizes are a sight to see! Some of these red rock formations are arches with picture windows and the classic arch that is on Utah’s license plate! The weather was perfect in May for sight-seeing by Moab Adventure Center which was arranged by them. Tours are also available through Project Expedition. Other tours available are Hummer Sunset Tours, Red Rock Amphitheater Tour and the Big 5 National Park Tours to mention a few. The newest tours that will be added are the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks! Those will be super popular!

Glenwood Springs

The other town is Glenwood Springs. What a gem! Its history goes back to the late 1800s with the discovery of natural mineral hot springs. Known for its therapeutic properties, even the famous Doc Holliday of Wyatt Earp fame visited there and was eventually buried outside of town. The Glenwood Hot Springs is right across the train station and is a huge family pool the size of 2 Olympic pools! Most families go there. The other one is Iron Mountain Hot Springs about 15 minutes from town. This one has about a dozen smaller pools of varying degrees of water temperature ranging from 98-107 degrees!! There’s even a cold plunge pool! All have stunning views of the Colorado River and the mountains!! It was very blissful to just relax with spa music playing and enjoying the views! It does get very crowded so be forewarned!

Our group agreed that 2 nights in each town would have been infinitely better for more time to explore and to be able to unpack!

With that said, Canyon Spirit is a lovely way to sample the Southwest via train for those travelers who do not care to drive nor be too physically active for exploration. After all, the main attraction is the scenery and it does not disappoint!

Questions? Feel free to contact me to learn more about this trip and how you can discover the American Southwest for yourself!