Verde Canyon Railroad Scenic Adventure

Wonderful experience! The scenery was absolutely beautiful and our outdoor guide Christian was very friendly and knowledgeable (I find it hard to believe he's only been there for 2 months! He's a natural!) The food offered on board was great, and we also bought a couple of drinks at the bar. The indoor seating was quite comfortable, but I recommend spending the trip in one of the outdoor cars. Very lovely experience, 10/10

This is a great opportunity to see some unique beautiful landscapes on a slow moving train through the Verde Canyon. There are open top train cars with a canopy, and enclosed train cars with air conditioning. The train goes out into the valley, then the engine switches sides and pulls the train back to the starting point, so the passenger car windows will be on the same side both ways but I believe you can move around to change spots and see both the rocky cliffs and the verdant canyon. The Verde River is one of the only ones in Arizona that always has water. It'll be on your right as you go into the canyon. There's a cool tunnel partway through. There's an audio program available with information about what you're seeing during the journey. At the train station, there are restrooms, a water fountain, a gift shop, and a cafe with outdoor shaded seating. In the winter time they run a shorter route to a little decorated "Christmas Village" and kids can experience a magical visit from Santa. I paid extra for the one ticket available to ride along with the engineer, and can highly recommend the experience for any train enthusiasts. The engine itself is not air conditioned but there's air flow from the front hatch that keeps the cabin from getting stuffy and too hot. The front seat view for going into the tunnel and steel bridge especially is really fun, and you can ride along as the engine switches sides on the train. You'll be on the left side by the canyon wall on the way out, and on the side of the river on the way back. You don't have access to the food and drinks service but the crew provides water, conversation, and at the halfway point an opportunity to walk into the passenger cars and use the restroom.

We highly enjoyed our trip with the historic railroad. It was a bit expensive but certainly worth the money. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learnt a lot about the history and the present of the valley and the area. The snack the provided was very good.

We absolutely loved this experience! Something so fun and different. Despite the weather being warmer than expected the train cars stayed cool and we still had access to the outside cars for a unique view of the Verde Canyon. Staff gave excellent customer service and we loved the touch of the staff at the station waving us away as we embarked on our educational journey. Some issues with connecting to the audio tour through our personal devices but were still able to hear slightly through the car speakers. Volume was a little low. We also paid $5 additional for the Freight Night experience once we were done with the train ride. Wouldn’t recommend this as it was quite lackluster and felt a bit disorganized. Already have recommended the train experience to many! Fun for all ages and a unique way to experience the endless beauty of Arizona!

Wow! This was a fabulous 4 hours. Excellent event, our carriage, food, drinks & hostess was exemplary. Air conditioning carriages & open air carriages too. Beautiful scenery, met some other people & had a good laugh. A definite must do. Good food & gift shop at the station with clean toilet facilities