Experience comfort and excellent service on Amtrak's Empire Builder train as you travel along northern Montana's highline. Your journey starts from major United States cities, including Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Spokane and Portland or Seattle. With daily runs between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest along the Lewis and Clark trail, the Empire Builder has several Montana passenger depot stops (Wolf Point, Glasgow, Malta, Havre, Cut Bank, Shelby, Browning, East Glacier Park, Essex, West Glacier Park, Whitefish, Libby) and one layover stop in Havre, Mont.
During the spring and summer, between Seattle and Shelby, Montana, National Park Service guides join you on board to inform you of the United States' natural and cultural heritage.
As you travel through Montana's beautiful prairies, rolling hills, and on through the majestic Rocky Mountains and Glacier National Park, you will understand why Montana is called Big Sky Country.
(800) 872-7245
amtrak.com
Ten miles northwest of Lewistown, the Charlie Russell Chew-Choo dinner train takes you on a from the Kingston Junction to Denton---through scenic mountains and prairies complete with softly rolling hills, expansive ranches and spectacular sunsets. The 56 mile round-trip ride provides plenty of wildlife viewing including antelope, eagles and coyotes. Watch for the masked train bandits.
The three-hour Charlie Russell Chew-Choo train excursion passes over three historic trestles along the old spur track, built 1912 to 1913, and through a half-mile-long tunnel, in nonsmoking, climate-controlled coaches. A sumptuous prime rib dinner, dessert and local musical entertainment top off your evening.
Lewistown Area Chamber of Commerce
408 NE Main
Lewistown, Mont. 59457
(866) 912-3980
lewistownchamber.com/chewchoo.htm
Your 12-day National Park tour starts in Seattle on Amtrak's Empire Builder, and travels east along Puget Sound. You will cross over the Cascade Mountains and through Washington and Idaho to Whitefish, Montana, where you disembark for lunch at Glacier National Park's Many Glacier Hotel, followed by a sightseeing tour along the Going-to-the-Sun-Road on one of the park's famous Red Buses.
Motorcoach will bring you through the Continental Divide to the state capital, Helena, and excursions on the Last Chance Tour Train, and a cruise on the Missouri River through the Gates of the Mountains. Be sure to look for the Sleeping Giant. In Lewistown, enjoy a relaxing dinner on the Charlie Russell Chew-Choo train.
Enjoy the history of the Livingston Depot (former Union Pacific station), as spectacular beauty, thermal geysers and a host of wildlife await you at America's first National Park, Yellowstone. You will relive history in Nevada City as you ride the Alder Gulch Short Line to Virginia City.
Your trip will dip into Wyoming, touring the Big Horn Range and Bradford Brinton Memorial and Museum. Other experiences await you, including the Devils Tower National Monument, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills of South Dakota, where you will enjoy the steam-powered 1880s Black Hills Central Railroad train. The tour ends in Rapid City, South Dakota, where you will independently return home by air.
(800) 458-5394
www.railtravelcenter.com
