Luxury train travel between Colorado’s Front Range and Utah’s Salt Lake Valley will have a new elevated rail-riding experience starting April 2026.

The train trip known as “Rockies to the Red Rocks” aboard Armstrong Collective’s Canyon Spirit — formerly Rocky Mountaineer — is expanding service westward from Moab, Utah to Salt Lake City starting April 6, 2026, connecting Denver to the City of Saints. The Salt Lake City to Denver eastbound route begins April 9. 

The expansion creates a 3-day, daytime-only train travel expanding on the current train ride from between Denver to Moab or vice versa. The 3-day, travel experience has stayovers in Moab and Glenwood Springs, with options to stay in Salt Lake City once done riding the train.

The 3-day adventure rewards rail travelers with more scenic views of mountainous and canyon sections in eastern and central Utah — including summiting the famous Solider Summit, along with elevated dining cuisine and stories about American southwest history and geology.

How it all started for Rocky Mountaineer and Canyon Spirit

Rocky Mountaineer launched the Denver to Moab route in 2021 due to high success with train trips traveling between Canada’s two western providences (Alberta and British Columbia), which featured trips from Calgary to Vancouver and Banff to Jasper.

During a July preview trip on Canyon Spirit, the Denver Gazette spoke to Rocky Mountaineer CEO Tristan Armstrong about the expansion from Moab to Salt Lake City while ascending southeast Spanish Fork Canyon outside Provo, Utah.

“We love what we do in the rail segment,” Armstrong said. “We focus on the great scenery, access points and access to the tracks. This route is the first route to hit all the boxes we were looking for with an American route.” 

A former rugby player and avid NHL fan, Armstrong was named CEO of Rocky Mountaineer in November 2023. The promotion was a great fit seeing that he had been working in guest relations, tourism and hospitality for a large portion of his life.

“I’m blessed to be in the hospitality business,” he said as the train navigated the Gilluly Loops, a set of switch backs just west of the Soldier Summit. “I wish my dad could have been on this maiden voyage today.”

Tristan’s father, Peter Armstrong, founded the Great Canadian Railtour Company Ltd in 1990 as a way to provide train travelers a private sector way to ride trains via daylight hours between British Columbia and Alberta.

On May 27, 1990 the first Rocky Mountaineer train pulled away from the Vancouver station in Vancouver, British Columbia, on its journey through Banff, Alberta and end-stop city Calgary, Alberta.

“On that first train ride, we had to rent tuxedos as we didn’t have uniforms for the trip,” Tristan said. “My mom and aunt even were part of the crew.”

Tristan said the Canyon Spirit train ride caters to American guests the most, is directed at the 55-plus-age person and can accommodate nearly 250 guests on its rail cars when traveling between the two cities. Canadians, Brits, and Australians are also three other major nationalities Canyon Spirit is marketing the American southwest train experience to. 

The Salt Lake City extension took approximately five years to add onto the route, with finalization coming within the last two years, Tristan said.

“What’s great about this trip is that we only average 30 miles per hour,” onboard host Mike Hannifin said about the pace of travel while aboard Canyon Spirit. “We slow even more in scenic spots so you can see, and learn, about an area along the route.”

What to expect along the journey

The preview train ride traveled from Salt Lake City southward to Provo and Spanish Fork before turning southeast along Spanish Fork Canyon toward Soldier Summit.

Passing Castlegate, the towns of Price and Green River and the Book Cliffs, the Day one rail-section ended at Crescent Junction.

A short motorcoach ride took the group to accommodations in Moab for the night. 

On Day two, Arches National Park was the morning activity via a motorcoach guided tour with stops at The Windows, Delicate Arch Viewpoint and Balanced Rock. The motorcoach then took the group back to the Moab Giants dinosaur park north of Moab for departure to Glenwood Springs and a sleep-over at either the Maxwell Anderson Hotel (formerly Hotel Denver) or Hotel Colorado. 

An optional dip in Glenwood Hot Springs on Day two was offered to the group after dinner at either the Hotel Colorado, the Pullman, Riviera Supper Club and Scratch Kitchen or Colorado Ranch House.

On Day three, the group boarded the train at Glenwood Springs Station for the trip along the Colorado River to Dotsero Cutoff, then northeast into Gore Canyon and then the Fraser River through Middle Park.

Before traveling under the Continental Divide via the Moffat Tunnel, Canyon Spirit passed by Winter Park Ski Resort, where the Amtrak Winter Park Express brings skiers and riders to Winter Park during winter months.

The conclusion of the train ride descended through 30 tunnels along and near South Boulder Creek from Tolland to Arvada to Denver Union Station.

Food & Beverage service

Meals served aboard Canyon Spirit represent a guided-tasting of the region being traveled across. Canyon Spirit goes out of its way to line up food and drink pairings to the locale which you are traveling across, such as Palisade peaches around Glenwood Springs and pickled cactus around Moab.

“Scenery is expressed on the plates and draws inspiration to form the menu strategy to the plate,” Kaelhub Cudmore, Director of Culinary Strategy said. “We offer local brands like Colterris Winery in Palisade and on the food side, locally sourced honey from Utah, trout coming in fresh, and our offerings will be simply great products instead of over producing a bad product in mass.” 

When Canyon Spirit service begins in April, the menu options served on the preview ride, will be very similar to the inaugural train trips between Denver and Salt Lake City.

Denver’s Dazbog Coffee is the coffee brewed aboard Canyon Spirit, pastries are provided by Gateaux Bakery on Speer and a selection of beers from Denver’s Great Divide Brewing Co are featured as well. 

Menus are created seasonally and each guest’s dietary needs are accounted for ahead of time.

Taking reservations now

The new Rockies to the Red Rocks Extension will operate weekly, with one westbound departure from Denver and one eastbound departure from Salt Lake City starting April 7, 2026.

Signature Experience pricing starts at $3,095 USD per person, and Premiere Upgrade pricing starts at $3,923 per person. 

PHOTOS: Rockies to the Red Rocks elevated train ride from Denver to Salt Lake City