Scenic route
California Zephyr
Chicago → San Francisco · United States
California Zephyr in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 3,924 km
- Fastest time
- ≈ 52 h
- Average speed
- 75 km/h
- Top speed
- 127 km/h
- Train
- Amtrak Superliner
- Countries
- United States
- In service since
- 1949
- Runs
- 1× daily each way
- Highest point
- 2,816 m
- Riders per year
- ≈ 400k
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Two nights, seven states: through the Rockies’ canyons and over Donner Pass, widely called America’s most beautiful train ride.
The Sightseer Lounge is the whole argument: wraparound glass, docent commentary through Colorado, strangers trading wine and life stories as the walls of rock close in. West of Denver the train winds up the Front Range and slips beneath the Continental Divide, then shadows the Colorado River for hours through gorges no road reaches. A desert night across Utah and Nevada ends with a slow, pine-scented crawl over the Sierra crest and the drop to San Francisco Bay.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 8440301 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 80 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: 99.7% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 19 m); the longest stretch away from it is 5.5 km
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Amtrak schedules — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Along the way
- Mississippi crossing at Burlington
- Front Range climb out of Denver
- Moffat Tunnel under the Divide
- Glenwood Canyon river miles
- Ruby Canyon into Utah
- Sierra crest above Donner Lake
How long is the California Zephyr?
The California Zephyr runs 3,924 km from Chicago to San Francisco.
How long does the California Zephyr take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 52 h for the 3,924 km. That is an average of 75 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 127 km/h.
Who runs the California Zephyr?
Amtrak.
How old is the California Zephyr?
The line has been in service since 1949. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How high does the California Zephyr climb?
2,816 m above sea level at its highest point.
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