Top Anchorage Rail Services

If you love trains, this is a trip that you don't want to miss! Whether on the Wilderness Express or the Denali GoldStar, your experience is just fantastic! Seeing the landscape and wildlife while riding the train is incredible! You are catered to in every way, which is lovely!

After an incredible overnight stay in the charming town of Talkeetna, we headed back to the depot for the second segment of our journey. Checking in at the dedicated Wilderness Express area was incredibly smooth. As we waited on the platform, anticipation built until I saw the massive luxury dome car rolling into the station, and I managed to capture a great video of its arrival.Once on board, we were greeted warmly by an exceptional hosting team. In a wonderful twist of fate, our bartender turned out to be the exact same person who would later serve us on our final leg from Denali to Fairbanks! Shortly after departing Talkeetna, we headed down to the dining car for lunch. We ended up sharing a table with a lovely couple who, by an amazing coincidence, lived just about an hour north of where we live! We had a wonderful time swapping stories about our home area as the Alaskan landscape began to unfold outside.The quiet rhythm of the train broke when the conductor announced our approach to Hurricane Gulch. I learned it originally earned its name from early railroad crews because the deep, narrow gorge acts like a natural wind tunnel, funneling powerful, howling gales even when the surrounding forests are completely calm. Eager to escape the window glare, I grabbed my camera and stepped out onto the open-air viewing platform downstairs. The air was crisp, sharp, and cold. As the train rolled out over the 918-foot steel arch structure, I looked straight down into a dizzying drop to the rocky creek bed below. Holding my breath, I snapped photos of the jaw-dropping gorge as it opened up toward the distant, cloud-shrouded peaks. Not long after clearing the drop at Hurricane Gulch, the train continued its steady climb through the wilderness. Along this stretch, we passed a scenic beaver pond, giving us a great view of nature's engineers.By mid-afternoon, our luxury dome car had climbed steadily to Broad Pass—the absolute roof of the Alaska Railroad system. Here, the dense forests parted, giving way to an endless expanse of alpine tundra. I looked out and captured one of my favorite photos of the whole journey. It was a perfect subarctic autumn tapestry: slender, resilient black spruce trees scattered across a blazing, fiery patchwork quilt of reds, oranges, and deep purples as the low-lying tundra shrubs changed for the season. I captured the rustic facade of the Cantwell Lodge, a historic property located along the Denali Highway in Cantwell, Alaska.Continuing past the area, our view provided a prominent, highly visible example of the massive spruce bark beetle outbreak currently affecting Denali National Park and Preserve. We looked out and saw large swaths of trees that had been killed by the beetles. Due to milder winter temperatures, this native beetle population has surged, rapidly infecting and killing the white spruce trees throughout the region. The stark results were highly visible from our seats—widespread patches of standing gray and mousy-brown dead trees stretching across the landscape around Cantwell, Carlo Creek, and Healy.The train crested the peak of Broad Pass and began its northern descent. In this stretch, the railroad closely parallels and repeatedly crosses the expansive, glacial gravel bars of the Nenana River canyon. Leaving the high alpine flats behind, the train began its final descent as the valleys narrowed sharply. I photographed the rugged landscape of Nenana Canyon. The scene perfectly captured the silty, glacially fed Nenana River in the foreground, slopes featuring a mix of green taiga forest alongside a band of darker, sparse spruce trees also impacted by the beetle outbreak, and steep, rocky mountain terrain rising in the background with mist clinging near the peaks.Closer to the canyon, the river running directly outside our window became the Middle Fork Chulitna River. From this vantage point, we could see local properties nestled at Mile 231 of the George Parks Highway: the red roofs of the Denali Park Village resort complex clustered near the trees on the left side of the train, sitting directly across the clearing and down the road from the green-roofed Denali Grizzly Bear Resort on the right.Just minutes before pulling into the station, the train followed a sharp, looping curve directly along the scenic edge of Horseshoe Lake on our left. Finally, right on time, the brakes hissed to a smooth stop at the log-cabin Denali National Park Depot. Stepping off the train into the cool heart of the subarctic, I looked back at the dome cars, deeply grateful to have captured such a pristine slice of Alaska on a perfect September afternoon. Ahead of us lay two full days of incredible wilderness exploration—a visit to the Denali National Park Sled Dog Demonstration, a ride on the green transit bus out to Mile 43, and our unforgettable view of Mt. Denali—all were perfectly lined up to the fullness of our time in Denali.

Great train ride. Very clean and comfortable train. Worth the price

Definitely show up an hour early to check your bags and make sure you are ready to board. Service was quick all the way from checking bags to getting my printed ticket. There's a gift shop and coffee joint inside, once you board there is assigned seating, if you're on a budget the Adventure Class is good but if you want the better experience then the GoldStar is the way to go. Overall guides were knowledgeable about the route and the things to see, it was a great experience! Would recommend this to anyone! Can't wait to take different routes and explore the rest of Alaska Railroad.

The views are just absolutely amazing. The train cuts through Denali state park in winter, allowing you to see the 3rd highest isolated peak on earth in the vast snowy landscape. The dining cart food was honestly pretty good too, try the reindeer bolognese or the pot roast! The train guide was really funny too and gave nice information, along with trying to help you spot wildlife along the way.

It is a very comfortable 12 hr train ride, with sit down dining for all meals if desired. The food prices were very reasonable compared to airports. The narration was very informative and entertaining.

We opted for the Gold Star ticket and loved every minute of the views from glass dome portion of the train, as well as the "patio" area Gold Star passengers could visit.With a Gold Star ticket you also get a meal and 2 drinks. We went in the morning, so our meal was breakfast. We had lots of menu options, and the chef was willing to custom make your meal if you had dietary restrictions. The meal was very good!Normally we're not drinkers, but it was vacation so we had a few adult beverages. The bar tender did a GREAT job on our drinks!

Great way for both to enjoy the amazing Alaska scenery: 1) worry free if traffic 2) back country not seen from highway 3) great commentary onboard

Wonderful experience. We took the adventure option in the way to Seward but upgrades to gold star on the way back to Anchorage. This might be expensive but well worth the upgrade. I would recommend spending the money for gold star service round trip. Service was outstanding on both trips. 4.5 hours both ways with a 5 hr stop in Seward. It plenty of times to discover how wonderful Seward is.

So gorgeous, so comfortable. staff helpful both in depot and on board. handling of luggage was smooth. We stayed at a lodge in Denali that they booked for us and all transitions were easy.The mountains are everywhere. Conductors narrated from time to time, pointing out historical sights, wildlife sightings and, amazingly, Denali peeking out above the clouds.dome car very comfortable, but the windows were not the cleanest. windows by our seats had outstanding views.

Incredible experience! The staff on board were great, and the scenery was just magical! Besides, the train arrived earlier than expected. I would do it again without hesitation!

No Cool Destinations contact person available at the train station by the time you travel Travelers need to go train station ticket office , present Cool Destinations E-ticket + travelers ID ( passport ) in order to get official paper ticket for the train

Train was awesome, does go very slow sometimes. Staff was good

The train ride it self was amazing. They keep you informed along the route as to what your seeing and if any wildlife or features are coming up so you can have your camera ready. The train is comfortable and bathrooms were kept clean. Did not use the dining car. Did go to the cafe car and the selection was minimal and a bit pricey. It would be nice that if upon boarding they would annouce a bit more information about the train itself. Like where bathrooms are located, were the viewing car is located and the unwritten 30 minute rule, what car numbers are things located in, etc. As for the 5.00 book they flog it can use an update and really isn't worth the money. We bought one and looked through it but never refered to it again.

We flew into Anchorage for a cruise departing out of Seward. I had taken this trip many years ago and loved it so I booked again. The station workers helped us properly attach our cruise tags to the bags and directed us into the station where we checked in and grabbed a coffee. We booked Adventure class and the seats were very spacious and the windows were large. A guide used a PA system and told us the highlight along the way. We saw bald eagles and mountain goats. Breakfast was available in the dining car and very tasty. We very much enjoyed this scenic trip and would certainly take it again!

I would have given this a 5-star rating, however, I paid the extra money to ride as a Gold Star customer and was VERY disappointed to discover I’d been assigned to row 19 A and B - which are the only Gold Star seats that cannot recline due to backing up to the bar. I was able to work with the crew (though it seemed to be a much bigger deal than it should have been) to move over to 19 C and D which could recline. Here’s the thing: It is a looong trip (8 hours). I paid the same price as everyone whose seats could recline. There is no way Alaska Railroad should be selling those two seats at the same price as all the others, and there is certainly no way they should not inform their customers in advance that the seats do not recline! I should never have had to deal with this!