Luxury rail company launches new route from Denver to Salt Lake City

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information

Luxury rail company Rocky Mountaineer is rebranding its U.S. operations as Canyon Spirit with an expanded route connecting Denver to Salt Lake City in 2026, the rail company told TPG.

The three-day journey will depart from Denver Union Station and travel to Salt Lake City, with exact location TBA.

“Our team is working with our rail partners to determine the best arrival and departure location in central Salt Lake City,” per a spokesperson for the company. “As with our existing routes, motorcoach transfers will be provided for all guests if the location is not easily accessible.”

Travelers can book the three-day Rockies to the Red Rocks route in either direction, westbound starting in Denver or eastbound starting in Salt Lake.

Denver-bound trains depart Salt Lake City at 7:30 a.m. for a 4 p.m. arrival in Moab before departing Moab the next day at 11:30 a.m. to arrive in Glenwood Springs at 5 p.m. The last day of travel departs Glenwood Springs at 9 a.m. for a 5 p.m. arrival to Denver.

Westbound trains depart Denver at 9 a.m. and arrive in Glenwood Springs at 5 p.m. before departing Glenwood Springs the next day at 8 a.m. and arriving in Moab at 2 p.m. Day three will be departing from Glenwood Springs at 12:30 p.m. to arrive in Salt Lake at 8:30 p.m.

It will include overnight stops at Glenwood Springs Station in Colorado and Green River, Utah, which is 50 miles outside of Moab, which does not have a dedicated train station. 

“Guests will arrive at a designated rail siding and be comfortably transferred to their hotel in Moab by motorcoach,” they said.

Service begins April 21, 2026, with one train departing weekly from Denver and Salt Lake City. Round-trip coach tickets start at $2,123 plus tax per person for the ride and include overnight hotel accommodations in Glenwood Springs and Moab.

Canyon Spirit will continue to partner with the Grand America and Little America hotels in Salt Lake City.

Coach service on this route will be known as Signature Experience and includes daily breakfast and lunch on board; coffee, tea, drinks and snacks throughout the day; hotel stays at overnight destinations and seats by large glass-dome windows. Meanwhile, Premier Upgrade, the train’s first-class service, includes all the benefits of coach, plus access to the lounge car, an elevated dining experience with wine pairings and premium alcoholic beverages available in the lounge car and at your seat, and handcrafted signature cocktails available in the lounge.

The railcars and seats are the same for both service levels and both classes feature onboard hosts telling the history of the area throughout the journey.

The website to book is live as of March 17.

“We could not be more excited to bring our Canyon Spirit train to Salt Lake City, and to expand our Rockies to the Red Rocks route further into the beautiful state of Utah,” Tristan Armstrong, CEO of Armstrong Collective, Canyon Spirit’s parent company, said in a statement. “Although the name of our train is changing, our world-class service and onboard experience will remain the same. Our family and team members all look forward to sharing the beauty of the American Southwest with even more guests from across the United States and around the world.”

In addition to the three-day route, Canyon Spirit will continue operating its existing two-day Rockies to the Red Rocks route between Denver and Moab, with stops in Glenwood Springs and Denver. Round-trip tickets for the Red Rocks route range between $1,723 and $2,327 per person plus taxes.

Additional package in the U.S. go to Las Vegas, with Rockey Mountaineer operations available in Canadian destinations such as Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia; and Banff, Alberta. These routes range in duration from one to 14 days.

Armstrong Collective operates all routes as the newly formed parent company of Canyon Spirit and Rocky Mountaineer. Over the past 35 years, more than 2.3 million guests have traveled on its three routes throughout western Canada.

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