Amtrak USA Rail Pass: 14 Day Itinerary 🇺🇸
First, a rundown of what exactly the USA Rail Pass is. You're welcome!
Before You Go
You will need:
- A US National Park Pass which will cost you $80. UNLESS you have someone in your group that qualifies for a discount. Fortunately, I have a very youthful grandmother that would not let my cousin and I go on the trip without her, so she only payed $20 for a senior pass. Any pass will cover everyone traveling in your personal vehicle, but the holder will need to provide identification upon arrival. The good news is that the purchaser will be able to get into any national park across the country with this pass without paying any additional fees for an entire year.
- Reserved parking: if your initial departure station does not provide parking. Since we left from Union Station in downtown Chicago, there was no parking available, but I was able to find a public parking space near the train station that only charged us $139 to leave my car there for 13 days which was a GREAT deal.
- Not to scare you, but you will be in Grizzly country, and bear spray should be a non-negotiable while in Glacier National Park. We didn't have to use ours, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
- All hikes that we chose to do were no longer than 2 miles and rated as easy or moderate on AllTrails. This itinerary is definitely accessible for a variety of ages and hiking capabilities!
- You'll notice that most days will not have suggestions for multiple meals. Most days were too busy to find actual meals, so we often found ourselves at unique fast food restaurants (definitely try In-N-Out burgers and Dutch Bros Coffee if you're not familiar with them) or eating snacks during train rides.
Where you'll go:
Day 1: Chicago, Illinois 🏙️
Day 2: Travel Day/Arrive in Whitefish, Montana 🐻
Day 3: Glacier National Park ⛰️
Day 4: Seattle, Washington 🌧️
Day 5: Olympic National Park 🌲
Day 6: Travel Day 🚂
Day 7: San Francisco, California 🌉
Day 8: Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park 🌳
Day 9: Los Angeles, California 🌴
Day 10: Los Angeles, California ⛱️
Day 11: Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Arizona🏜️
Day 12: Rocky Mountain National Park/Denver, Colorado 🏔️
Day 13: Denver, Colorado 🏔️
Day 14: Chicago, Illinois 🍕
Day 1: Chicago 🏙️
- The Windy City! This city truly has something for everyone and definitely lives up to its name! Right on the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago offers amazing food, plenty of tourist activities, and one of the best skylines in the country.
- With growing up about 3 hours from here and visiting often, we chose not to spend a significant amount of time here before leaving for our trip, but if you've never been I would definitely recommend setting aside some time to check out the recommendations below. At the very least, definitely make time to try the famous deep-dish pizza!
Parking & Train Station
What to Do
Train Details
Departure: Saturday, May 6th @ 3:05 PM - Union Station
Day 2: Travel Day/Arrive in Whitefish, Montana 🐻
- Get comfortable, we're going to be here for a while. With the ability to walk around as we pleased and the excitement of starting this trip, the ride was honestly not nearly as bad as I expected it to be. The train leaving Chicago wasn't even close to full, so we were fortunate enough to each use two seats (both fully reclined) to sleep comfortably. The chairs are much larger and more comfortable than airplane seating, so falling asleep was not a problem. You'll also have access to viewing cars (pictured below) with plenty of windows to help pass time. On the lower level of these cars, you'll find the cafe areas with pre-packaged food items and drinks. Items are reasonably priced and the attendant was very friendly. Probably, the best interaction we had with an Amtrak employee throughout the entire trip and much better than the service we received in the "traditional" dining cars.
- If you choose to visit the dining cars, be prepared to spend $20 on each meal purchased. We chose to try the food on our first morning and were not impressed. As mentioned in the guide I put together, dining car service is not included in the price of the rail pass, but the conductor will announce that coach passengers are more than welcome to join. This was not our experience.
- As we entered the car, we were promptly ignored by the staff for about 10 minutes, so we decided to take a seat at one of the empty tables closest to the entry door. Apparently, this is what was needed to get their attention because the waitress promptly came over to let us know that we were not allowed to sit there and THEN asked us if we would like to join them for breakfast. She quickly (and loudly) reminded us that passengers in coach did not typically eat in this area, and emphasized the fact that we would need to pay $20 each for our meal if we still wanted to eat there. Since there were only two of us, we were seated with a man that also felt the need to keep emphasizing the fact that these meals were typically only for passengers in sleeper cars. Obnoxious, but it gets worse…
- As we tried to enjoy our meal, the same waitress (the only one working the car) was loudly informing the guests at the table directly next to ours that since my grandmother and I were visiting from the coach class, we would have to pay for our time there, but their family would not since they were in one of the sleeper cars. Why any of this needed to be discussed with them, I have no idea.
- After having the most mediocre french toast of my life and being treated as sub-par guests, we quickly decided that this would be the only time we would be using these services. After this, we would only use the cafe cars to get snacks for the remainder of our trips.
Train Details
Arrival: Sunday, May 7th @ 10:06 PM - Whitefish Depot
- Congrats, after your 31 hour train ride, you've made it to grizzly bear country! I know, 31 hours is a ridiculous amount of time to be spending on a train, but if you want to spend one of your segments getting off of the train in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or North Dakota, be my guest. We decided to ride all the way through. However, this stop is where I made my first planning mistake.
- There are four different train stops in the Glacier National Park area: East Glacier, Essex, West Glacier, and Whitefish. Without knowing details about the area, I booked our ticket to arrive at West Glacier Station only to get off of the train at a station that was closed and in the middle of the forest. Fortunately, after about 20-30 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to order an Uber or taxi, our ride was accepted by a driver that happened to see our request and explained that Whitefish is the main station in the area. If he wouldn't have come, I don't know how we would have gotten to our hotel for the night.
Train Station
Hotel
Day 3: Glacier National Park ⛰️
- Again, absolutely bring bear spray if you are planning on hiking any trails. In case you didn't know, Glacier National Park is one of the most breathtaking places you'll ever get the chance to see.
- If you have someone that is afraid of wildlife in your party, do not let this stop you from seeing this park. A majority of grizzly bear encounters are not predatory and bear spray has been proven to be 90% effective in stopping an aggressive bear if you were to run into one. Bear spray has also been proven to work on other wildlife (including mountain lions), and it will temporarily disorient the animal enough to no longer bother you.
What We Did
Where We Ate
Train Details
Departure: Monday, May 8th @ 10:21 PM - Whitefish Depot
Day 4: Seattle, Washington 🌧️
Train Details
Arrival: Tuesday, May 9th @ 11:29 AM - King Street Station
- Hopefully, your plans go through without any hiccups, because this is where we had our first real issue of the trip. As we were on our first train ride from Chicago to Montana, we were informed that our route from Montana to Seattle had been canceled, Due to Amtrak's schedule, our only options were to either accept the change and throw off our entire itinerary or find another way to Seattle. I knew that we needed to stay on schedule, so we were forced to get a rental car and take a ten hour drive through Idaho and Washington to get to Seattle on time.
Train Station
Airbnb
- This Airbnb was only about 15 minutes south of downtown Seattle. We purposely chose a place in this direction, but I wouldn't say the home was in the "nicest looking" neighborhood. However, we had no problems with the home whatsoever, and I am by no means an expert on the neighborhood conditions of the greater Seattle area.
- Our only issue throughout our stay was the smart lock on the front door. While it was easy to operate, we did get back after a busy day to find it not working. This resulted in us being stuck outside of the apartment for 30+ minutes waiting to hear from the host and trying to figure out what was wrong with the device. Eventually, the owner admitted to knowing that the device was running on a low battery, but hoping that it would not die during our stay. He then explicitly asked that we go out and buy batteries for his device (at our own cost) in order to guarantee that we would be able to access the apartment. Since we clearly didn't do that, he had the landlord drop off a physical key for us to use.
What We Did
Where We Ate
Day 5: Olympic National Park 🌲
- A little over 2 hours west of Seattle, you'll find one of the most iconic national parks in the country! With so much to see and do, it was challenging to plan our stop here, but I think I chose some pretty good options!
What We Did
Day 6: Travel Day 🚂
Train Details
Departure: Thursday, May 11th @ 9:50 AM - King Street Station
- After a busy few days, having a day of rest on the train was definitely needed! However, this is where we had our first (yes, it happened twice) near-miss with the train system.
- Throughout our trip, we learned that our most efficient system was to drop my cousin off at each train station with our large bags. From there, my grandmother and I would drop the rental car off and Uber back to the train station before our scheduled departure. However, it is nearly impossible to schedule time for unexpected accidents and traffic delays. Although our drop off location was supposed to be about 15 minutes away from the station, we found ourselves stuck in traffic for about 30 minutes on the way back to the station. We literally made it onto the train with about 2 minutes to spare, so definitely make sure you give yourself more time than we did!
- If you miss a train, you will not be issued any sort of refund, it will still cost one of your segments, and you will have to pay for the next available ticket. DO NOT MISS ANY TRAINS!
Train Station
- Unlike your previous trip from Chicago to Montana, this route will have plenty of incredible views! Running daily from Seattle to Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight route is definitely one of the most beautiful routes in the country. You'll travel through Washington, Oregon, and California and be treated to views of the Cascade Mountain Range, the Oregon wilderness, Mount Shasta, and miles of Pacific Ocean coastline!
Day 7: San Francisco, California 🌉
Train Details
Arrival: Friday, May 12th @ 8:29 AM - Emeryville
- Be ready for a quick day in the city of San Francisco. I know it's not a super long time, but we had way too many places we wanted to see and this provided a much needed stop along our route!
What We Did
Where We Ate
Train Details
Arrival: Friday, May 12th @ 9:45 PM - Fresno
Where We Stayed
- This was probably my favorite Airbnb that we stayed in! Newly renovated and in a convenient location, we had no problems here!
- By the time we were showered and settled into the airbnb, it was nearly midnight. Fortunately, I was able to have a pizza from a local restaurant delivered to me, and it was a life saver.
Day 8: Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park 🌳
- I know squeezing both of these parks into the same day is criminal. I wasn't happy about it either, but I still have no regrets!
- Both are about an hour and a half from our stay in Fresno, but in different directions, so if you're planning on following this exact plan, be prepared to do quite a bit of driving here!
Train Details
Departure: Saturday, May 13th @ 9:49 PM - Fresno
Arrival: Saturday, May 13th @ 11:57 PM - Bakersfield
Day 9: Los Angeles 🌴
Where We Ate
Day 10: Los Angeles ⛱️
- As mentioned before, we stayed with a friend of my grandma, which meant we did not have to find a place to stay overnight in this area. This definitely helped with costs but did add a lot of driving time into our schedule.
What We Did
- Due to a late start to our day, we did not get to do as much as I would have liked in Los Angeles, and even spending as much time as we did in the Santa Monica area lead to us almost missing our second train along the trip!
- Unless you want to be running through the Los Angeles train station with way too much luggage and no idea where to go, do NOT underestimate LA traffic and give yourself more than enough time to explore.
Train Details
Departure: Monday, May 15th @ 5:55 PM - Union Station, LA
Arrival: Tuesday, May 16th @ 4:14 AM - Flagstaff, AZ
Day 11: Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon 🏜️
- I know, 4:14 AM is not an ideal time to be arriving anywhere, but we did what needed to be done. After delays, we ended up in Flagstaff closer to 6:30 AM and simply waited at the train station until our rental car was ready to be picked up. This is the part of the trip that was the most inconvenient to schedule around, but there was no way I was going all the way to the West Coast and back without seeing Antelope Canyon! For me, the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend were simply a bonus along the way, but they were obviously incredible as well.
- ANTELOPE CANYON IS NOT A NATIONAL PARK. This means that if you are looking to include this into your trip, you will need to book a tour in advance (that will cost $75 per person). However, this space is owned by the Indian tribe that has historically owned the land, so we had no problem paying for access.
- If seeing these places is not something you are interested in, I would recommend not choosing the route out of LA, since we had to venture outside of Amtrak's train routes to see everything we wanted to. Amtrak does not have a route that goes directly from Flagstaff to Denver.
- If finishing the route from Flagstaff, we would have had to stay the night in Arizona, depart from Flagstaff, and go through New Mexico and southern Colorado before arriving to La Junta, Colorado and having to drive to Denver from there.
What We Did
- Amtrak does not have a direct route from Flagstaff to Denver. This meant that we had to keep our rental car overnight and drive to Denver after our stops in Arizona.
- This meant we would have to sleep while taking turns driving 9.5 hours through the deserts of Arizona and Utah before arriving in Denver the next day, but I think it was worth it to check these places off of my bucket list. Maybe give yourself more time on this trip?
Day 12: Rocky Mountain National Park/Denver, Colorado 🏔️
- After an exhausting 11 days, we made it to the "Mile High City" and immediately wanted to move there. This city did not feel nearly as overwhelming as some of the others that we visited along the trip, and the food was incredible!
Where We Stayed
What We Did
Where We Ate
Day 13: Denver, Colorado 🏔️
- After 12 days of nonstop traveling, it's safe to say that we were exhausted at this point in our trip. Because of this, we chose to spend our last day of the trip sleeping in and preparing for our journey home. We did spend some additional time walking through downtown Denver and enjoying the scenery before heading to the station early.
Train Details
Departure: Thursday, May 18th @ 7:10 PM - Union Station, Denver
Day 14: Chicago, Illinois 🍕
Train Details
Arrival: Friday, May 19th @ 2:50 PM - Union Station, Chicago
Budget
USA Rail Pass: $299 per person
National Park Pass: $7 per person
Parking: $40 per person
Hotel & Airbnb: $295 per person
Rental Cars & Gas: $300 per person
Uber: $90 per person
Antelope Canyon Admission: $75 per person
Total: $1,107 per person (not including meals)
In Conclusion...
- You know what they say: all good things must come to an end, and this trip was no exception.
- If you choose to follow this exact itinerary, I cannot promise that the trip will be stress free or relaxing, but I can promise that you will have countless stories to tell and a whole lot of pictures! I can safely say that it was by far one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had, and I would do it all again in an instant! Again, if you have the time, this is definitely a trip you should consider taking!
- If this exact route doesn't work for you or you simply want to see other destinations with your rail pass, feel free to book a consultation call to build a custom itinerary that suits your needs!
- Who knows, maybe someday I'll take a trip along the East Coast and put together another itinerary 🤔
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