Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Reviews

Love to see the trains coming in in the afternoons. Love it!!!

If you love trains, old cars, motorcycles & history this is must stop in Durango. Young & old will enjoy this museum. Take a train ride or just walk around. Small gift shop on site with some cool stuff. It's just a short walk from the Wyndham Resort.

This was a nice enough ride ok. I asked for a open coach and didn't didn't get one. I didn't know of course until I got on. They wouldn't move me. The layover in Silverton wasn't long enough to explore much. The volunteer docent was a wonderful source of info. So was the bus driver on the way up.

This is a great trip. I recommend train one way and bus ride the other. Lots of rocking side to side a little hard on old bones.

They blocked me on Facebook for commenting on their photo that their actors weren't actually period appropriate attire. If they are going to claim to be historically accurate yet present false information about the time period they shouldn't label it as factual. And if they aren't willing to listen to polite discussion about what women might have actually worn they should lose their historic status. Shameful way to treat someone.

I love trains and this is one of the absolute best! It's expensive at $80 an adult but it's definitely worth a ride. Don't be cheap it's a once-in-a-lifetime ride with amazing scenery behind a steam locomotive in vintage cars. It does not get any better.

You absolutely need to take this trip once in your life!

This was our first time riding the train and it was awesome. We took the Polar Express train and it was just jaw dropping. The complete staff were all amazing!

We had an Awesome time, well worth the drive and we'll be back next year.

I drove halfway across the country to ride this train and I was not disappointed. The views are nothing less than breathtaking. Do yourself a favor and sit in an open car.

If you love mountain scenery and have a day to enjoy it, you must take a round trip to heaven. We were in a car with a clear ceiling and the views were incredible. Lunch in Silverton can be an adventure, so research ahead of time. As you can tell, I loved this trip!

A great museum with a variety of exhibits! I'd definitely recommend it for the whole family.

With a kid who loves trains...best experience ever. Went for the Polar Express experience... it was amazing and the train ride is amazing.

Lower, middle, working class and I'd say it's worth buying tickets. You can bring food on board, but the food service here is good too. Book a hotel within walking distance. Explore the area. Great family vaca

We enjoyed the train ride to Silverton so much, we want to go again the next time we're in Durango.

A life time experience. An amazing journey highly underrated though. 6 hour up and down journey to Silverton and back to Durango. Everything and every minute is so precious and heavenly feelings. One of the best part was my kid enjoyed it more than me.

Beautiful city, great museum, unfortunately it did not work in time with a train ride.

Great experience, even during the pandemic. Awesome views of the canyons and river.

Love this train. It was my favorite vacation as a child.

A historical museum with videos, refurbished engines, bus, aquarium, and more. Must see

A great way to step back in time and experience a piece of history. The staff is well trained and is very courteous. Come prepared for a full day of activities as you travel. The train is fully stocked with drinks and food for purchase.

Awesome experience! Staff was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. The views were simply breathtaking. I wouldn't hesitate to ride with D&SNGRR again if I'm ever in Durango again.

An interesting experience and a practical way to access some of the trailheads between Durango and Silverton. It is however, in certain cars, extremely smoky. It will inhale and be covered by plenty of soot.

Everything about Durango and Silverton we love. From the people, food and towns.

This was a bucket list adventure. We rode the train up and back. Awesome!

A must visit, and of course you need to take the train ride!

We loved this! Had the open air car and went to Silverton and back to Durango with a 2 hr layover in Silverton. Would definitely recommend! It cost us about $46 per person per way and I would say it was worth it. I think the regular cars were cheaper but I'm not sure. It was chilly at the top (in Jul) so do remember jackets. The scenery was worth it.

We sat on the right side of the train it had more cenic photo opportunity. We rode the train up and took the bus back, we liked it better.

The stations are very traditional, and the staffs dressed in the traditional style as well. It took 3.5 hours one way, but well worth it. The train goes through the forest beside the Animas River. The view is spectacular. We had around 2.5 hours to explore Silverton, It's a small cute town surrounded by the snow capped mountains and filled with restaurants. A nice experience. If you want to stay in Silverton longer, there's some very cute hotels.

Amazing journey along cliff sides and through gorges. Views were spectacular throughout, especially with the fall colors. Recommend dressing warm and sitting in the outside gondolas, in which the seats face outwards.

One of the best experiences of my life. I was in awe from the moment we left Durango until we got to our destination (midway between Durango and Silverton; note the train doesn't run the full route until late spring). An amazing and breathtaking experience.

For the railroad buff this place is can't miss. Incredible amount of history here. Very well displayed. Easy to get overwhelmed. But plenty of places to sit and rest. Amazing museum. Staff is knowledgeable and engaging. Plan to spend 3-4 hours here to scratch the surface while she shops downtown Durango. Then go back!

If you love American history, this town is full of it! The Narrow gauge Railroad is fascinating! I did the Steam Train tour and it was just breath taking scenery.

Fantastic railway museum, free from absolutely spheres.

Fabulous ride up to Silverton, outside car was great, but hot on the way back.

Absolutely amazing. The views are spectacular and the train ride is great!!

Lucky to ride this season after the fire & then landslide. A very picturesque journey. We made use of the narration which was brilliant.

THIS WAS THE MOST HORRIBLE VACATION EXPERIENCE EVER!! I would give it 0 stars if I could. On the way up the train broke down not once, but twice. We eventually arrived in Silverton, 2 hours past our scheduled arrival time, which meant less time in Silverton. Also, on our way up, I got to listen to my 3 y.o. son crying for an hour and a half because coal had scratched/irritated his eyes, which we were not warned could happen. Not knowing if we could make it back on the train, due to 2 breakdowns, we decided to take the bus back, with no time in Silverton. Mind you the train up took 5.5 hours!! We had to get back due to a prior engagement. When getting on the bus we were told there was going to be an $80+ upcharge for the bus ride back. We eventually made it back and told our concerns to the manager (I believe his name was Rob), and he completely blew us off. Horrible from start to finish, and a complete waste of an entire day. You have been warned.

I'm very appreciative of what the Historic Narrow Gauge brings to our community. Taking young ones on the Polar Express and Pumpkin Patch Train is just good fun! I also love riding the train to access the Upper Animas and Weminuche.

We came here specifically for the Polar Express and we were far from disappointed! This station not only had an amazing steam locomotive that had old fashion seats that flip and face one another in the coach we reserved,great if you have kids, but they also do these great skits from the movie. The best parts were the chefs dancing and bringing hot chocolate while playing the song, sharing the story book in sections during the trip, seeing the conductor and his wise cracks, and Santa coming on board and listening to the kids wishes and giving them a sleigh bell. Pretty special. Also you get a gift bag and can see Santa at the station after your trip to the north pole. Well worth it. Kids and adults loved loved loved it! Shout out to our British chefs thanks for hot chocolate and cookies.

I'm sure this place took a lot to put together. That being said it wasn't a very kid friendly place when we were there. The model railroad was running but only barely. One train in a small circle track. The kids wanted to touch everything but most things had a no touching sign on them (understandable but unfortunate). We spent all of 30 minutes inside and that was enough for me. They did have a cool movie playing inside an old train car but it was more geared to adults.

Love this place but sorry had to close because of covid-19

Take a ride on the train in the early morning to Silverton or take the bus to Silverton and the train back. Either way there is nothing like taking a ride on a working piece of history. The museum is full of wonderful exhibits and information from throughout Durango's history and has a large model train to boot. On the far wall is an exhibit relating to early military history from WWI, WWII and a donated USMC dress uniform from a MSgt. The museum is free and there is a donation box just inside at the base of the entrance ramp if you feel moved to provide one.

We did the polar Express ride. The trip was nice and the kids loved it. Except there was trash left behind from the prior ride, cups, cookies, wrapper's. But that was the only flaw everything else was magical!

This is a great museum. There are many things to view here but the coolest thing was to actual use a real telegraph machine and try Morse code. There are actually two machines that you can talk to each other. Too cool.

AMAZING!! We took the train from Durango to Silverton. We had booked to go back to Durango on the bus but we enjoyed the train so much we wanted to ride it back. There were plenty of seats and they let us. No extra charge. This is an expensive excursion but more than worth it. It was an entire day of beautiful sites. We rode in The Yankee Girl car. I can't imagine a trip to Durango without this included.

This place was full of interesting things to see after the train ride.

Brilliant trip , paid for the narration coach , the lady narrator was dressed in period costume and her explanation of what we were seeing was exceptional . Stopped in Silverton for 11/2 hrs and found a restaurant that sold English Pasties . Then we travelled back to Durango

Amazing experience! So accommodating and so much fun for the family!

Wonderful immersion in history. I did the round trip tour with the historical narrative and that made the experience all the better. Bucket list item complete!

The Polar Express was fun. Great for families of all ages.

Beautiful scenery, wonderful staff. The shorter ride is perfect ...not distancing though...everyone work masks, but seats were all filled.....

The ride up was incredible, no way to do justice to the scenery. If its warm enough the outside cars are the only way to go. We rode in mid-July, the enclosed cars seemed stuffy.
I can't say enough about the staff, everyone was friendly and helpful, make you feel welcome!
Up and back in one day doesn't give you enough time to see Silverton. If I had it to do over, stay the night in Silverton and take bus back to Durango.