Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Reviews

A must-do! And pay the fare for the Night Sky car...unforgettable!!

Rode in the Parlor Car. Was impressed with Kasey's knowledge about the local area as well as the Silverton train.

The Polar Express was just awesome. Better than I had imagined and Chef Cookie was very entertaining and excited all within the coach. Made it to the North Pole, seen Santa his house, a frozen Lake and a light show in the Forrest. The train and it's History was amazing and the walk through time inside the museum was fascinating. Accomplishments of mankind is something else. Definitely recommend and train ride service out of Durango from the Narrow Guage RR.

Always been fascinated with trains and the steam engines here were not a disappointment.

We took the ride this week for spring break. It isn't the full ride to Silverton, but it was still a great experience. The staff was so friendly and helpful. We had made an error in booking and had to switch days. They were very understanding and got it fixed right without a problem. I had ordered the turkey sandwich box that they offer while booking. It was tasty but it is so not necessary to do. They have a concession cart and it sells all kinds of food and at cheaper prices. The pulled pork smelled so good I wish I had it instead. A must do if you are in the Durango area.

An unexpected gem, I visited the museum with my mom and aunt while staying in Durango. Admission is free and the museum has tons of info and displays about the railroad, the four corners in general, a couple of train cars visitors can walk thru, military displays, and several beautiful old dioramas on display! Much more than just trains.

We took an awesome train ride to Cascade Canyon. Beautiful scenery and all train staff were very friendly and helpful. Would recommend.

Fantastic trip, staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Worth going to Durango just to take a ride. Scenery+steam engine makes it a bucket list item, IMO.

Making reservations is simple and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The train ride to Cascade Canyon is great! They offer events through the year such as Polar Express, Pumpkin Patch and the Christmas Tree Train which we take part in. It is a fun ride for the whole family. There is an observation car and a snack car for good drinks, lunch and souvenirs. The break-men come through regularly and explain the area, the function of the train etc. It's great to see the folks in period costume come through and give tidbits of history and stories. It's a great experience.

Great staff both before boarding (at the Durango station) and onboard the train to Silverton. If you have a seat in the frontmost cars you should go for the enclosed carriages or else expect to be covered with soot from the steam engine. A great 2.5 hour one way ride to Silverton. A bit pricey but a good once-in-a-lifetime trip.

We have been riding this Railroad many years! My husband s first ride was 1956 and it was a destination in his family and at back even before that. Those amazing locomotives - each with a personality are such a great part of this historic railroad. You must experience this train ride! Bling Blinky of Texas Shout Out: One ride will not do! Keep coming back and do it over and over!!!

Colorado is just beautiful vacation area. Not a place I would live, but great visit.

Just a great place to visit. Cool stuff to look at everytime we visit. And educational as well.

Family rode the train excursion, the Polar Express. We all enjoyed it. Tickets are upwards in price, but the experience is worth it. Employees were friendly and knowledgeable.

Always a great time. Breathtaking views and a smooth ride. A bit pricey, but worth the money.

The day we arrived the Trains rides stopped do to fires. Totally disappointed

Loved it! It's beautiful, I highly suggest booking a trip during the middle of October for the Autumn leaves changing.

Awesome!! Very interesting !! My husband's Dad worked for the Missouri Pacific most of his life. He truly enjoyed the museum. We are taking the train ride tomorrow.

I am a huge lover of trains. And the chance to experience a Narrow Gauge as well as a historic railroad at the same time, was a true gift. The staff was really knowledgeable about the history of the railroad and how the equipment work as I tend to be a bit technical on things like that. It is also easy access to all the downtown restaurants and other tourist attractions including the river

Loved the train ride. Worth every penny of the trip.

We loved the train ride from Silverton to Durango. We didn't have time to visit the museum, but we've heard that it's really good.

Nice little treat in Durango. This is a free museum that will take about 30 minutes to an hour.

I have ridden the train probably 30 times. I love it!

It is beautiful the landscapes very beautiful experience I will go again

Wonderfully scenic. A long trip if you have little kids though. If the weather is nice, the gondola car is the way to go. Silverton is a nice little town, but you don't get enough time to really explore it. buy the mug and get the free refills all day long, that's the way to go!

Never knew there was a museum in site... I'll definitely have to revisit we did the polar Express it great for the kids

Awesome experience and adventure...rode the gondola car during a good snowfall...AWESOME!!!...

Beautiful!!! We left at 745 am and got back 545. The people were friendly and helpful. Had a wonderful time.

We didn't really look at the museum much, but the train ride was awesome! Yes, it's a slow, bumpy ride on a historic train, so that could be both interesting or boring depending on the person. But it has an absolutely stunning view with unbelievably clear blue glacial water in the river. They also offer a TON of different possibilities, including stopping part way for a zip-line course or stopping part way to raft all the way back down to Durango. There are also a lot of options for cars with open roofs, glass roofs, guides dressed in character giving historical facts all the way, etc. Their website obviously has the best info for that. It DID feel a bit pricey, but I'd say it was worth it for us--we just did a standard ride in a closed top car, so we didn't roast alive in the sun. Take a shower afterward; you get covered in soot from the train, even if you're brushing it off the whole train ride.
Silverton is a really beautiful town, too. The view of the mountains there is gorgeous, and you could probably spend a weekend there hiking, if you wanted to. They have lots of cute tourist shops, restaurants with local performers, and other historic buildings to look at.
This is a HUGE tourist attraction in Durango, so there is plenty to spend your money on, but you also feel like a celebrity. Cars driving by and locals or campers will gather near the railroad to wave (or honk) and take pictures as you pass by.

There is very nice hot chocolate, the employees are very cheerful and include sing alongs for the ride! You also get to meet Santa and receive a silver bell that you shall never lose! At the end of the train ride, there are reindeer to look at "Cindy and Cinder". Also, there is a museum and a hut where kids can sit on Santa's lap, tell him what they want for christmas, and take pictures!

We went the second week in October this year. It was very cold in the open car we were in but we were prepared with plenty clothes. The scenery was perfect the leaves were turning all up the mountain. It is an experience we'll never forget. The smoke, the train whistle and chugga chugging up the mountain to Silverton.

It's been years since I've been anywhere near the train. Why does Google insist I've been there?

Ariel Winter And Shane Bone In Sofia The First Night Passage

Great nostalgic trip on the train. Highly recommend only taking the train One Direction and riding the bus back. Scenery is excellent and the staff is very friendly.

The D&R railroad was an incredibly scenic (albeit quite long) train ride. Never made it to Silverton as I was dropped of for backpacking and picked up later in the week. Concession cart was stocked with snacks and drinks (Beer too!) and the views from the locomotive were incredible. If you're considering taking the trip and dont mind sitting for 3 hours I definitely recommend it. The train moves slow, probably 15mph max, the open air gondola was nice, though prepared to be hit with some soot from the coal burning steam powered beast!

Amazing place to visit. You have to ride the train.

Overall the train ride was fun and staff was friendly, scenery was amazing. However we had an unusual situation with the locomotive on our train de-railing. Engineer, brakeman, conductor and crew got us back on the tracks with a 1 hr delay. The frustration came with what happened after all of that and what ended up being a total of ....... 3 hour delay !
Total it was a 12 hour train ride with that snafu and no extra consideration on the part of management !
The de-railment incident brought the operations manager, several crew members from round house and a new train crew to investigate what happened at Rockwood then get us back to Durango. ( all decision makers on site for this incident )
While communication was good on behalf of the crew to keep us informed of what had happened and why it happened, there was no extra compensation or consideration for the 200 plus passengers.
( ie: food or drink on the house from concession car while waiting for additional hours, or vouchers for dinner once back in town )
Once back in Durango we barely had enough time ( for our group of 14 ) to find a restraunt and eat dinner before closing.
Granted the de-railment with the locomotive was an unusual occurance, this was the management's opportunity to step up their service and personal consider to the needs of the onboard families, elderly ones and vacationing customers. They could have done so much more and left all involved with a positive experience.

We LOVED the museum and Depot. Unfortunately, due to mudslides our trip on the train was cancelled after the track was damaged after a rain storm. The whole crew was super upset (and we're still waiting on our refund for the tickets). We made a special trip to Durango during our vacation to ride the train, just as I had riden it with my late mom when I was a kid and we were super super bummed that we missed that opportunity before heading back to California, but understand it's out of their hands. The museum, however, is top notch and I hope it doesn't take another 25 years to get back to Durango.

Beautiful, a must when in Durango. Take it up and back!!

Great trip. We did the train up and bus back. Bus is faster and the driver provides a great narrative. Try to get seats on the right side of the train when going from Durango to Silverton. Better views.

Friendly people. Would love to spend more than a day here. Cozy

Beautiful ride, the bus combo was definitely the way to go for us because we had little kids with us and the train back would probably have been too long. I would have planned the time better in Silverton, since all the passengers getting off the train can cause lines to form pretty quickly at the restaurants

What an extremely eventful trip It's beautiful have excellent service and spend time in Silverton ride the train can't ask for a better trip for you and the loved one

I REALLY enjoyed this experience. We had someone tour us around the entire area and show us everything. Thanks again!

If you like trains this is the best place you could go. This museum is all about trains. It's a great place to take children it's a great place to take children they do have a model train sets set up that's pretty incredible. Inside the museum not only do they have a lot of items that relate to trains memorabilia belt buckles that say the Santa Fe Railroad on them excetera excetera they have real train cars that you can walk through. They even have an airplane from the same era as of time hanging from the ceiling. We took a lunch and ate on a bench outside of the museum is very comfortable but they do have a dining car. If you have a family in our traveling through Durango I recommend highly that you stopped here. And if you're hungry there's a McDonald's right next door and prefer to eat somewhere besides the museum.

Beautifully done. We had beautiful weather for our train ride and enjoyed the car we chose. It had padded seats but was open air. The best choice I'm sure.

tickets are hard to get. while i was there someone sold my mother in law 3 tickets for $100 and they turned out to be old and no good. buyers beware. the show and train ride is worth it for the kids.

It's a beautiful, beautiful ride and a close encounter with unspoiled nature. I'm glad I got to take this ride. Sadly the filth of the coal burning adds zero to the experience. In fact I find it ironic to be enjoying the purity of the landscape by utilizing the most nature-unfriendly fuel. Don't bring back coal and stop using coal. My lungs feel black after this ride.

Wanted to go to the museum but It was closed and there was no information as to when itd be open

Nice ride but a full day.

830 to 630 for us.

This place is corrupt. The train is bad for environment. The train starts fires all day up and down the tracks. What if one of those fires got out a hand? Would it be another missionary Ridge incident?

This was my second time taking the train from Durango to Silverton. As always, the trip was gorgeous, but both times there were major delays on the trip back to Durango from Silverton with little to no explanation given turning a three hour ride back into five. It makes for a very exhausting trip back. I would recommend taking the train one way and maybe taking the shuttle bus back.

Experience of a lifetime. Be sure to ride the train up to Silverton and the bus back. If heights is an issue sit on left side of the train and the right side on the bus. If you want to eat in Silverton avoid Natalla's buffet. Worst food I have ever tried to choke down. Only saving grace was the salad bar. Three Pitt's Again is a little over rated because of a food celebrity visiting who doesn't have a clue about real BBQ. Overall it was better than the first place.

Spent the weekend there with Family! I would love to go back again.

Really need more time in Silverton and MORE PARKING FOR LATER DEPARTURES!!!!! Law enforcement in Durango HATES tourists so visitors be ready for trouble... They will find any excuse to bother tourists and give tickets in Durango !

Great train ride great grandkids kids 1&5 loved it.

Stunning views, staff is very friendly. Loved it! The restroom is very small and so are the seats but it's worth the ride

Great place to stroll and walk down with large or small groups. There are several little shops and restaurants lining this main Street that are great to explore

Fantastic day out with some amazing scenery along the way

I talked with the mechanic and he was very friendly and knew alot about the museum. I can't wait to visit again!

We took the Christmas Tree train up to a remote area along the tracks and cut down our tree. This was a special collaboration between D&SN and the U.S. Forest Service. It was super fun and amazing views. I've rode the train twice now, and it's been a great experience both times. Although, we thought the $8 parking price seemed steep. The concessions are crazy expensive, too, so bring your own snacks and hot coco!

In my mind one of the greatest attractions in the US. I have ridden the Durango to Silverton railroad twice, and both times were among my most cherished memories.

My one suggestion is to pay the extra money and right in the parlor car, which is the enclosed car. It is a much better experience and well worth the extra money.

The views are panoramic (literally) worth taking the train around trip thereby having Nature contribute proper illumination

Scratched a round-trip Durango/Silverton steam RR ride from my bucket list and it was quite memorable. We chose riding in the railroad car accompanied by Charlie as our lecture guide. And he was overflowing with this area s extensive historical knowledge and supporting stories. So I figured on the return trip to Durango that he had to have exhausted his material, but no, for the entire trip back to Durango it was all new material! Great job!