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Colorado Railroads & Scenic By-Ways

July 5 - 15, 2010

11 Days & 13 Meals

Special Features

Ride Georgetown Loop Railroad
Ride Silverton/Durango Railroad
Ride Cumbres & Toltec Railroad
Ride Rio Grand Scenic Railroad
Ride Royal Gorge Railroad
Ride Pikes Peak Cog Railroad
Visit Colorado Railroad Museum
Tour Lebanon Silver Mine
Overnight Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge includes admission to the Springs
Colorado National Monument
Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Silverton
Royal Gorge Bridge, with lunch
Seven Falls
Garden of Gods
Farewell Dinner

WOW! This is definitely a WOW Tour. It is a masterpiece, the most extensive, comprehensive tour of Colorado that we have ever offered. Trains, trains, and more trains traveling over the highest peaks and alongside rushing mountain streams, through tunnels and over trestles, and view awesome panoramas not accessible by car. Scenic views abound from the day we arrive in Colorado until the day we depart. Even if you have done Colorado tours before, this one is worth a three-peat!!

Helping Create a Complete and Total Tour Experience!

Some of our travel packages include five-star and one-of-a-kind hotels that are part of your whole tour experience. These hotels offer amenities not found elsewhere and help create a lasting memory. These hotels are shown in RED.

Day 1, Monday, July 5

Depart Springfield and travel to Hays, Kansas.
LODGING: Hampton Inn

Day 2, Tuesday, July 6

We continue across Kansas and into Golden, Colorado where we will tour the Colorado Railroad Museum. Thousands of pictures and artifacts take you through the history of the railroads plus many locomotives and train cars on display. A lovely place for pictures for the railroad enthusiast.
LODGING: Hampton Inn
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 3, Wednesday, July 7

What an exciting day! We board our first train, the Georgetown Loop Railroad for a six mile round trip ride that takes an hour and ten minutes. Engineers wrestled with the problem of how to get the train to Silver Plume, only a short two miles distant, but 638 feet higher than Georgetown. In order to reduce the steep six percent grade to four percent, the engineers laid more than four miles of track in a series of twists and turns, the most spectacular of which is the 95-foot high Devil’s Gate Viaduct. While there we will visit the Lebanon Silver Mine, reached only by train. After lunch, we continue to Glenwood Springs, Colorado for lodging at the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge which is next to the world’s largest outdoor mineral hot pool where you can relax in 90 degree water or, if you prefer, the smaller therapy pool is 104 degrees, compliments of our hotel. It’s like having a 2-block long hot tub!! Don't forget your swim suit.
LODGING: Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 4, Thursday, July 8

We will have a late morning to enjoy our lovely hotel before departing for the Colorado National Monument that preserves one of the grandest landscapes of the American West. Awesome scenery is the order of the day as we continue to Montrose, Colorado.
LODGING: Holiday Inn Express
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 5, Friday, July 9

Majestic scenery abounds on the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray. We stop for a view of the magnificent Box Canyon Falls before continuing on to Silverton, Colorado. We arrive in time for lunch and some free time before boarding the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Train for an awesome journey along the old ore route, clinging to the precipitous walls of the Animas River Gorge and arrive in Durango, Colorado for our overnight.
LODGING: The Doubletree Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 6, Saturday, July 10

I’ve run out of adjectives powerful enough to explain what awaits you today. Our scenic journey begins with a short drive to Chama, New Mexico where we board the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Train. We ride through rolling meadows and across trestles bordered by the shimmering leaves of the white aspen trees and an abundance of deer, elk and bear. We cross the 10,015 foot high Cumbres Pass, the highest mountain pass reached by rail in the United States. The train hugs a sheer rock face as it reaches the summit – and there is a possibility of snow flurries even in summer. After crossing the 137 foot high Cascade Trestle, the highest on the line, we stop for an included lunch at Osier, Colorado. Departing lunch we start the last half of our journey and travel through tunnels, along a rocky gorge that plunges 800 feet and the train snakes along a narrow ledge where the view is straight down. Our lovely ride comes to an end in Antonita, Colorado where our coach will meet us and take us to Alamosa, Colorado.
LODGING: Inn of the Rio Grande
MEALS: Breakfast Lunch

Day 7, Sunday, July 11

Another day, another train with views all its own! Alamosa is a charming and historic train town in the heart of the San Luis Valley and is where we board the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad and a special Dome Car for a most scenic ride through breathtaking mountain valleys and over the La Vita Pass on our way to La Vita, Colorado. Our driver will meet us here and then we continue to Canon City, Colorado.
LODGING: Hampton Inn
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 8, Monday, July 12

Riding the rails today finds us on the Royal Gorge Train for a ride through the “Grand Canyon of the Arkansas”. The track runs alongside the raging waters of the Arkansas River and under the famous Hanging Bridge, which clings precariously to the steep granite walls of the Royal Gorge, towering over 1000 feet above. “Awe” doesn’t describe what you’ll feel when you walk across the Royal Gorge Bridge, the world’s highest suspension bridge, an unforgettable quarter-mile journey through the clouds where looking down is more breathtaking than looking up. It must be experienced to be believed! Your passport also includes the longest single span Aerial Tram and the world’s steepest Incline Railway. Our day is not complete as we continue to Colorado Springs and Seven Falls which is seven distinct falls that cascade down a steep canyon. They are viewed best from the Eagles Nest which can be reached by an elevator or a 185-step stairway.
LODGING: Drury Inn
MEALS: Breakfast Lunch

Day 9, Tuesday, July 13

Our day begins with an awesome tour of the Garden of the Gods to see the spectacular 300 million year old sandstone rock formations. After watching a movie about the Gardens and a little time for the Visitor Center, we will travel to Manitou Springs for lunch and free time. Today may be the last of our Colorado trains but it definitely is not the least. Thrills and majestic views await us as we board the Cog Railroad for a breathtaking ride to the top of Pikes Peak, the second most visited mountain in the world, second only to Japan’s Mount Fuji. At an altitude of 14,110 feet, it is truly breathtaking in more ways than one – so walk slowly and take your time.
LODGING: Drury Inn
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 10, Wednesday, July 14

We say goodbye to Colorado and head back east towards home. Our day ends with a farewell dinner included this evening.
LODGING: Country Inn & Suites
MEALS: Breakfast Dinner

Day 11, Thursday, July 15

Mid afternoon should find us back home in Springfield, Missouri but memories of the matchless beauty of this tour will live on in our minds for a lifetime.
MEALS: Breakfast

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