Amtrak Empire Builder
The mighty Empire Builder runs daily between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest to Seattle or Portland, and makes stops in hundreds of communities along its route, many of which cover the northern tier of Montana along US Hwy 2, also known as the "Hi Line" route.
Amtrak's Empire Builder takes you on an exciting adventure through majestic wilderness, high prairies, rich agricultural lands and dense conifer forests which typified the topography followed by noted explorers Lewis and Clark.
From Chicago, you'll have magnificent views of the Mississippi River and see the glowing night skyline of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Awake the next morning as you cross the North Dakota plains and travel over the spectacular Gassman Coulee Trestle. Skirting the Missouri River, you'll cross into the Big Sky country in Montana. About 150 miles northwest of Great Falls, you begin to enter the most mountainous portion of your trip on the eastern border of Glacier Park crossing over the Continental Divide in the process. The panoramic windows of the Empire Builder's Sightseer Lounge make for the best seats in the house from which to experience the awesome splendor of high mountain peaks, the Flathead River and the wildlife that lives along this corridor. The train winds its way for another 150 or so miles through spruce, pine and cedar forests until settling back onto the agricultural prairies of northern Idaho and eastern Washington, spotlighted by the beautiful city of Spokane.
From Spokane, you can continue on to Seattle or head down the Columbia River Gorge toward Portland for spectacular views of Mt. Hood and Beacon Rock.
One train passes in each direction on a daily basis. It is supposedly timed so that the train will pass through the Rocky Mountains at a time of day that has prime viewing conditions, although this results in some unpleasant scheduling.
There are about 400,000 passengers who ride the Empire Builder each year for various reasons. Air fares can often be quite prohibitive, especially from a small town. Driving means hours of concentration on the road, whereas time on a train journey can be quite productive, either with work or reading or just plain old relaxing. And even more importantly, if you're traveling with your family, then life slows down whereby you can enjoy your time together.
Your inner disposition is at ease; you don't have to take any phone calls; there are no bustling crowds; and, you don't have to get to the airport two to three hours early.
Riding the Amtrak Empire Builder also provides an opportunity to meet people you wouldn't ordinarily meet. There's a diversity of fellow passengers: old people, young people, people on business, all whom you have a greater opportunity of conversing with than if stuck in one seat on an aircraft or behind the steering wheel of your car.
You can meet some people in the Empire Builder's dining car. As passengers arrive in ones and twos, dining car attendants seat them together at four-person tables.
And the entire time you can have a sense of the immensity of our great nation and its natural treasurers. For details on the Empire Builder and its scheduled stops, CLICK HERE.
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