Great Places to Take your Grandchildren: The Grand Canyon Railway

Grand Canyon Railway provides a historic and fun journey to the canyon with the help of authentic western characters who bring the Old West to life. 

In my opinion, if you want to visit the Grand Canyon, this is only way to go. It is a very relaxing and enjoyable way to get to the Grand Canyon but more than that it is a wonderful experience for all ages. We traveled with our ten year grandson, who has always loved trains. He was very impressed with every aspect of the trip. We noticed a lot of other grandparents traveling with their grandchildren in tow. 

After a nice breakfast at the Grand Depot Cafe, we watched a comical wild west shootout just next to the depot and hotel.  We were introduced to characters that we met later during the train robbery.

The train departs from the depot in Williams at 9:30 AM and the 65 mile trip takes two hours and fifteen minutes. The journey to the Grand Canyon features a variety of different landscapes;  from the Ponderosa pine forest surrounding Williams, to a gentle drop in elevation down to the wide-open prairie before climbing back up to the Pinion pine forests as the Train approaches Grand Canyon National Park.  As we traveled we were told to keep our eyes out for elk, mountain lions, mule deer, squirrels, prairie dogs and even skunks.  We were lucky enough to see a condor while we were in the Grand Canyon and a herd of elk just outside of Williams.

We were in a first class car with facing seats and large picture windows. The PSA (hostess) in our car was very accommodating, knowledgeable as well as entertaining. Some of the jokes were well worn but over all in great fun.

There were local entertainers who came by to entertain us on both legs of the journey. They were very good and interacted with the passengers. The train was robbed on our way back.  The reaction of the children to the desperadoes was great to watch. All in all good fun.

We had approximately three and half hours to explore the Grand Canyon.  There are several ways to spend the time you have and we are going to cover them in our next weeks blog.

By traveling aboard Grand Canyon Railway you are not only part of history in the making, you are also doing your part to help preserve the pristine, incredible beauty of Grand Canyon National Park.

The Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel has many package that vary in number of night stays and classes of service. To learn more about the Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel and book your vacation getaway call Rawhide Travel and Tours at (602) 843-5100. Check out our website: rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc
6008 West Bell Rd # F105
Glendale, Arizona  85308-3793
(602) 843-5100
rawhidetravel.com