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The Rocky Mountains around Denver, Colorado house some of the world’s best ski areas, including Winter Park. Normally, visitors would need to drive to far-flung resort towns (by car or bus) to ski these mountains. However, the Winter Park Express service is one of the only in the country to offer train more-or-less directly to a ski area.
The route goes from Union Station in downtown Denver more than 50 miles to Winter Park, dropping off mountaineers within feet of the slopes un under 3 hours (check out the Google Map below to see how close!).
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
The Winter Park Express gains 4,000 feet in elevation over its route
From its starting point at Union Station in Denver to the Winter Park Resort, the train service gains 4,000 feet in elevation. The route starts in the flat plans, then starts climbing through the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, taking sharp hairpin turns. Over the course of the 56 mile route, the train passes through 30 tunnels.
The service includes the Moffatt Tunnel built in 1928, the first western rail link for Denver
Along the 56 mile journey, the Winter Park Express passes through the Moffatt Tunnel before reaching the Winter Park Resort station. This tunnel was built in 1928 and provided the first rail link leading directly from Denver through the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains (the divide that separates rivers & streams flowing to the Atlantic Ocean vs. the Pacific Ocean).
The Moffatt Tunnel is also the third-longest railway tunnel in the US (at 6.2 miles long), and the highest tunnel by elevation at more than 9,000 feet above sea level.
The California Zephyr Amtrak service runs on the same route as the Winter Park Express
Amtrak, the quasi-government run passenger train operating company, operates the Winter Park Express on the same track as another service – the California Zephyr. This service is the longest daily-route running more than 50 hours from Chicago to Emeryville, California (just outside of San Francisco).
The California Zephyr, however, does not stop at Winter Park Resort station – rather, it stops in Fraser, Colorado almost 6 miles past the ski resort (marked on the Google Map below). Because the Winter Park Express only operates on Friday – Sunday (during winter months), those looking to take a train to the mountain on non-weekends will often choose to take the California Zephyr to Fraser, and then a bus to the ski resort.
Additional links and sources
- Design company and source for featured map (link)
- Amtrak link to purchase tickets for the Winter Park Express (link)
- Information on the construction of the Moffatt Tunnel (link)
Have you ever taken a ride from Denver to Winter Park on this train?
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