This Underrated, Long-Distance Train Offers A Scenic Journey Across 8 States

For anyone who's ever dreamed of taking a Route 66 road trip across America, Amtrak's Southwest Chief train route might be the next best thing. You don't need to pay for gas or even have a car to follow this route from Chicago to Los Angeles. As a passenger, you can just sit back and enjoy the view as the train winds through eight U.S. states: Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Get comfortable in the sleeping car, because this 2,265-mile pilgrimage involves over 40 hours of travel time. Compared to Italy's high-speed trains or Japan's bullet trains, which can travel up to 190 and 200 miles per hour, respectively, the Southwest Chief is a slow-moving dinosaur. It maxes out at 90 miles per hour, so it's not much faster than a car on a Texas highway. In 2024, the train's 33% on-time performance also made it the least punctual of Amtrak's long-distance routes. For passengers willing to bear potential delays for glimpses of beautiful scenery, however, the Southwest Chief remains an underrated transportation option.

If you just want to explore Daniel Burnham architecture and Hollywood history, you'd be better off flying directly from Chicago to L.A. What the Southwest Chief offers is an experience that's more about the journey than any one destination. It's a journey made rich and more memorable (not to mention, less butt-numbing) by stop-offs in places like Albuquerque, New Mexico. From Albuquerque to L.A., the route overlaps with Route 66, America's great lost highway, first established in 1926. As a successor to the Super Chief — the "Train of the Stars," which counted silver-screen idols like Humphrey Bogart and Judy Garland among its passengers beginning in 1936 — the Southwest Chief route is almost as old as that highway.

Before you depart on the Southwest Chief, take in views of the Chicago skyline from the city's tallest building. They're a nice urban contrast to some of the amazing natural scenery you'll see on the back half of this trip. The train's only stop in Iowa comes after it crosses the Mississippi River via the Fort Madison Toll Bridge. After an eight-hour ride, you might want to disembark in Kansas City, Missouri, if only to visit the National World War I Museum and Memorial. While the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs draw sports fans to their stadiums, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum takes visitors back to a time before athletes like Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

You won't see much of Kansas itself aboard the Southwest Chief, since the train pulls through the prairie at night. Stop off in Topeka, however, and you can take a free tour of the Kansas State Capitol the next morning. The floor maps out every county in the state, while murals depict turning points in local history. One such moment informs the Brown v. Board Education National Historical Park, where you'll learn more about the 1954 Supreme Court case that led to the desegregation of America's public schools.

Topeka was established a hundred years earlier, in 1854, with its founder also chartering one of the biggest U.S. railroads of that era. Beyond its Amtrak station, Topeka offers railfans a window into the past at the Great Overland Station, a train depot turned museum on the National Register of Historic Places. Three stops over, in Dodge City, the Boot Hill Museum recreates the saloons and gunfights of the famous frontier town where Wyatt Earp served as lawman. Head to the Sightseer Lounge for scenic views as the train continues west through the Raton Pass in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The ride through New Mexico's narrow Apache Canyon also impresses.

On the Southwest Chief, you can even visit Las Vegas — the one in New Mexico, that is. While it shares the name of America's gambling capital, this Las Vegas is more a destination for movie lovers (and not just those looking to visit New Mexico's last drive-in, which is here). Since the silent film era, it's been a shooting location for dozens of movies, including classics like "Easy Rider" and the Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men." Fans of the latter might recognize the historic Plaza Hotel, which opened in 1882. The cowgirl mural over on Sixth Street is a landmark leftover from the original "Red Dawn."

Traveling to TV locations is an option in Albuquerque, another stop on the Southwest Chief, where the "Breaking Bad" universe comes to life. The views from the train are especially scenic as it crosses New Mexico and Arizona, with the landscape shifting from deserts and mesas to red rocks and canyons. If you're passing through in October, don't miss the world's largest balloon festival in Albuquerque, where the Alvarado Transportation Center's Mission Revival-style architecture welcomes train passengers to town.

In Winslow, Arizona, you'll find a piece of rock 'n' roll history at Standin' on the Corner Park. Immortalized in the lyrics to the Eagles song "Take It Easy," the city has turned one street corner into a roadside attraction, complete with a Glenn Frey statue and an authentic "flatbed Ford," like the one mentioned in the song. The giant Route 66 mural in the intersection is said to be visible from space. There's a similar mural outside the Amtrak station in Flagstaff, Arizona, where you can catch a shuttle to the Grand Canyon's gateway. When you hit California, cacti will give way to palm trees as you near L.A., ending your train journey in the entertainment capital of the world.