Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad is the longest, highest narrow-gauge steam railroad in North America, running 64 miles from Chama, New Mexico over the 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass to Antonito, Colorado. The railroad is a National Historic Landmark and has been operating as a heritage line since 1971, still hauling passengers behind the same coal-burning steam locomotives that worked this route in the 1880s.

The full round-trip takes a day and is worth every hour. From Chama, the train climbs through pinon-juniper foothills, past aspen groves and into the high meadows of southern Colorado, winding along ledges above deep canyons and crossing wooden trestles above the Toltec Gorge. The crew coals the engine along the way. At Osier, passengers stop for lunch before continuing to Antonito or turning back. Various excursion options allow half-day and full-day trips. The season runs May through October. Book tickets well in advance for summer weekends.

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A story
The Cumbres and Toltec was part of the Denver and Rio Grande's "San Juan Extension" — a narrow-gauge empire built in the 1880s to reach the silver mines of southwestern Colorado. At its peak, the system ran from Alamosa all the way to Chama, Durango and Silverton. Most of the empire was shut down as the mines played out. The Chama-to-Antonito segment survived because the states of New Mexico and Colorado bought it in 1970, preserving the longest and most spectacular section as a living museum of American railroad history.

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