August 11 2017

Grand Canyon by train – Day 1 of 4

Full time RVer tips, Places to visit :) 0

7 photos in this post

Spending four days at the Grand Canyon was FABULOUS! Each day we went to a different area using a different mode of transport. Instead of trying to cram it all in one post, I have decided to share each day with you in four separate ones. The “reveal” will happen on Day 3 as the person we were surprising arrived that day having no clue we would also be there.

Last Wednesday evening we arrived in Williams to spend three nights at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park. With level, fully paved, pull-thru sites this was a NICE park to set up and camp on. The only downer was being beside the train lines! AAGH! Two of the three nights were fairly quiet but the middle night was VERY noisy. It sounded like the trains were coming through the camper!

Thursday morning we were out the door by 8:45 to see the Wild West show at 9am and then catch the 9:30am train. Taking the dome carriage on the way up we got some beautiful views of the surrounding countryside on the 65 mile ride. This is not a fast train with a maximum speed of 40mph so the trip takes approximately 2 1/4 hours. The dome seating came with free refreshments so the kids were happy. The waitress was good and we were also provided with some singing entertainment. Upon arrival at the Grand Canyon we found our bus for the Grand Tour. Thankfully our bus was one of the ones going to lunch first. It was a basic buffet lunch but plenty of food and variety for all.

Following lunch the tour then took us to two different Grand Canyon sites:

Yaki Point which is only accessible via coach or shuttle. There is NO paved walkway to this point nor are private vehicles allowed at any time of year.
Yavapai Point and Geology Museum

This was NOT a cheap day trip BUT we are SO glad that we did this as it gave us a really good introduction to the park. We made it a little cheaper by not returning on the Dome but rather traveling back in one of the air conditioned Pullman carriage. An even cheaper option is the non air-conditioned one.