Luxury train travel between Colorado and Utah will get even bigger in 2026.

The trip known as “Rockies to the Red Rocks” aboard Armstrong Collective’s Canyon Spirit — formerly Rocky Mountaineer — is expanding westward from Moab, Utah, to Salt Lake City starting April 7, connecting Denver to the City of Saints. The eastbound route begins April 10.

The expansion creates a three-day, daytime-only excursion with stayovers in Moab and Glenwood Springs. The extension will reward travelers with scenic views of mountainous and canyon sections in eastern and central Utah — including summiting the famous Soldier Summit — along with elevated dining cuisine and stories about the history and geology of the Southwest.

Rocky Mountaineer launched the Denver to Moab route in 2021 because of high success with train trips between Canada’s two western provinces (Alberta and British Columbia). During a July preview trip on Canyon Spirit, The Gazette spoke to Rocky Mountaineer CEO Tristan Armstrong about the expansion.

“We love what we do in the rail segment,” he said. “We focus on the great scenery, access points and access to the tracks. This route is the first route to hit all the boxes we were looking for with an American route.”

The extension took approximately five years, Armstrong said.

“What’s great about this trip is that we only average 30 mph,” onboard host Mike Hannifin noted. “We slow even more in scenic spots so you can see and learn about an area along the route.”

Meals aboard Canyon Spirit represent a guided tasting of the region, with food and drink pairings from locales featured on the trip. This includes Palisade peaches around Glenwood Springs and pickled cactus around Moab.

“Scenery is expressed on the plates and draws inspiration to form the menu strategy to the plate,” Kaelhub Cudmore, director of culinary strategy, said. “We offer local brands like Colterris Winery in Palisade and, on the food side, locally sourced honey from Utah.

Menus are created seasonally and each guest’s dietary needs are accounted for ahead of time.

The new service will operate weekly, with one westbound departure from Denver and one eastbound departure from Salt Lake City. Signature Experience pricing starts at $2,132, and Premiere Upgrade pricing starts at $2,727.