Starlight Ride op Verde Canyon Railroad

We have done different train rides and this one was the best experience of all. The ride out is amazing seeing the river that flows along the tracks. The different views of the desert. Then the ride back is amazing also, we were lucky enough to go during the full moon and seeing it rise was a fantastic sight. The train staff were very friendly and service was great. Highly recommend this experience, especially during the full moon.

We loved this relaxing, beautiful tour with excellent guide Tristan. My partner and I took the Saturday night Starlight train and were so glad we did. We live in AZ and have taken multiple trips to the area, but still found the scenery stunning and the railroad tour an overall worthwhile experience. The company recommends getting to the station 1.5 hours early, but we ate in Jerome beforehand and arrived about half an hour early, which left more than enough time to browse the gift shop before boarding. Station restrooms were clean, the boarding process was efficient and simple, the charcuterie served was substantial, and our bartender Cheryl was lovely. We were seated in sofa-style bench seats facing another couple, unfortunately backward-facing for the first part of the trip and with only a partial window view. We were also in the hottest car of the train. That said, it was an unusually warm day, plus we ended up spending nearly the entirety of the tour in the breezy outside car (each enclosed cabin has its own outdoor platform). Tristan made the tour highly enjoyable - he was funny, knowledgeable, and engaging, pointing out various rock formations and buildings and teaching us local history. The train stopped for about half an hour at the midway point in order to prepare to reverse, and he kept us entertained with stories about mining and land barons. I learned a lot from him about the area. He also did a great job helping people get good photos of the landscape. Finally, we had been unsure about taking the evening tour since the last third or so was in darkness, but the subsiding heat, the sunset over the red rocks, and the view of the stars made it worthwhile. Definitely recommend. My one recommendation to the company is to please allow tour guides to include Native history when discussing local history. You do your guides and customers a disservice when avoiding the bare facts of "how the west was won," i.e. how land barons and mining companies acquired local land in the first place.

Overall the experience was nice. My favorite part was seeing all the stars during the return voyage. The guides were very informative as we began. The train does sway a little but that is how the ride would be on a vintage passenger train.