USA · Window guide
Which side of the California Zephyr should you sit on?
A window guide to the California Zephyr (2,438 mi / about 3,924 km, 87 narrated stories), built from the same route data the Rail Journeys app uses to trigger its narration.
Operated by Amtrak. Rail Journeys of a Lifetime is an independent audio guide and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any railway operator.
The short answer
- Toward Chicago: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
- Toward the San Francisco Bay: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
The app narrates each sight automatically as you reach it and says which side to look — this page is the same route, in order, for planning. "Left" and "right" are relative to the direction of travel.
Distances in the tables are measured along the route geometry from Emeryville, CA and are approximate; the headline distance is the operator's published figure.
Before you board
- The California Zephyr reverses direction at Denver Union Station (confirmed from the route geometry): after Denver, the side you were sitting on becomes the other side of the train. Side cues below are relative to the direction of travel.
Toward Chicago
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 mi (0 km) | 🚉 Emeryville, CA | — | Station stop |
| 0 mi (0 km) | Emeryville | Either side | Right at the edge of the bay sits Emeryville — and it looks like any modern waterfront: shops, offices, traffic. |
| 7 mi (12 km) | Richmond | Either side | The Richmond waterfront slides by quietly now — but during the Second World War, this was one of the most astonishing places in America. |
| 20 mi (32 km) | Benicia / Mare Island | Either side | Across the water sits Benicia — a sleepy town now, but for thirteen months in the 1850s, this little place was the capital of all California |
| 22 mi (35 km) | Carquinez Strait | Either side | The water draws in close around us now — this is the Carquinez Strait, the one door the whole valley drains through. |
| 27 mi (43 km) | Martinez | Either side | Somewhere in the golden hills above Martinez stands the home of John Muir. |
| 44 mi (71 km) | Suisun Marsh | Either side | Beside the train spreads a vast sea of reeds and shining water — Suisun Marsh, the largest brackish marsh on the entire West Coast of North |
| 71 mi (114 km) | Davis | Either side | The college town of Davis has the highest share of bicycle commuters of any city in America — about one resident in five rides to work. |
| 84 mi (136 km) | Sacramento | Either side | We're rolling into Sacramento now. |
| 84 mi (136 km) | 🚉 Sacramento, CA | — | Station stop |
| 93 mi (150 km) | McClellan Air Force Base | Either side | Off to the side stretch the long flat airfields of the old McClellan base. |
| 102 mi (164 km) | Roseville | Either side | Roseville holds the largest railroad yard on the West Coast — acre upon acre of track where trains are sorted and sent on their way. |
| 116 mi (186 km) | Newcastle | Either side | Orchards spill down the foothills around Newcastle. |
| 119 mi (191 km) | Auburn | Either side | The foothill town of Auburn was born in the Gold Rush, when a miner struck gold in a ravine here in 1848. |
| 137 mi (220 km) | Colfax | Either side | These quiet foothills around Colfax were once California's gold country — hills like these, all through this stretch of the Sierra. |
| 140 mi (225 km) | Cape Horn | Right side | Look down — toward the river side. |
| 148 mi (238 km) | Gold Run | Either side | These raw, washed-out hillsides didn't erode on their own. |
| 167 mi (268 km) | Emigrant Gap | Either side | The ridge drops away sharply here — this is Emigrant Gap. |
| 185 mi (298 km) | Soda Springs | Either side | Up near the crest of Donner Summit lies Soda Springs — and this snowy ground is where California learned to ski. |
| 187 mi (301 km) | Norden | Either side | Here at the crest of the mountains sits Norden, once one of the hardest places on the entire railroad. |
| 188 mi (302 km) | Donner Pass | Either side | Look ahead. |
| 189 mi (304 km) | Mt. Judah Tunnel | Either side | A railroad runs through the high granite of Donner Pass for one reason: a stubborn young engineer named Theodore Judah. |
| 192 mi (309 km) | Donner Lake | Left side | Look down the slope, below the grade. |
| 201 mi (323 km) | Truckee | Either side | High in the snowy Sierra sits the mountain town of Truckee. |
| 209 mi (336 km) | Boca | Either side | This quiet spot by the Little Truckee is Boca — and it once hit forty-five below zero, the coldest temperature ever recorded in California. |
| 215 mi (346 km) | Floriston | Either side | Strung along the Truckee River, a scatter of old wooden houses is nearly all that's left of Floriston. |
| 218 mi (351 km) | Truckee River Canyon | Either side | That's the Truckee River, running right beside us. |
| 222 mi (357 km) | California/Nevada state line | Either side | Somewhere along the canyon of the Truckee River, California gives way to Nevada. |
| 225 mi (362 km) | Verdi | Either side | The pines thin out near Verdi — a quiet little town named, of all things, for the Italian composer Verdi by the railroad baron who built thi |
| 235 mi (379 km) | Reno | Either side | Ahead lies Reno — 'The Biggest Little City in the World,' just as the famous arch downtown still declares. |
| 236 mi (379 km) | 🚉 Reno, NV | — | Station stop |
| 239 mi (384 km) | Sparks | Either side | The whole town of Sparks was, quite literally, hauled here. |
| 269 mi (432 km) | Fernley | Either side | Out across the sagebrush, Fernley shows green fields in the middle of the desert — and that contrast is the whole story. |
| 337 mi (542 km) | Lovelock | Either side | Ahead is Lovelock — and yes, the name is the whole point. |
| 410 mi (659 km) | Winnemucca | Either side | Out across the sagebrush sits Winnemucca, a high-desert ranching town on the Humboldt River. |
| 544 mi (875 km) | Elko | Either side | Off at the foot of the Ruby Mountains lies Elko — cowboy country beneath peaks so sharp people call them Nevada's Swiss Alps. |
| 683 mi (1099 km) | Nevada/Utah state line | Either side | Somewhere along here we cross from Nevada into Utah — and the border town, Wendover, is split clean in two by the line. |
| 684 mi (1101 km) | Bonneville Salt Flats | Either side | That blinding white, all the way to the horizon — it isn't snow. |
| 806 mi (1298 km) | Salt Lake City | Either side | Mountains on one side. |
| 806 mi (1298 km) | 🚉 Salt Lake City, UT | — | Station stop |
| 823 mi (1325 km) | Riverton / Bingham Canyon | Either side | Out beyond the valley, in the Oquirrh Mountains, lies the largest hole human beings have ever dug — the Bingham Canyon copper mine. |
| 845 mi (1360 km) | Geneva | Either side | Near Provo once stood Geneva Steel — and it's here for a reason you'd never guess: fear of bombs. |
| 850 mi (1368 km) | Provo | Either side | Pressed against the steep wall of the Wasatch sits Provo, at the edge of Utah Lake. |
| 872 mi (1403 km) | Thistle | Either side | Watch for water where a town should be — this is Thistle, or what's left of it. |
| 900 mi (1449 km) | Soldier Summit | Either side | Look how high we've climbed — the valleys are far below us now. |
| 922 mi (1483 km) | Castle Gate | Either side | Look up — those narrow rock walls are why they call this Castle Gate. |
| 925 mi (1489 km) | Helper | Either side | Helper says it is the only town in America named after a locomotive — the helper engines that pushed coal trains up Price Canyon. |
| 933 mi (1501 km) | Price | Either side | This is Price — the heart of Utah's coal country, and one of the most surprising melting pots in the West. |
| 997 mi (1604 km) | Green River | Either side | Green River is famous for two things: melons sweet enough to have their own festival, and the water itself. |
| 1065 mi (1714 km) | Ruby Canyon | Either side | The rock is turning red. |
| 1067 mi (1717 km) | Utah/Colorado state line | Either side | The red canyon walls draw in close — and somewhere along here we slip from Utah into Colorado, at a border almost no one on earth can reach. |
| 1101 mi (1771 km) | Grand Junction | Either side | Two rivers come together at Grand Junction — the Gunnison flowing in to join the Colorado, the river that carved the West. |
| 1113 mi (1791 km) | Palisade | Either side | Orchards and rows of vines mean you've reached Palisade, the fruit basket of Colorado. |
| 1134 mi (1824 km) | De Beque | Either side | The rugged Book Cliffs rise above the little town of De Beque — and up in those canyons run wild horses. |
| 1176 mi (1893 km) | New Castle | Either side | The town of New Castle sits beneath a mountain that has been quietly on fire for more than a century. |
| 1188 mi (1913 km) | 🚉 Glenwood Springs, CO | — | Station stop |
| 1188 mi (1913 km) | Glenwood Springs | Either side | We're coming into Glenwood Springs now, tucked where the canyons meet. |
| 1196 mi (1924 km) | Glenwood Canyon | Either side | Look up. |
| 1207 mi (1943 km) | Dotsero | Either side | Look up at the canyon wall where the rivers meet — those dark cinders are the youngest volcano in all of Colorado. |
| 1262 mi (2030 km) | Gore Canyon | Either side | The walls are closing in. |
| 1270 mi (2043 km) | Kremmling / Red Canyon | Either side | The canyons open out to sky around Kremmling — wide ranch country, a welcome breath of space between the gorges. |
| 1297 mi (2088 km) | Granby | Either side | The high ranch country around Granby opens wide — green pastures, and the peaks of the Continental Divide standing close. |
| 1307 mi (2103 km) | Tabernash | Either side | The small Fraser-valley settlement of Tabernash carries a hard memory in its name. |
| 1310 mi (2109 km) | Fraser Canyon / Winter Park | Either side | After the high passes, the land softens. |
| 1316 mi (2118 km) | Winter Park Ski Resort | Either side | The ski slopes of Winter Park stand right at the mouth of the great tunnel under the Continental Divide. |
| 1322 mi (2128 km) | Moffat Tunnel | Either side | Straight ahead, the tracks aim right at the wall of the Continental Divide. |
| 1353 mi (2178 km) | Big Ten Curve | Either side | Get ready — the track is about to bend, hard. |
| 1373 mi (2210 km) | Denver Union Station | Either side | Ahead stands Denver's grand Union Station, the crossroads of the West. |
| 1373 mi (2210 km) | 🚉 Denver, CO | — | Station stop |
| 1378 mi (2218 km) | Commerce City | Either side | As Denver's edges thin out, Commerce City and the open land beyond hide an astonishing turnaround. |
| 1451 mi (2335 km) | Fort Morgan | Either side | The plains town of Fort Morgan is all flat fields and enormous sky — and, of all things, the sound of the 1940s. |
| 1627 mi (2619 km) | McCook | Either side | McCook is a small town on the high Nebraska plains — and for forty years it was home to a senator named George Norris, the man they called ' |
| 1704 mi (2743 km) | Holdrege | Either side | Holdrege exists for one simple reason: the railroad. |
| 1759 mi (2831 km) | Hastings | Either side | The plains town of Hastings gave the world a taste of childhood. |
| 1855 mi (2986 km) | Lincoln | Either side | Ahead lies Lincoln — Nebraska's capital, with a name born of political mischief. |
| 1910 mi (3074 km) | 🚉 Omaha, NE | — | Station stop |
| 1910 mi (3074 km) | Omaha | Either side | Off toward the Missouri River lies Omaha — and for a long time, this was the edge of the known country. |
| 1911 mi (3076 km) | Council Bluffs | Either side | On the bluffs above the Missouri River sits Council Bluffs — and almost nothing you'll cross going west would exist without it. |
| 1921 mi (3092 km) | Offutt Air Force Base | Either side | Near Omaha lie the runways of Offutt Air Force Base — a plain-looking field that has carried the weight of the world. |
| 1976 mi (3179 km) | Stanton | Either side | The little Swedish town of Stanton hides something genuinely odd on its skyline: a giant coffee pot. |
| 2018 mi (3247 km) | Creston | Either side | The name Creston is the whole clue. |
| 2051 mi (3301 km) | Osceola | Either side | The prairie town of Osceola carries a long echo in its name. |
| 2132 mi (3431 km) | Ottumwa | Either side | On the Des Moines River sits Ottumwa — and if the name rings a bell, it's the hometown of Radar O'Reilly from M*A*S*H. |
| 2178 mi (3505 km) | Mount Pleasant | Either side | The small Iowa town of Mount Pleasant quietly made history. |
| 2206 mi (3550 km) | Burlington | Either side | The old river town of Burlington sits on the bank of the Mississippi — and tucked into its hillside is a true curiosity: Snake Alley, billed |
| 2207 mi (3551 km) | Burlington Bridge (Mississippi crossing) | Either side | In a moment the ground drops away, and we're out over open water. |
| 2232 mi (3593 km) | Monmouth | Either side | In a house still standing in Monmouth, in 1848, a baby was born who would become a legend of the Wild West: Wyatt Earp, the lawman of the O. |
| 2249 mi (3619 km) | Galesburg | Either side | Galesburg was built by the railroad — and it's the birthplace of the poet Carl Sandburg. |
| 2272 mi (3656 km) | Galva | Either side | The name of the farm town of Galva is a small piece of Sweden, set down on the Illinois prairie. |
| 2280 mi (3670 km) | Kewanee | Either side | Kewanee carries a proud, funny title: the Hog Capital of the World. |
| 2307 mi (3712 km) | Princeton | Either side | Tucked into the town of Princeton is a plain white house with a secret. |
| 2373 mi (3820 km) | Aurora | Either side | This is Aurora — they call it the City of Lights. |
| 2382 mi (3834 km) | Naperville | Either side | This is Naperville — the oldest town in this corner of Illinois, settled by a riverboat captain way back in 1831. |
| 2411 mi (3880 km) | 🚉 Chicago, IL (Union Station) | — | Station stop |
| 2411 mi (3880 km) | Chicago | Either side | Welcome aboard — or, as we pull away, one last look back. |
Toward the San Francisco Bay
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 mi (0 km) | Chicago | Either side | Welcome aboard — or, as we pull away, one last look back. |
| 0 mi (0 km) | 🚉 Chicago, IL (Union Station) | — | Station stop |
| 28 mi (46 km) | Naperville | Either side | This is Naperville — the oldest town in this corner of Illinois, settled by a riverboat captain way back in 1831. |
| 37 mi (60 km) | Aurora | Either side | This is Aurora — they call it the City of Lights. |
| 104 mi (167 km) | Princeton | Either side | Tucked into the town of Princeton is a plain white house with a secret. |
| 131 mi (210 km) | Kewanee | Either side | Kewanee carries a proud, funny title: the Hog Capital of the World. |
| 139 mi (224 km) | Galva | Either side | The name of the farm town of Galva is a small piece of Sweden, set down on the Illinois prairie. |
| 162 mi (261 km) | Galesburg | Either side | Galesburg was built by the railroad — and it's the birthplace of the poet Carl Sandburg. |
| 178 mi (287 km) | Monmouth | Either side | In a house still standing in Monmouth, in 1848, a baby was born who would become a legend of the Wild West: Wyatt Earp, the lawman of the O. |
| 204 mi (328 km) | Burlington Bridge (Mississippi crossing) | Either side | In a moment the ground drops away, and we're out over open water. |
| 205 mi (330 km) | Burlington | Either side | The old river town of Burlington sits on the bank of the Mississippi — and tucked into its hillside is a true curiosity: Snake Alley, billed |
| 233 mi (375 km) | Mount Pleasant | Either side | The small Iowa town of Mount Pleasant quietly made history. |
| 279 mi (449 km) | Ottumwa | Either side | On the Des Moines River sits Ottumwa — and if the name rings a bell, it's the hometown of Radar O'Reilly from M*A*S*H. |
| 360 mi (579 km) | Osceola | Either side | The prairie town of Osceola carries a long echo in its name. |
| 393 mi (632 km) | Creston | Either side | The name Creston is the whole clue. |
| 435 mi (700 km) | Stanton | Either side | The little Swedish town of Stanton hides something genuinely odd on its skyline: a giant coffee pot. |
| 490 mi (788 km) | Offutt Air Force Base | Either side | Near Omaha lie the runways of Offutt Air Force Base — a plain-looking field that has carried the weight of the world. |
| 500 mi (804 km) | Council Bluffs | Either side | On the bluffs above the Missouri River sits Council Bluffs — and almost nothing you'll cross going west would exist without it. |
| 501 mi (806 km) | Omaha | Either side | Off toward the Missouri River lies Omaha — and for a long time, this was the edge of the known country. |
| 501 mi (806 km) | 🚉 Omaha, NE | — | Station stop |
| 555 mi (894 km) | Lincoln | Either side | Ahead lies Lincoln — Nebraska's capital, with a name born of political mischief. |
| 652 mi (1049 km) | Hastings | Either side | The plains town of Hastings gave the world a taste of childhood. |
| 706 mi (1137 km) | Holdrege | Either side | Holdrege exists for one simple reason: the railroad. |
| 784 mi (1261 km) | McCook | Either side | McCook is a small town on the high Nebraska plains — and for forty years it was home to a senator named George Norris, the man they called ' |
| 960 mi (1545 km) | Fort Morgan | Either side | The plains town of Fort Morgan is all flat fields and enormous sky — and, of all things, the sound of the 1940s. |
| 1032 mi (1662 km) | Commerce City | Either side | As Denver's edges thin out, Commerce City and the open land beyond hide an astonishing turnaround. |
| 1038 mi (1670 km) | 🚉 Denver, CO | — | Station stop |
| 1038 mi (1670 km) | Denver Union Station | Either side | Ahead stands Denver's grand Union Station, the crossroads of the West. |
| 1057 mi (1702 km) | Big Ten Curve | Either side | Get ready — the track is about to bend, hard. |
| 1088 mi (1752 km) | Moffat Tunnel | Either side | Straight ahead, the tracks aim right at the wall of the Continental Divide. |
| 1095 mi (1762 km) | Winter Park Ski Resort | Either side | The ski slopes of Winter Park stand right at the mouth of the great tunnel under the Continental Divide. |
| 1100 mi (1771 km) | Fraser Canyon / Winter Park | Either side | After the high passes, the land softens. |
| 1104 mi (1777 km) | Tabernash | Either side | The small Fraser-valley settlement of Tabernash carries a hard memory in its name. |
| 1114 mi (1792 km) | Granby | Either side | The high ranch country around Granby opens wide — green pastures, and the peaks of the Continental Divide standing close. |
| 1141 mi (1836 km) | Kremmling / Red Canyon | Either side | The canyons open out to sky around Kremmling — wide ranch country, a welcome breath of space between the gorges. |
| 1149 mi (1849 km) | Gore Canyon | Either side | The walls are closing in. |
| 1204 mi (1937 km) | Dotsero | Either side | Look up at the canyon wall where the rivers meet — those dark cinders are the youngest volcano in all of Colorado. |
| 1215 mi (1956 km) | Glenwood Canyon | Either side | Look up. |
| 1222 mi (1967 km) | Glenwood Springs | Either side | We're coming into Glenwood Springs now, tucked where the canyons meet. |
| 1222 mi (1967 km) | 🚉 Glenwood Springs, CO | — | Station stop |
| 1235 mi (1987 km) | New Castle | Either side | The town of New Castle sits beneath a mountain that has been quietly on fire for more than a century. |
| 1277 mi (2055 km) | De Beque | Either side | The rugged Book Cliffs rise above the little town of De Beque — and up in those canyons run wild horses. |
| 1298 mi (2088 km) | Palisade | Either side | Orchards and rows of vines mean you've reached Palisade, the fruit basket of Colorado. |
| 1310 mi (2108 km) | Grand Junction | Either side | Two rivers come together at Grand Junction — the Gunnison flowing in to join the Colorado, the river that carved the West. |
| 1344 mi (2163 km) | Utah/Colorado state line | Either side | The red canyon walls draw in close — and somewhere along here we slip from Utah into Colorado, at a border almost no one on earth can reach. |
| 1345 mi (2165 km) | Ruby Canyon | Either side | The rock is turning red. |
| 1414 mi (2275 km) | Green River | Either side | Green River is famous for two things: melons sweet enough to have their own festival, and the water itself. |
| 1478 mi (2379 km) | Price | Either side | This is Price — the heart of Utah's coal country, and one of the most surprising melting pots in the West. |
| 1485 mi (2390 km) | Helper | Either side | Helper says it is the only town in America named after a locomotive — the helper engines that pushed coal trains up Price Canyon. |
| 1489 mi (2397 km) | Castle Gate | Either side | Look up — those narrow rock walls are why they call this Castle Gate. |
| 1510 mi (2431 km) | Soldier Summit | Either side | Look how high we've climbed — the valleys are far below us now. |
| 1539 mi (2477 km) | Thistle | Either side | Watch for water where a town should be — this is Thistle, or what's left of it. |
| 1560 mi (2511 km) | Provo | Either side | Pressed against the steep wall of the Wasatch sits Provo, at the edge of Utah Lake. |
| 1566 mi (2520 km) | Geneva | Either side | Near Provo once stood Geneva Steel — and it's here for a reason you'd never guess: fear of bombs. |
| 1587 mi (2555 km) | Riverton / Bingham Canyon | Either side | Out beyond the valley, in the Oquirrh Mountains, lies the largest hole human beings have ever dug — the Bingham Canyon copper mine. |
| 1604 mi (2582 km) | 🚉 Salt Lake City, UT | — | Station stop |
| 1604 mi (2582 km) | Salt Lake City | Either side | Mountains on one side. |
| 1727 mi (2779 km) | Bonneville Salt Flats | Either side | That blinding white, all the way to the horizon — it isn't snow. |
| 1728 mi (2781 km) | Nevada/Utah state line | Either side | Somewhere along here we cross from Nevada into Utah — and the border town, Wendover, is split clean in two by the line. |
| 1867 mi (3005 km) | Elko | Either side | Off at the foot of the Ruby Mountains lies Elko — cowboy country beneath peaks so sharp people call them Nevada's Swiss Alps. |
| 2001 mi (3220 km) | Winnemucca | Either side | Out across the sagebrush sits Winnemucca, a high-desert ranching town on the Humboldt River. |
| 2074 mi (3338 km) | Lovelock | Either side | Ahead is Lovelock — and yes, the name is the whole point. |
| 2142 mi (3447 km) | Fernley | Either side | Out across the sagebrush, Fernley shows green fields in the middle of the desert — and that contrast is the whole story. |
| 2172 mi (3496 km) | Sparks | Either side | The whole town of Sparks was, quite literally, hauled here. |
| 2175 mi (3501 km) | 🚉 Reno, NV | — | Station stop |
| 2175 mi (3501 km) | Reno | Either side | Ahead lies Reno — 'The Biggest Little City in the World,' just as the famous arch downtown still declares. |
| 2186 mi (3518 km) | Verdi | Either side | The pines thin out near Verdi — a quiet little town named, of all things, for the Italian composer Verdi by the railroad baron who built thi |
| 2189 mi (3523 km) | California/Nevada state line | Either side | Somewhere along the canyon of the Truckee River, California gives way to Nevada. |
| 2193 mi (3529 km) | Truckee River Canyon | Either side | That's the Truckee River, running right beside us. |
| 2195 mi (3533 km) | Floriston | Either side | Strung along the Truckee River, a scatter of old wooden houses is nearly all that's left of Floriston. |
| 2202 mi (3543 km) | Boca | Either side | This quiet spot by the Little Truckee is Boca — and it once hit forty-five below zero, the coldest temperature ever recorded in California. |
| 2210 mi (3556 km) | Truckee | Either side | High in the snowy Sierra sits the mountain town of Truckee. |
| 2219 mi (3571 km) | Donner Lake | Right side | Look down the slope, below the grade. |
| 2222 mi (3576 km) | Mt. Judah Tunnel | Either side | A railroad runs through the high granite of Donner Pass for one reason: a stubborn young engineer named Theodore Judah. |
| 2223 mi (3577 km) | Donner Pass | Either side | Look ahead. |
| 2224 mi (3578 km) | Norden | Either side | Here at the crest of the mountains sits Norden, once one of the hardest places on the entire railroad. |
| 2226 mi (3582 km) | Soda Springs | Either side | Up near the crest of Donner Summit lies Soda Springs — and this snowy ground is where California learned to ski. |
| 2244 mi (3611 km) | Emigrant Gap | Either side | The ridge drops away sharply here — this is Emigrant Gap. |
| 2263 mi (3642 km) | Gold Run | Either side | These raw, washed-out hillsides didn't erode on their own. |
| 2271 mi (3655 km) | Cape Horn | Left side | Look down — toward the river side. |
| 2274 mi (3659 km) | Colfax | Either side | These quiet foothills around Colfax were once California's gold country — hills like these, all through this stretch of the Sierra. |
| 2292 mi (3688 km) | Auburn | Either side | The foothill town of Auburn was born in the Gold Rush, when a miner struck gold in a ravine here in 1848. |
| 2295 mi (3694 km) | Newcastle | Either side | Orchards spill down the foothills around Newcastle. |
| 2309 mi (3716 km) | Roseville | Either side | Roseville holds the largest railroad yard on the West Coast — acre upon acre of track where trains are sorted and sent on their way. |
| 2318 mi (3730 km) | McClellan Air Force Base | Either side | Off to the side stretch the long flat airfields of the old McClellan base. |
| 2326 mi (3744 km) | 🚉 Sacramento, CA | — | Station stop |
| 2327 mi (3744 km) | Sacramento | Either side | We're rolling into Sacramento now. |
| 2340 mi (3765 km) | Davis | Either side | The college town of Davis has the highest share of bicycle commuters of any city in America — about one resident in five rides to work. |
| 2367 mi (3809 km) | Suisun Marsh | Either side | Beside the train spreads a vast sea of reeds and shining water — Suisun Marsh, the largest brackish marsh on the entire West Coast of North |
| 2384 mi (3836 km) | Martinez | Either side | Somewhere in the golden hills above Martinez stands the home of John Muir. |
| 2389 mi (3845 km) | Carquinez Strait | Either side | The water draws in close around us now — this is the Carquinez Strait, the one door the whole valley drains through. |
| 2391 mi (3847 km) | Benicia / Mare Island | Either side | Across the water sits Benicia — a sleepy town now, but for thirteen months in the 1850s, this little place was the capital of all California |
| 2403 mi (3868 km) | Richmond | Either side | The Richmond waterfront slides by quietly now — but during the Second World War, this was one of the most astonishing places in America. |
| 2411 mi (3880 km) | Emeryville | Either side | Right at the edge of the bay sits Emeryville — and it looks like any modern waterfront: shops, offices, traffic. |
| 2411 mi (3880 km) | 🚉 Emeryville, CA | — | Station stop |
Hear it as you pass
Every sight above has a fully narrated, source-checked story in the Rail Journeys app, triggered by GPS at the right moment — and it works with no signal. Get the California Zephyr guide