USA · Window guide
Which side of the Coast Starlight should you sit on?
A window guide to the Coast Starlight (1,377 mi / about 2,216 km, 106 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 Seattle: 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 Los Angeles: 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 Los Angeles Union Station, CA and are approximate; the headline distance is the operator's published figure.
Toward Seattle
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 mi (0 km) | 🚉 Los Angeles Union Station, CA | — | Station stop |
| 0 mi (0 km) | Union Station — the Last Great Station | Either side | Take one more look before we move — the tile, the leather chairs, the light falling from those high windows. |
| 0 mi (0 km) | The City Beneath the Station | Either side | One more thing about that beautiful station behind us — the honest thing. |
| 9 mi (14 km) | How This Journey Works | Either side | While the city thins out — a quick word about how this works. |
| 13 mi (21 km) | 🚉 Burbank Airport–South, CA | — | Station stop |
| 13 mi (21 km) | Burbank — the Backlot Kingdom | Context | This ordinary-looking valley has manufactured more imagination per square mile than anywhere on Earth. |
| 19 mi (30 km) | 🚉 Van Nuys, CA | — | Station stop |
| 27 mi (43 km) | Water Made the Valley | Either side | Everything green out this window is drinking a river that isn't here. |
| 30 mi (48 km) | Chatsworth's Movie Rocks | Right side | Those boulders coming up — the big rounded sandstone ones stacked like a giant lost his marbles — look closely. |
| 35 mi (56 km) | The Santa Susana Tunnels | Either side | The first mountains of this trip are dead ahead, and we're not going over them. |
| 36 mi (57 km) | 🚉 Simi Valley, CA | — | Station stop |
| 65 mi (105 km) | The Oxnard Plain — Strawberry Coast | Left side | Before the ocean shows off, the coast wants to show you where breakfast comes from. |
| 66 mi (107 km) | 🚉 Oxnard, CA | — | Station stop |
| 76 mi (123 km) | FIRST SIGHT OF THE PACIFIC | Left side | All right. |
| 89 mi (144 km) | Surfers at the Point | Left side | Ocean side, right now — see the figures in the water off that point? |
| 91 mi (147 km) | The Channel Islands Offshore | Left side | Those long blue shapes riding the horizon aren't weather. |
| 94 mi (151 km) | The Tomol Crossings | Left side | One more thing about this channel: it's a road. |
| 97 mi (156 km) | Summerland & the First Offshore Oil | Left side | The whole world learned to drill the ocean floor from the little beach town coming up. |
| 99 mi (160 km) | 1969 — The Spill That Woke America | Left side | In January 1969, a few miles off this shoreline, a drilling platform blew out — and this beautiful channel turned black. |
| 103 mi (166 km) | 🚉 Santa Barbara, CA | — | Station stop |
| 103 mi (166 km) | SANTA BARBARA | Either side | Coming up: the city that legislated its own beauty. |
| 123 mi (197 km) | Sea Cliffs & Islands Run | Either side | Two windows, one moment — worth a look at both. |
| 127 mi (204 km) | The Long Golden Afternoon | Either side | A word about the next few hours, from somebody who's ridden them many times: this is the stretch people take this train for. |
| 135 mi (217 km) | Gaviota Trestle | Either side | Hold your coffee — in a moment the ground drops away. |
| 135 mi (217 km) | Gaviota Pass — Wind Gate | Right side | Watch the land side — see the canyon swallowing the highway? |
| 141 mi (228 km) | Hollister Ranch — the Coast That Said No | Left side | Start counting the buildings out there. |
| 147 mi (237 km) | POINT CONCEPTION — Where California Turns | Left side | Something enormous is about to happen to the geography, and you'll feel it before I finish explaining it. |
| 154 mi (248 km) | The Roadless Shore | Left side | Fifty miles. |
| 165 mi (265 km) | Honda Point — the Navy's Darkest Night | Left side | The rocks along this stretch have a hard story, and they've earned the respect of hearing it told right. |
| 167 mi (269 km) | VANDENBERG — Rockets Over the Surf | Left side | The emptiest coast in California is busy — with departures for orbit. |
| 170 mi (273 km) | Launch Luck | Left side | Quick check, ocean side — if a white gantry out there is holding a rocket today, give it three seconds of respect. |
| 171 mi (275 km) | Surf & the Flower Seed Valley | Left side | The next stop is named Surf, and the name is nearly the whole census — a shelter, a crossing, the waves. |
| 174 mi (280 km) | La Purísima — the Honest Mission | Right side | Over the ridge on the inland side stands the most honestly told mission in California. |
| 195 mi (314 km) | GUADALUPE–NIPOMO DUNES | Left side | The wild coast has one last act, and it's the strangest one. |
| 202 mi (325 km) | Plover Country | Left side | See the low fences on the sand, ocean side? |
| 208 mi (335 km) | Pismo's Long Beach | Left side | Ocean side — that long ribbon of sand running to the horizon is Pismo's beach, and in the early days of the automobile it doubled as a racet |
| 221 mi (356 km) | 🚉 San Luis Obispo, CA | — | Station stop |
| 221 mi (356 km) | SAN LUIS OBISPO — the Town at the Bottom of the Problem | Either side | The town coming up exists for one reason, and you can see the reason from the platform. |
| 221 mi (356 km) | The SLO Stop | Either side | If the train takes one of its longer pauses here — and it often does — here's how the regulars use it. |
| 223 mi (359 km) | The Nine Sisters | Left side | Those lone peaks standing in the valley — count them as they come. |
| 224 mi (361 km) | Stenner Creek Trestle | Either side | Ready — the train is about to step off the valley floor onto stilts. |
| 233 mi (375 km) | THE HORSESHOE CURVE | Right side | What happens in the next few minutes is rare, and I want you ready for it. |
| 234 mi (377 km) | The Cuesta Tunnel Ladder | Either side | Now the mountain gets serious, and the railroad goes underground — a ladder of tunnels stacked up the rest of the grade. |
| 238 mi (383 km) | Summit at Santa Margarita | Either side | Feel the train relax? |
| 257 mi (414 km) | 🚉 Paso Robles, CA | — | Station stop |
| 258 mi (415 km) | Paderewski's Vineyard | Either side | A hundred years ago, the most famous musician on Earth kept a ranch in these hills. |
| 266 mi (428 km) | Mission San Miguel | Right side | Inland side, right about now — if a long adobe wall flashes past, that's Mission San Miguel: the mission time forgot to renovate. |
| 330 mi (530 km) | Pinnacles — the Traveling Volcano | Right side | Behind the ridge on the inland side, there's half a volcano. |
| 342 mi (551 km) | Salad Bowl of the World | Either side | Fair warning: your last salad probably grew within sight of this track. |
| 355 mi (572 km) | 🚉 Salinas, CA | — | Station stop |
| 355 mi (572 km) | STEINBECK COUNTRY | Either side | Look at this valley — the long flat green of it, the mountains guarding both sides. |
| 355 mi (572 km) | Salinas 1942 — the Rodeo Grounds | Either side | Salinas has a harder chapter, and it deserves exactly one minute of plain truth. |
| 368 mi (592 km) | The Hands in the Rows | Either side | Watch the fields for a while and you'll see the valley's real machinery: people. |
| 393 mi (632 km) | Garlic Air at Gilroy | Either side | Quick — roll down the window of your senses. |
| 423 mi (680 km) | 🚉 San Jose/Diridon, CA | — | Station stop |
| 423 mi (680 km) | Valley of Heart's Delight → Silicon | Either side | The valley we're entering used to smell like fruit blossoms for miles. |
| 430 mi (693 km) | First Bay Water | Left side | Watch the seaward side — those candy-colored ponds mean one thing: the Bay has found you. |
| 434 mi (699 km) | Wetlands Reborn | Left side | Those ponds you just passed are a construction site in reverse. |
| 467 mi (752 km) | 🚉 Oakland-Jack London Square, CA | — | Station stop |
| 467 mi (752 km) | STREET RUNNING — Jack London Square | Either side | In a few minutes, this train is going to do something almost no long-distance train in America still does. |
| 472 mi (759 km) | 🚉 Emeryville, CA | — | Station stop |
| 472 mi (759 km) | Emeryville — Where the Zephyr Rests | Either side | This modest platform has a claim few stations can make: it's where our sibling ends its run. |
| 479 mi (771 km) | Richmond — Rosie's Shipyards | Left side | This shoreline once launched ships faster than anyone thought possible. |
| 499 mi (803 km) | 🚉 Martinez, CA | — | Station stop |
| 499 mi (803 km) | Martinez — Muir & DiMaggio | Either side | One small town, coming up — and two very different favorite sons. |
| 501 mi (806 km) | Crossing the Carquinez — the 1930 Giant | Either side | Big water ahead — and a bridge with a story. |
| 543 mi (874 km) | 🚉 Davis, CA | — | Station stop |
| 543 mi (874 km) | Davis — Bicycle Republic | Either side | When we pause at Davis, count the bicycles on the platform. |
| 554 mi (891 km) | Gold — the Reason for Everything | Either side | As the capital's lights gather ahead — the plain truth: this whole route exists because something glinted in a sawmill ditch. |
| 556 mi (895 km) | 🚉 Sacramento Valley Station, CA | — | Station stop |
| 556 mi (895 km) | SACRAMENTO — Mile Zero | Right side | Somewhere out there in the evening, past the station lights, is the exact street corner where the railroad to everywhere began. |
| 556 mi (895 km) | The Overnight Ahead | Either side | All right. |
| 641 mi (1031 km) | 🚉 Chico, CA | — | Station stop |
| 658 mi (1059 km) | If You're Awake | Either side | Still up? |
| 715 mi (1151 km) | 🚉 Redding, CA | — | Station stop |
| 723 mi (1163 km) | Shasta Dam — the Great Pour | Not in view | Somewhere in tonight's dark, off to the east, stands one of the biggest things human beings have ever poured. |
| 743 mi (1195 km) | The Unnamed Builders | Either side | If you're awake for this, it's the right story for the hour. |
| 765 mi (1231 km) | Castle Crags | Left side | Good morning. |
| 772 mi (1242 km) | 🚉 Dunsmuir, CA | — | Station stop |
| 772 mi (1242 km) | DUNSMUIR — Pure Railroad Town | Either side | The little town gathering around the tracks ahead has the purest railroad pedigree in California. |
| 773 mi (1245 km) | Cantara Loop — the River That Died and Lived | Either side | Just north of town, the river makes a horseshoe bend under the tracks — the Cantara Loop. |
| 784 mi (1261 km) | Wintu Country | Either side | The canyon this train climbed in the dark, and the mountain that crowns it — that's one nation's homeland, and it has been for a very long t |
| 788 mi (1267 km) | MOUNT SHASTA | Right side | If the season and the sky are willing, the next hour belongs to one mountain. |
| 789 mi (1269 km) | Black Butte | Right side | The dark cone right by the tracks, east side — that's Black Butte, a volcano young enough that the trees haven't finished moving in. |
| 793 mi (1276 km) | Volcano Country Primer | Right side | One piece of science, and it explains every giant mountain between here and Seattle. |
| 795 mi (1280 km) | Weed — the Town Named for a Man | Right side | The next town's name makes every single passenger reach for a camera, so let's get the facts straight before the sign shows up. |
| 864 mi (1390 km) | Waking in Volcano Country | Either side | Wherever the night left you — good morning properly, now. |
| 877 mi (1412 km) | 🚉 Klamath Falls, OR | — | Station stop |
| 886 mi (1426 km) | UPPER KLAMATH LAKE | Left side | Here it comes — water to the horizon, and we're about to ride ON it. |
| 893 mi (1437 km) | Pelican Squadrons | Left side | Lakeside — those white rafts on the water aren't foam. |
| 894 mi (1439 km) | Eagle Winters of the Refuges | Right side | This basin is a crossroads — not for roads. |
| 902 mi (1452 km) | The Klamath Tribes — Ending and Beginning Again | Either side | This basin's nation carries one of the hardest stories in modern American history — and one of the most stubborn comebacks. |
| 907 mi (1460 km) | A River Set Free | Either side | The water leaving this basin just made history — the biggest of its kind, anywhere, ever. |
| 951 mi (1530 km) | 🚉 Chemult, OR | — | Station stop |
| 960 mi (1545 km) | The Natron Cutoff — SP's Last Masterpiece | Either side | The mountains ahead had the railroad beaten for fifty years. |
| 984 mi (1583 km) | Cascade Summit & Odell Lake | Left side | You'll know the top of the Cascades when you see it — not because of a sign. |
| 990 mi (1594 km) | Salt Creek Trestle | Either side | Open air under the train — now. |
| 991 mi (1594 km) | THE TUNNEL LADDER OF WILLAMETTE PASS | Either side | What the mountain is about to do to your window, it's going to do more times than you'll keep count of. |
| 995 mi (1602 km) | Snowshed Country | Right side | That wooden armor over the track, upslope side — avalanche sheds. |
| 1000 mi (1610 km) | The Cascade Hours | Either side | Between tunnels for a bit — a word on riding a mountain chapter well. |
| 1030 mi (1657 km) | The O&C Checkerboard | Either side | The forest out there has a secret pattern, and it took a scandal to draw it. |
| 1049 mi (1689 km) | Lookout Point Water | Left side | Downslope side — the mountain just handed you a lake to cool your eyes on. |
| 1072 mi (1726 km) | 🚉 Eugene, OR | — | Station stop |
| 1072 mi (1726 km) | Eugene — Track Town | Either side | Down out of the mountains, first city of the valley — and it happens to be the place where American running got fast. |
| 1085 mi (1747 km) | Kalapuya Homeland | Either side | The pioneers called this valley a garden, ready-made. |
| 1098 mi (1767 km) | The Flood That Made the Farms | Either side | Here's why this valley grows anything it wants: the soil is stolen. |
| 1115 mi (1794 km) | Grass Seed Horizon | Either side | Those fields shimmering like water? |
| 1116 mi (1796 km) | 🚉 Albany, OR | — | Station stop |
| 1143 mi (1840 km) | 🚉 Salem, OR | — | Station stop |
| 1180 mi (1898 km) | Willamette Falls | Left side | River side — look through the mills and machinery, quickly. |
| 1180 mi (1899 km) | OREGON CITY — End of the Trail | Right side | Two thousand miles of the most famous road in American history end somewhere under this next minute of track. |
| 1195 mi (1923 km) | The Steel Bridge Trick | Either side | We're about to cross a bridge through its own basement — look up as we go. |
| 1196 mi (1924 km) | 🚉 Portland Union Station, OR | — | Station stop |
| 1196 mi (1924 km) | Portland Union Station — GO BY TRAIN | Either side | The station ahead has been giving travelers the same two-word advice since 1948 — in neon, from a clock tower. |
| 1196 mi (1924 km) | Bridgetown | Left side | Count the bridges while the river's beside us — Portland treats the Willamette like a charm bracelet. |
| 1205 mi (1940 km) | CROSSING THE COLUMBIA | Either side | The next river isn't really a river. |
| 1206 mi (1940 km) | 🚉 Vancouver, WA | — | Station stop |
| 1206 mi (1940 km) | Fort Vancouver — First Capital of the Northwest | Right side | Before Portland existed — before Oregon City, before any of it — the Northwest ran through a stockade on this riverbank. |
| 1245 mi (2003 km) | 🚉 Kelso, WA | — | Station stop |
| 1245 mi (2003 km) | The Cowlitz Mudline | Left side | The river beside us has a story you can still see if you know where to look — and in a few minutes, you'll meet the mountain that wrote it. |
| 1254 mi (2019 km) | MOUNT ST. HELENS | Right side | Out the east side, if the sky is kind, you're about to see the most famous missing profile in America. |
| 1288 mi (2073 km) | 🚉 Centralia, WA | — | Station stop |
| 1288 mi (2073 km) | Centralia's Founder — George Washington | Either side | The town coming up was founded by a man named George Washington — and his story might be the kindest one on this whole route. |
| 1310 mi (2107 km) | 🚉 Olympia-Lacey, WA | — | Station stop |
| 1310 mi (2107 km) | Olympia — Capital on the Sound's Last Finger | Either side | Next stop serves a state capital — and the station itself runs on neighbors. |
| 1317 mi (2120 km) | NISQUALLY DELTA — Where the Tide Came Home | Left side | The wide water opening ahead is a double comeback — and one of the great civil-rights stories of the Northwest happened exactly where you're |
| 1324 mi (2130 km) | JBLM & the Prairie Oaks | Right side | The rarest landscape on this stretch is protected by, of all things, an army base. |
| 1327 mi (2136 km) | The Bypass & the Promise | Either side | One quiet thing worth knowing as this journey enters its last hours: you're riding one of the most carefully guarded stretches of track in A |
| 1331 mi (2142 km) | The Last Hour | Either side | One hour left, more or less. |
| 1337 mi (2151 km) | Museum of Glass Cone | Left side | Water side — that tilted silver cone by the bay is a furnace for art. |
| 1337 mi (2151 km) | 🚉 Tacoma Dome, WA | — | Station stop |
| 1337 mi (2151 km) | Tacoma — City of Destiny | Left side | This city was once chosen — formally, by a railroad — to be the next New York. |
| 1360 mi (2188 km) | MOUNT RAINIER — The Mountain Is Out | Right side | There's a phrase people around here say the way other places announce lottery numbers: "The Mountain is out." One mountain. |
| 1371 mi (2206 km) | Duwamish Water — the Name of the City | Left side | One name to carry into the city ahead: its own. |
| 1376 mi (2214 km) | 🚉 Seattle King Street, WA | — | Station stop |
| 1376 mi (2214 km) | KING STREET ARRIVAL | Either side | Thirty-five hours ago, a clock tower saw you off. |
Toward Los Angeles
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 mi (0 km) | KING STREET ARRIVAL | Either side | Thirty-five hours ago, a clock tower saw you off. |
| 0 mi (0 km) | 🚉 Seattle King Street, WA | — | Station stop |
| 5 mi (8 km) | Duwamish Water — the Name of the City | Right side | One name to carry into the city ahead: its own. |
| 16 mi (26 km) | MOUNT RAINIER — The Mountain Is Out | Left side | There's a phrase people around here say the way other places announce lottery numbers: "The Mountain is out." One mountain. |
| 39 mi (63 km) | Tacoma — City of Destiny | Right side | This city was once chosen — formally, by a railroad — to be the next New York. |
| 39 mi (63 km) | 🚉 Tacoma Dome, WA | — | Station stop |
| 39 mi (63 km) | Museum of Glass Cone | Right side | Water side — that tilted silver cone by the bay is a furnace for art. |
| 45 mi (72 km) | The Last Hour | Either side | One hour left, more or less. |
| 49 mi (79 km) | The Bypass & the Promise | Either side | One quiet thing worth knowing as this journey enters its last hours: you're riding one of the most carefully guarded stretches of track in A |
| 52 mi (84 km) | JBLM & the Prairie Oaks | Left side | The rarest landscape on this stretch is protected by, of all things, an army base. |
| 59 mi (94 km) | NISQUALLY DELTA — Where the Tide Came Home | Right side | The wide water opening ahead is a double comeback — and one of the great civil-rights stories of the Northwest happened exactly where you're |
| 66 mi (107 km) | Olympia — Capital on the Sound's Last Finger | Either side | Next stop serves a state capital — and the station itself runs on neighbors. |
| 66 mi (107 km) | 🚉 Olympia-Lacey, WA | — | Station stop |
| 88 mi (142 km) | Centralia's Founder — George Washington | Either side | The town coming up was founded by a man named George Washington — and his story might be the kindest one on this whole route. |
| 88 mi (142 km) | 🚉 Centralia, WA | — | Station stop |
| 121 mi (195 km) | MOUNT ST. HELENS | Left side | Out the east side, if the sky is kind, you're about to see the most famous missing profile in America. |
| 131 mi (211 km) | The Cowlitz Mudline | Right side | The river beside us has a story you can still see if you know where to look — and in a few minutes, you'll meet the mountain that wrote it. |
| 131 mi (211 km) | 🚉 Kelso, WA | — | Station stop |
| 170 mi (274 km) | Fort Vancouver — First Capital of the Northwest | Left side | Before Portland existed — before Oregon City, before any of it — the Northwest ran through a stockade on this riverbank. |
| 170 mi (274 km) | 🚉 Vancouver, WA | — | Station stop |
| 170 mi (274 km) | CROSSING THE COLUMBIA | Either side | The next river isn't really a river. |
| 180 mi (290 km) | Bridgetown | Right side | Count the bridges while the river's beside us — Portland treats the Willamette like a charm bracelet. |
| 180 mi (290 km) | Portland Union Station — GO BY TRAIN | Either side | The station ahead has been giving travelers the same two-word advice since 1948 — in neon, from a clock tower. |
| 180 mi (290 km) | 🚉 Portland Union Station, OR | — | Station stop |
| 181 mi (291 km) | The Steel Bridge Trick | Either side | We're about to cross a bridge through its own basement — look up as we go. |
| 196 mi (315 km) | OREGON CITY — End of the Trail | Left side | Two thousand miles of the most famous road in American history end somewhere under this next minute of track. |
| 196 mi (316 km) | Willamette Falls | Right side | River side — look through the mills and machinery, quickly. |
| 233 mi (375 km) | 🚉 Salem, OR | — | Station stop |
| 260 mi (419 km) | 🚉 Albany, OR | — | Station stop |
| 261 mi (420 km) | Grass Seed Horizon | Either side | Those fields shimmering like water? |
| 278 mi (447 km) | The Flood That Made the Farms | Either side | Here's why this valley grows anything it wants: the soil is stolen. |
| 290 mi (467 km) | Kalapuya Homeland | Either side | The pioneers called this valley a garden, ready-made. |
| 304 mi (489 km) | Eugene — Track Town | Either side | Down out of the mountains, first city of the valley — and it happens to be the place where American running got fast. |
| 304 mi (489 km) | 🚉 Eugene, OR | — | Station stop |
| 327 mi (526 km) | Lookout Point Water | Right side | Downslope side — the mountain just handed you a lake to cool your eyes on. |
| 346 mi (557 km) | The O&C Checkerboard | Either side | The forest out there has a secret pattern, and it took a scandal to draw it. |
| 376 mi (604 km) | The Cascade Hours | Either side | Between tunnels for a bit — a word on riding a mountain chapter well. |
| 381 mi (613 km) | Snowshed Country | Left side | That wooden armor over the track, upslope side — avalanche sheds. |
| 385 mi (620 km) | THE TUNNEL LADDER OF WILLAMETTE PASS | Either side | What the mountain is about to do to your window, it's going to do more times than you'll keep count of. |
| 385 mi (620 km) | Salt Creek Trestle | Either side | Open air under the train — now. |
| 392 mi (631 km) | Cascade Summit & Odell Lake | Right side | You'll know the top of the Cascades when you see it — not because of a sign. |
| 416 mi (669 km) | The Natron Cutoff — SP's Last Masterpiece | Either side | The mountains ahead had the railroad beaten for fifty years. |
| 425 mi (684 km) | 🚉 Chemult, OR | — | Station stop |
| 469 mi (754 km) | A River Set Free | Either side | The water leaving this basin just made history — the biggest of its kind, anywhere, ever. |
| 474 mi (762 km) | The Klamath Tribes — Ending and Beginning Again | Either side | This basin's nation carries one of the hardest stories in modern American history — and one of the most stubborn comebacks. |
| 482 mi (775 km) | Eagle Winters of the Refuges | Left side | This basin is a crossroads — not for roads. |
| 483 mi (778 km) | Pelican Squadrons | Right side | Lakeside — those white rafts on the water aren't foam. |
| 490 mi (788 km) | UPPER KLAMATH LAKE | Right side | Here it comes — water to the horizon, and we're about to ride ON it. |
| 499 mi (802 km) | 🚉 Klamath Falls, OR | — | Station stop |
| 512 mi (824 km) | Waking in Volcano Country | Either side | Wherever the night left you — good morning properly, now. |
| 581 mi (934 km) | Weed — the Town Named for a Man | Left side | The next town's name makes every single passenger reach for a camera, so let's get the facts straight before the sign shows up. |
| 583 mi (938 km) | Volcano Country Primer | Left side | One piece of science, and it explains every giant mountain between here and Seattle. |
| 587 mi (945 km) | Black Butte | Left side | The dark cone right by the tracks, east side — that's Black Butte, a volcano young enough that the trees haven't finished moving in. |
| 588 mi (947 km) | MOUNT SHASTA | Left side | If the season and the sky are willing, the next hour belongs to one mountain. |
| 592 mi (953 km) | Wintu Country | Either side | The canyon this train climbed in the dark, and the mountain that crowns it — that's one nation's homeland, and it has been for a very long t |
| 602 mi (970 km) | Cantara Loop — the River That Died and Lived | Either side | Just north of town, the river makes a horseshoe bend under the tracks — the Cantara Loop. |
| 604 mi (972 km) | DUNSMUIR — Pure Railroad Town | Either side | The little town gathering around the tracks ahead has the purest railroad pedigree in California. |
| 604 mi (972 km) | 🚉 Dunsmuir, CA | — | Station stop |
| 611 mi (983 km) | Castle Crags | Right side | Good morning. |
| 633 mi (1019 km) | The Unnamed Builders | Either side | If you're awake for this, it's the right story for the hour. |
| 653 mi (1051 km) | Shasta Dam — the Great Pour | Not in view | Somewhere in tonight's dark, off to the east, stands one of the biggest things human beings have ever poured. |
| 661 mi (1063 km) | 🚉 Redding, CA | — | Station stop |
| 718 mi (1155 km) | If You're Awake | Either side | Still up? |
| 735 mi (1183 km) | 🚉 Chico, CA | — | Station stop |
| 820 mi (1319 km) | The Overnight Ahead | Either side | All right. |
| 820 mi (1319 km) | SACRAMENTO — Mile Zero | Left side | Somewhere out there in the evening, past the station lights, is the exact street corner where the railroad to everywhere began. |
| 820 mi (1319 km) | 🚉 Sacramento Valley Station, CA | — | Station stop |
| 822 mi (1323 km) | Gold — the Reason for Everything | Either side | As the capital's lights gather ahead — the plain truth: this whole route exists because something glinted in a sawmill ditch. |
| 833 mi (1340 km) | Davis — Bicycle Republic | Either side | When we pause at Davis, count the bicycles on the platform. |
| 833 mi (1340 km) | 🚉 Davis, CA | — | Station stop |
| 875 mi (1408 km) | Crossing the Carquinez — the 1930 Giant | Either side | Big water ahead — and a bridge with a story. |
| 877 mi (1411 km) | Martinez — Muir & DiMaggio | Either side | One small town, coming up — and two very different favorite sons. |
| 877 mi (1411 km) | 🚉 Martinez, CA | — | Station stop |
| 897 mi (1443 km) | Richmond — Rosie's Shipyards | Right side | This shoreline once launched ships faster than anyone thought possible. |
| 904 mi (1455 km) | Emeryville — Where the Zephyr Rests | Either side | This modest platform has a claim few stations can make: it's where our sibling ends its run. |
| 904 mi (1455 km) | 🚉 Emeryville, CA | — | Station stop |
| 909 mi (1463 km) | STREET RUNNING — Jack London Square | Either side | In a few minutes, this train is going to do something almost no long-distance train in America still does. |
| 909 mi (1463 km) | 🚉 Oakland-Jack London Square, CA | — | Station stop |
| 942 mi (1515 km) | Wetlands Reborn | Right side | Those ponds you just passed are a construction site in reverse. |
| 945 mi (1522 km) | First Bay Water | Right side | Watch the seaward side — those candy-colored ponds mean one thing: the Bay has found you. |
| 953 mi (1534 km) | Valley of Heart's Delight → Silicon | Either side | The valley we're entering used to smell like fruit blossoms for miles. |
| 953 mi (1534 km) | 🚉 San Jose/Diridon, CA | — | Station stop |
| 983 mi (1582 km) | Garlic Air at Gilroy | Either side | Quick — roll down the window of your senses. |
| 1008 mi (1622 km) | The Hands in the Rows | Either side | Watch the fields for a while and you'll see the valley's real machinery: people. |
| 1021 mi (1643 km) | Salinas 1942 — the Rodeo Grounds | Either side | Salinas has a harder chapter, and it deserves exactly one minute of plain truth. |
| 1021 mi (1643 km) | STEINBECK COUNTRY | Either side | Look at this valley — the long flat green of it, the mountains guarding both sides. |
| 1021 mi (1643 km) | 🚉 Salinas, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1033 mi (1663 km) | Salad Bowl of the World | Either side | Fair warning: your last salad probably grew within sight of this track. |
| 1046 mi (1684 km) | Pinnacles — the Traveling Volcano | Left side | Behind the ridge on the inland side, there's half a volcano. |
| 1110 mi (1786 km) | Mission San Miguel | Left side | Inland side, right about now — if a long adobe wall flashes past, that's Mission San Miguel: the mission time forgot to renovate. |
| 1118 mi (1799 km) | Paderewski's Vineyard | Either side | A hundred years ago, the most famous musician on Earth kept a ranch in these hills. |
| 1119 mi (1800 km) | 🚉 Paso Robles, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1138 mi (1831 km) | Summit at Santa Margarita | Either side | Feel the train relax? |
| 1142 mi (1837 km) | The Cuesta Tunnel Ladder | Either side | Now the mountain gets serious, and the railroad goes underground — a ladder of tunnels stacked up the rest of the grade. |
| 1143 mi (1839 km) | THE HORSESHOE CURVE | Left side | What happens in the next few minutes is rare, and I want you ready for it. |
| 1152 mi (1854 km) | Stenner Creek Trestle | Either side | Ready — the train is about to step off the valley floor onto stilts. |
| 1153 mi (1855 km) | The Nine Sisters | Right side | Those lone peaks standing in the valley — count them as they come. |
| 1154 mi (1858 km) | The SLO Stop | Either side | If the train takes one of its longer pauses here — and it often does — here's how the regulars use it. |
| 1154 mi (1858 km) | SAN LUIS OBISPO — the Town at the Bottom of the Problem | Either side | The town coming up exists for one reason, and you can see the reason from the platform. |
| 1154 mi (1858 km) | 🚉 San Luis Obispo, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1168 mi (1879 km) | Pismo's Long Beach | Right side | Ocean side — that long ribbon of sand running to the horizon is Pismo's beach, and in the early days of the automobile it doubled as a racet |
| 1174 mi (1889 km) | Plover Country | Right side | See the low fences on the sand, ocean side? |
| 1181 mi (1900 km) | GUADALUPE–NIPOMO DUNES | Right side | The wild coast has one last act, and it's the strangest one. |
| 1202 mi (1934 km) | La Purísima — the Honest Mission | Left side | Over the ridge on the inland side stands the most honestly told mission in California. |
| 1205 mi (1939 km) | Surf & the Flower Seed Valley | Right side | The next stop is named Surf, and the name is nearly the whole census — a shelter, a crossing, the waves. |
| 1206 mi (1941 km) | Launch Luck | Right side | Quick check, ocean side — if a white gantry out there is holding a rocket today, give it three seconds of respect. |
| 1209 mi (1946 km) | VANDENBERG — Rockets Over the Surf | Right side | The emptiest coast in California is busy — with departures for orbit. |
| 1211 mi (1949 km) | Honda Point — the Navy's Darkest Night | Right side | The rocks along this stretch have a hard story, and they've earned the respect of hearing it told right. |
| 1222 mi (1966 km) | The Roadless Shore | Right side | Fifty miles. |
| 1228 mi (1977 km) | POINT CONCEPTION — Where California Turns | Right side | Something enormous is about to happen to the geography, and you'll feel it before I finish explaining it. |
| 1234 mi (1987 km) | Hollister Ranch — the Coast That Said No | Right side | Start counting the buildings out there. |
| 1241 mi (1997 km) | Gaviota Pass — Wind Gate | Left side | Watch the land side — see the canyon swallowing the highway? |
| 1241 mi (1997 km) | Gaviota Trestle | Either side | Hold your coffee — in a moment the ground drops away. |
| 1249 mi (2010 km) | The Long Golden Afternoon | Either side | A word about the next few hours, from somebody who's ridden them many times: this is the stretch people take this train for. |
| 1253 mi (2017 km) | Sea Cliffs & Islands Run | Either side | Two windows, one moment — worth a look at both. |
| 1273 mi (2049 km) | SANTA BARBARA | Either side | Coming up: the city that legislated its own beauty. |
| 1273 mi (2049 km) | 🚉 Santa Barbara, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1276 mi (2054 km) | 1969 — The Spill That Woke America | Right side | In January 1969, a few miles off this shoreline, a drilling platform blew out — and this beautiful channel turned black. |
| 1279 mi (2058 km) | Summerland & the First Offshore Oil | Right side | The whole world learned to drill the ocean floor from the little beach town coming up. |
| 1282 mi (2063 km) | The Tomol Crossings | Right side | One more thing about this channel: it's a road. |
| 1284 mi (2067 km) | The Channel Islands Offshore | Right side | Those long blue shapes riding the horizon aren't weather. |
| 1287 mi (2071 km) | Surfers at the Point | Right side | Ocean side, right now — see the figures in the water off that point? |
| 1300 mi (2091 km) | FIRST SIGHT OF THE PACIFIC | Right side | All right. |
| 1310 mi (2108 km) | 🚉 Oxnard, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1310 mi (2109 km) | The Oxnard Plain — Strawberry Coast | Right side | Before the ocean shows off, the coast wants to show you where breakfast comes from. |
| 1340 mi (2157 km) | 🚉 Simi Valley, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1341 mi (2158 km) | The Santa Susana Tunnels | Either side | The first mountains of this trip are dead ahead, and we're not going over them. |
| 1346 mi (2167 km) | Chatsworth's Movie Rocks | Left side | Those boulders coming up — the big rounded sandstone ones stacked like a giant lost his marbles — look closely. |
| 1349 mi (2171 km) | Water Made the Valley | Either side | Everything green out this window is drinking a river that isn't here. |
| 1357 mi (2184 km) | 🚉 Van Nuys, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1363 mi (2193 km) | Burbank — the Backlot Kingdom | Context | This ordinary-looking valley has manufactured more imagination per square mile than anywhere on Earth. |
| 1363 mi (2193 km) | 🚉 Burbank Airport–South, CA | — | Station stop |
| 1367 mi (2200 km) | How This Journey Works | Either side | While the city thins out — a quick word about how this works. |
| 1376 mi (2214 km) | The City Beneath the Station | Either side | One more thing about that beautiful station behind us — the honest thing. |
| 1376 mi (2214 km) | Union Station — the Last Great Station | Either side | Take one more look before we move — the tile, the leather chairs, the light falling from those high windows. |
| 1376 mi (2214 km) | 🚉 Los Angeles Union Station, 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 Coast Starlight guide