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Trails & Rails- Parks
 
A Trails and Rails volunteer and rider aboard a train.

NPS Photo

A Trails and Rails volunteer speaks with an interested rider.

A number of National Park Service Areas are involved in providing Trails & Rails programs on board Amtrak trains. Click on the link for each park to learn detailed information about it.

Amistad National Recreation Area
Amistad National Recreation Area consists of 57,292 acres, most of which are underwater.Lake Amistad is an International reservoir and recreation area containing 890 miles of shoreline, 540 in the United States and 350 in Mexico. At normal conservation level (1117 ft above sea level), Lake Amistad contains 67,000 acres of water, extends 74 miles up the Rio Grande, 24 miles up the Devils River and 14 miles up the Pecos River.

Amistad National Recreation Area provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Sunset Limited between Del Rio and Alpine, Texas.

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
The fort, now completely reconstructed north of the Arkansas River, was an important fur trading post in the 1833-1849 period where Indians and trappers exchanged furs for trade goods. Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site (NHS) became a unit of the National Park Service in June 1960. It consists of 799 acres.

Bent's Old Fort NHS provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Southwest Chief between La Junta, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area
Chickasaw National Recreation Area was established in 1906 to provide for the protection of its unique recreational, cultural and natural resources, including springs, streams, lakes, hiking trails and historic structures. The park's goal is to provide each visitor with an educational, enjoyable, safe and memorable experience.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area provides Trails & Rails Programs on board the Heartland Flyer between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Ft. Worth, Texas.

Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor stretches more than 500 miles across the full expanse of upstate New York and encompasses 234 diverse communities connected by a waterway that built the Empire State and shaped the nation. Trails & Rails programs cover the rich history of the Mohawk Valley, including the story of the Erie Canal.

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor's programs are offered on board the Maple Leaf between the Albany-Rensselaer train station west to Syracuse, New York. The program is made possible with additional guidance from the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor, the New York State Canal Corporation and the New York State Department of Transportation.

 
A Trails and Rails volunteer speaking with three train passengers.

NPS Photo

Train passengers listen to a Trails and Rails volunteer.

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company built Fort Union Trading Post in 1828 near the junction of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in what is now North Dakota. In its heyday, the post was a busy place and employed up to 100 people. It became the headquarters for trading bison hides and other furs with the Assiniboine, Cree, and Ojibway Indians to the north, the Crow Indians on the upper Yellowstone and the Blackfeet who lived farther up the Missouri.

Fort Union Trading Post NHS provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Empire Builder between Williston, North Dakota and Malta and Shelby, Montana.

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and St. Louis' Old Courthouse. Construction of the Arch began in 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965, for a total cost of less than $15 million. The Gateway Arch has foundations sunk 60 feet into the ground and is built to withstand earthquakes and high winds. It sways up to one inch in a 20 mph wind, and is built to sway up to 18 inches.

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Ann Rutledge between St. Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois.

Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail
Follow the historic route of the 1776 Anza Expedition. Experience the landscape that was traveled by 30 familiaes of soldiers, women, and children who rode horses and walked over 1600 miles from Culiacan, Mexico to establish San Francisco.

Juan Anza National Historic Trail (NHT) offers a Trails & Rails program on board the Coast Starlight from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo, and Oakland, California.

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
In 1897 news of a gold strike in the Canadian Yukon reached Seattle, triggering a stampede North to the Klondike Gold Fields. From 1897 to 1898, tens of thousands of people from across the United States and around the world descended upon Seattle's commercial district. While in Seattle, the hopeful miners purchased millions of dollars of food, clothing, equipment, pack animals, and steamship tickets. The final outcome of this great stampede helped shape the Seattle we know today, bolstering the city's reputation as the Queen City of the Pacific Northwest.

Klondike Gold Rush NHP provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Empire Builder between Seattle, Washington and Shelby, Montana and the Coast Starlight between Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site was established October 26, 1974. The 1,758 acre site preserves historic and archaeological remnants of the culture and agricultural lifestyle of the Northern Plains Indians.More than fifty archaeological sites suggest a possible 8,000 year span of inhabitation, ending with five centuries of Hidatsa earthlodge village occupation. The circular depressions at the three village sites are up to 40 feet in diameter and are a silent testimony to the people that lived here.

Knife River Indian Villages NHS provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Empire Builder between Minot, North Dakota and Malta and Shelby, Montana.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site includes a number of facilities that are operated in partnership with the National Park Service, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and The King Center. Within these facilities the visitor can learn about Dr. King's life and and his influence on others. The Visitor Center features exhibits about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (NHS) offer Trails & Rails programs on board the Crescent between Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mississippi National River and Recretion Area
Fed by 250 tributaries in 31 states, the Mississippi River ripples with stories of people and places. It is used by millions of people for drinking water, a playground, a shipping lane, and a political boundary. Influenced by human controls, the River remains a haven for millions of plants, animals and other living things. With Minneapolis and St. Paul at its center, this 72 mile stretch of the river encompasses a variety of public sites that interpret the natural, cultural and economic history of the river corridor while offering a variety of recreational opportunities ranging from boating and fishing to hiking and bird-watching.

MIssissippi National River's program operates daily on board the Empire Builder from Chicago, Illinois to Winona, Minnesota.

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (NHP) was established to celebrate the origins and evolution of America's most widely recognized indigenous musical art form. Through interpretive techniques designed to educate and entertain, New Orleans Jazz NHP seeks to preserve information and resources associated with the origins and early development of jazz in the city widely recognized as its birthplace.

New Orleans Jazz NHP offers Trails & Rails programs on board the City of New Orleans between New Orleans, Louisiana and Greenwood, Mississippi.

 
An Amtrak employee and a Trails and Rails volunteer speaking on board a train.

NPS Photo

An Amtrak employee chats with a Trails and Rails volunteer.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Four Spanish frontier missions, part of a colonization system that stretched across the Spanish Southwest in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, are preserved here. They include Missions San Jose, San Juan, Espada, and Concepcion. The park, containing many cultural sites along with some natural areas, was established in 1978. The park covers about 819 acres.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (NHP) offers Trails & Rails programs on board the Texas Eagle between San Antonio and Ft. Worth, Texas.

Saratoga National Historical Park
Site of the first significant American military victory during the Revolution, the Battles of Saratoga rank among the fifteen most decisive battles in world history. Here in 1777 American forces met, defeated and forced a major British army to surrender, an event which led France to recognize the independence of the United States and enter the war as a decisive military ally of the struggling Americans.

Saratoga National Historical Park provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Adirondack between Albany and Rouses Point, New York.

Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
The Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, New York is perhaps the best, most intact example of the types of estates constructed by wealthy industrialists in the 19th century. The fully-furnished, 54-room mansion is placed in a wondrous landscape with breathtaking views of the Hudson River and distant Catskill Mountains. If offers a glimpse into a past world known by only an elite few.

Vanderbilt Mansion NHS provides Trails & Rails programs on board the Adirondack between Croton-Harmon and Hudson, New York.