Train Depot

Grand Canyon Railway Depot sits at the end of the railroad tracks down the hill from El Tovar Hotel

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

Village Historic District

Significance:

Railroad Depot

Designation:

National Historic Landmark

Amenities

4 listed

Bus/Shuttle Stop, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Restroom, Wheelchair Accessible

Grand Canyon Railway provides service to and from Williams, Arizona and Grand Canyon National Park. Service occurs throughout the year, weather permitting. 

There is limited parking near the depot, however, there is a Village (Blue) Route shuttle bus stop, across the street. 

Train Reservations

To book a trip, make reservations online: 
https://www.thetrain.com/the-train/schedule-route/

or call: 

1-800-THE-TRAIN (800-843-8724)
From outside US: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[e-mail]

An agent is present in the depot from 11:45 am to 3 pm daily. 

History

Each day as the whistle sounds and another train pulls into station, the Train Depot reminds visitors of earlier days at Grand Canyon. The first train arrived in 1901, bringing passengers ready to marvel at Grand Canyon's one-of-a-kind views. Today this feeling continues as folks step off the train, eager to make the walk up towards El Tovar Hotel and the canyon rim.

Constructed in 1909-1910, the Train Depot is part of the Grand Canyon National Park National Historic Landscape District and a designated National Historic Landmark. Designed by architect Francis W. Wilson of Santa Barbara, California, the log and wood-frame structure is two stories high.

Originally, the downstairs was designated for station facilities and the station agent's family inhabited the upstairs. Today, the first floor is used for railway passenger services. The building is one of 14 log depots constructed in the United States and one of only three remaining. Of the three, the Train Depot is the only one in which logs were used as the primary structural material and which still serves an operating railroad. The depot's logs are squared on three sides creating bearing surfaces, flat interior surfaces, and a rustic exterior appearance.

Just beyond the depot is the El Tovar Hotel, built in 1905 by the Santa Fe Railroad. The structure is the signature hotel along the rim. The railroad built the Train Depot five years after the hotel and placed it conveniently close for the rail passengers.