Riding the Empire Builder Train from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest

La Crosse Red Wing St Paul Portland and Seattle

The Empire Builder travels daily between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest along major portions of the Lewis and Clark trail with views of the Mississippi River, the North Dakota plains, the Big Sky country in Montana and Glacier National Park. Seattle is reached via Spokane; alternatively, the train follows the Columbia River Gorge toward Portland.

The National Park Service and Amtrak Trails & Rails Natural and Cultural Heritage

The Train Service runs in both directions and travel time is 45 hours at an average speed of 50 mph - 80 km/h. Inaugurated in 1929, the Empire Builder was named in honor of James J Hill and is the most popular long-distance train in the Amtrak system with 65% of operating costs covered by fare revenue. Ridership is nearly 500 thousand passengers/year.

Bike Racks are Installed Aboard the Empire Builder

Recommended Town Visits and Stopovers

La Crosse is located at the intersection of the Black, La Crosse and Mississippi rivers in Western Wisconsin in a broad plain between the river bank and the tall bluffs typical of the Driftless area. It was named from the game with sticks - lacrosse in French - played by local Native Americans. It was further settled during the middle of the 19^th century with completion of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad.

The River Towns of southeast Minnesota are located 60 miles from the Twin Cities. Winona is an arts and cultural center with three major galleries that hold works by Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet that depict lakes, oceans and rivers. The Garvin Heights overlook features panoramic views of the town and Mississippi River Valley. Follow the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway to New Ulm and experience Old World German heritage through unique architecture, restaurants and shops selling German imports, from chocolates to cuckoo clocks. A traditional Glockenspiel features figures from the town’s history.

Red Wing is in the Mississippi River Valley flanked by rolling bluffs. The town is a leading manufacturer of leather, pottery and Red Wing Shoes and is named for the Native American Chief who first met a US Army Officer in 1805. Tucked between bluffs and the river, Red Wing has many historic Victorian properties and farmhouses, including the St James hotel that dates to the 1880s. It overlooks the Mississippi River near the 1904 Amtrak Depot, home to an art gallery and a visitor center.

Minnesota means clear blue water from the Dakota language. Nearly 60 percent of the population lives in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the center of transportation, business, industry, education, government and an internationally renowned arts community. The remainder of the Land of 10,000 Lakes consists of western prairies, forests in the southeast and mining, forestry, and recreation.

Riding the Empire Builder Travel Itinerary

Reduce Travel Times and Costs on Your American Vacation or Business Trip

Environment Friendly Destinations and Vacations

Portland is located between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean at the northern end of the Willamette Valley and river which flows through the city and links with the Columbia River. The citizens and their local government are notable for: land-use planning, local transport, environment conscious policies, high walkability, a large number bicyclists and ten thousand acres of public parks Read More

 

Neighborhoods Planning Development Sustainability and Local Transport

Seattle’s first major industry was logging; by the late 19^th century the city also became a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. In the 1940s, Boeing established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing and, beginning in the 1980s, the area developed as a technology center with companies like Microsoft and Amazon.

The Columbia River

American River Trails

The Columbia is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and fourth largest by volume in the United States. Rising in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, it flows for 1,243 miles - 2,000 km - before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Its watershed extends into seven US states and a Canadian province. The river's heavy flow and relatively steep gives it tremendous potential for the generation of electricity. 

14 Hydroelectric Dams produce more than 44 percent of total U.S. Hydroelectric Power

 

Culture the river and its tributaries have been central to the region's culture and economy for thousands of years. The river system hosts many species of fish, which migrate between fresh water habitats and the saline waters of the Pacific Ocean. Salmon provides the core subsistence for native peoples.

Transportation in past centuries, indigenous peoples traveled across western North America to the Columbia to trade for fish and overland explorers entered the Willamette Valley through the scenic Columbia River Gorge and pioneers began to settle the valley in increasing numbers. Steamboats along the river linked communities and facilitated trade; the arrival of railroads in the late 19^th century, many running along the river, supplemented these links.

Navigation locks were built to aid ship and barge service along the lower Columbia and its tributaries; dredging has opened, maintained, and enlarged ship channels. Since the early 20^th century, dams have been built across the river for the power generation, navigation, irrigation and flood control. 

Planning Your Trip assumes uniquely local dimensions in the places you visit, rooted in the local economy, history and traditions. TEMA develops personalized itineraries based on your preferences; we leverage an in-depth knowledge of your destinations with superior client service throughout your trip.

Your anchor locations when visiting the Columbia River: Portland Oregon and Seattle

Native Americans have inhabited the Columbia's watershed for more than 15,000 years, with a transition to a sedentary lifestyle based mainly on salmon starting about 3,500 years ago. In 1996 the skeletal remains of the 9,000-year-old prehistoric Kennewick man. Oral histories describe the formation and destruction of a land bridge that connected the Oregon and Washington sides of the river in the Columbia River Gorge. The bridge aligns with geological records of the Bonneville Slide. Stories about the bridge differ in their details but agree in general that the bridge permitted increased interaction between tribes on the north and south sides of the river.

European and American ships explored the coastal area around the mouth of the Columbia in the late 18^th century, trading with local natives. Lewis and Clark entered Oregon country between 1805 and 1807, encountering numerous small native settlements. From the earliest contact with westerners, the natives were not tribal, but instead congregated in social units no larger than a village, and more often at a family level. 

Captain Gray was the First Explorer to enter the River; he named it after his Ship Colombia Rediviva

Irrigation many farmers in central Washington build dams on their property for irrigation and to control frost on their crops. Six such dams have failed in recent years, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to crops and public roads. Fourteen farms in the area have gone through the permitting process to build such dams legally.

The Columbia Colorado and Mississippi Watersheds meet at Three Waters Mountain in Wyoming

Tributaries the Columbia receives more than 60 tributaries; the four largest are the Snake River, the Willamette River, the Kootenay River and the Pend Oreille River.

Connect with Tema for Columbia River Itineraries

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