11 Michigan Fall Color Train Rides for 2026

Last Updated: September 2026

Michigan fall train rides run mostly on October weekends, and nearly all of them are in the southern Lower Peninsula, which surprises people who assume the best color trip would be up north. Only one is built specifically around foliage; the rest are seasonal excursions that happen to roll through peak color. Here are the eight worth booking for fall 2026, plus the big names that aren’t running this year.

Riding a vintage steam engine through October color has become a fall tradition for me, and I have covered Michigan fall travel for WDIV Detroit and FOX 17 West Michigan for years. The thing nobody tells you: these sell out. The popular October dates go weeks in advance, and several railroads run only a handful of trips all season.

This year’s lineup also looks different. The Blissfield dinner train lost its host railroad, the Pere Marquette 1225 has no Michigan fall trips on its calendar, and a couple of long-repeated details, including what kids actually get on the Coopersville Pumpkin Train, turned out to be wrong. Everything below reflects what the railroads themselves are posting for 2026.

One geographic note worth knowing before you plan. The color trains cluster in southern Michigan — Coldwater, Tecumseh, Flint, Coopersville, Dearborn — while the best color is up north. Southern Michigan peaks late October into early November, roughly three weeks after the Upper Peninsula. So if you’re building a trip around a train, check the peak color timing for that specific region rather than assuming statewide dates.

Here’s how I’d use that. Early October rides are about the experience, the steam and the costumes and the cider, and you’ll catch the first maples turning. If leaves are the whole point, aim a Tecumseh or Coldwater trip at the second half of October and check the tracker the week before you go.

Dogs and Accessibility on Michigan Fall Trains

Leave the dog at home. The Southern Michigan Railroad and the Fall Colors Steam Special both say no pets, though service animals are welcome on the Hillsdale steam trip.

Most of this equipment is a century old, so call ahead before you buy if anyone in your group can’t manage steps. The Little River Railroad runs an accessible coach, No. 5205, and Coopersville sells wheelchair seats with tie-down rails; you’ll find Coopersville’s accessibility details on the railroad’s site. The Hillsdale steam trip offers ADA seating in its Deluxe Coach only. The Southern Michigan Railroad says plainly that its historic equipment isn’t handicap accessible, and there are no restrooms on board, which matters on a two-hour trip with kids. For Greenfield Village, start with The Henry Ford’s accessibility page.

1. Coopersville & Marne Railway — The Pumpkin Train

Ticket office: 306 Main St, Coopersville, MI 49404 · Boarding platform: 311 Danforth St, Coopersville · 616-997-7000

Northwest of Grand Rapids in Ottawa County, this is West Michigan’s best-known fall family train. It’s 90 minutes in century-old passenger cars through farm country on October weekends, with the Famous Pumpkin and her goofy sidekicks working the aisles.

Set expectations first: Kids get a gift and candy from the Pumpkin at the end of the ride, back at the Coopersville station. There’s no pumpkin patch, the train doesn’t stop in Marne, and the railroad’s current page doesn’t promise a free pumpkin. It’s a continuous 90-minute ride. Nearly every write-up online gets this wrong, including an earlier version of this one. Tell the kids before you board and everyone has a better morning.

Coach runs $35 for ages 13 and up and $30 for kids 1 to 12. Premium Class adds table seating, cider from Hill Brothers Orchard, and a Coopersville “Delly Belly” pumpkin donut for $45 and $40, and babies under 1 ride free on a lap. The railroad posts Pumpkin Train tickets by date. Arrive 30 minutes before departure, and book early, because these sell out.

2. Coopersville & Marne Oktoberfest Express

Same station, entirely different trip. On Saturdays in October, the Oktoberfest Express pairs the same vintage cars with Oktoberfest music, a snack, and two drinks, with Oktoberfest beer, other alcoholic choices, and non-alcoholic options on the list. It’s 21 and over, and they check ID.

Most fall trains on this list are aimed at families. This one isn’t, which makes it the answer if you want the ride without the costumed characters. It’s good for couples and groups, and it pairs naturally with a corn maze stop on the way home. Check the Oktoberfest Express schedule for Saturday departures.

3. Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad, Flint

6140 N. Bray Rd, Flint, MI 48505

Crossroads Village is a restored turn-of-the-century village in Genesee County with 34 historic structures, and it’s celebrating its 50th season in 2026. The narrow-gauge Huckleberry Railroad runs a 40-minute ride past Mott Lake over a stretch of the old Pere Marquette Otisville Branch.

In October the ride becomes the Ghost Train Express, part of Halloween Ghosts & Goodies: 20 treat stops, a straw maze, a magic show in the Colwell Opera House, and cider and donuts. The 2026 dates are October 3–4, 9–11, 16–18, 22–25, and 29–30, weeknights 5 to 9 p.m. and weekends noon to 9 p.m. Note there’s no Halloween-night session this year.

Village-only admission is $17 and the train-plus-village combination is $27, with babies 12 months and under free. If the train is the point, buy the combination ticket ahead, because trains sell out and village-only tickets are sold at the gate. Dates and tickets are on Genesee County Parks’ Ghosts & Goodies page.

4. Southern Michigan Railroad Fall Color Tour, Tecumseh

Boards at Tecumseh Station, 101 E. Chicago Blvd, Tecumseh, MI 49286 · 517-456-7677

This is the one built specifically for foliage. The Fall Color Tour runs along Lenawee County’s historic rail corridor from downtown Tecumseh to Clinton and back, with an open-air gondola car: the best leaf viewing of any train in the state, because there’s no window between you and the color. Views over Red Millpond are the highlight, where the trees come right down to the water.

It’s about 45 minutes each way with a 30-minute layover at Clinton Station for complimentary Kapnick Orchards cider and the gift shop. Trains leave Tecumseh at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in October and early November. Fall tours board in Tecumseh, not at the Clinton station, so put the right address in your phone.

Tickets are $25 for adults 16 to 64, $20 for seniors, $20 for kids 3 to 15, and free under 3, with private cabooses for groups. Plan on street parking, arrive 20 minutes early, and dress for the gondola, because trains run rain or shine. Book through the Southern Michigan Railroad’s Fall Color Tour page; it’s an easy add-on to a weekend in Ann Arbor, northeast of Tecumseh.

Pro tip: Southern Michigan peaks late October into early November, later than most of the state, so the last two weekends of October are my pick for color here. Tecumseh’s Appleumpkin Festival is October 10–11, 2026, and the railroad runs a separate short festival train that weekend, the Appleumpkin Mill Pond Flyer.

5. Little River Railroad, Coldwater

29 W. Park Ave., Coldwater, MI 49036

A real antique steam locomotive running from Coldwater, in Branch County, to Quincy and back. The 2026 Pumpkin Trains leave at 1 p.m. on Sundays: September 27 and October 4, 11, 18, and 25. Pumpkins aren’t included. You buy them during the layover in Quincy, and they’re cash only.

Watching the locomotive switch ends in Quincy is genuinely the best part for anyone who likes machinery. Coldwater sits roughly halfway between Detroit and Chicago, which makes this the most reachable steam train on the list for out-of-state visitors, and the railroad runs an accessible coach, No. 5205.

Tickets are $22 for ages 12 and up and $15 for kids 3 to 11, with 2 and under free, plus online fees. Tickets are nonrefundable, and they won’t hold the train, so arrive at least 30 minutes early. Dates and booking are on the Little River Railroad’s special events page.

6. Greenfield Village — Hallowe’en Express, Dearborn

20900 Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn, MI 48124

In October, the train to know about at Greenfield Village is the Hallowe’en Express, an add-on ride during Hallowe’en in Greenfield Village. It runs October 1–4, 8–11, 15–18, and 22–25, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., with more than 50 costumed storybook characters and over 1,000 jack-o’-lanterns.

You need an event ticket first, and the Express is sold separately for a small extra fee. This is the fastest sellout on the list. By mid-September several evenings and most Saturday Express trains were already gone, so check The Henry Ford’s Hallowe’en event page for what’s left before you promise anyone a train ride.

During regular daytime hours, the Weiser Railroad circles the village, and you’ll need a ride ticket or the unlimited Ride Pass on top of admission. An earlier version of this post said the train was included with admission, and it isn’t.

7. Lake Linden and Torch Lake Railroad, Keweenaw

Houghton County Historical Society, 53102 Hwy M-26, Lake Linden, MI 49945

A 4/10-mile loop on the grounds of the Houghton County Historical Society, pulled on Saturday afternoons by Porter No. 3, a 12-ton narrow-gauge steam engine built in 1915 for the Calumet & Hecla mining company. A Plymouth gas engine pulls passengers on Tuesday afternoons. Rides wrap up at the end of September, so this is a late-September stop, not an October one.

It’s short by any measure, but it’s the only Upper Peninsula train on this list, and the Keweenaw Peninsula has the best fall color in the state. Treat it as a stop rather than a destination: ride the loop, walk the museum’s three floors of mining history, then drive Brockway Mountain above Copper Harbor and you have a genuinely good Upper Peninsula color day. The Keweenaw typically peaks late September into the first week of October, three weeks ahead of the southern Michigan trains.

8. Fall Colors Steam Special to Hillsdale (Nickel Plate Road 765)

Boards at Pleasant Lake Station, 1469 W. Main St, Pleasant Lake, Indiana · Layover in downtown Hillsdale, MI

With the Pere Marquette 1225 sitting out fall color season, this is the big-engine steam trip for 2026. The Indiana Rail Experience, run by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society with the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, operates its all-day Fall Colors Steam Special on October 16, 17, and 18 behind Nickel Plate Road 765.

Boarding starts at 9 a.m. in Pleasant Lake, the train reaches Hillsdale around 11:45 for a two-and-a-half-hour layover with lunch on your own, and it heads back at 2:30 with a photo runby along the way. Fares climb from coach seats to private Pullman tables in the hundreds, and the current list is on the Fall Colors Steam Special page. You can bring your own food, there’s a cash bar for 21 and over, and pets stay home.

Here’s what I’d do if you’re coming from Michigan and don’t want a full day on board: make Hillsdale the destination and be downtown when the 765 rolls in around midday. For a shorter ride, the railroad also runs the three-hour Autumn Limited, diesel-powered, on October 23 through 25.

Not Running This Fall: What Changed for 2026

These still show up on other fall train lists, so here’s where each one stands.

Old Road Dinner Train, Blissfield

The murder mystery dinner train that ran out of Blissfield needs a new home. In 2025 its operators said growing grain traffic on the Adrian & Blissfield Railroad left no room to keep running there, and as of early 2026 no new host railroad had been announced. Trains Magazine’s report on the relocation lays out why. I wouldn’t plan a date night around it until the operators name a new home.

Steam Railroading Institute, Owosso

Home of the Pere Marquette 1225, the locomotive that inspired the train in “The Polar Express.” SRI planned fall color excursions in Virginia for 2026, then canceled them in August because it couldn’t secure the arrangements to move the engine, and no Michigan fall color trips are on its calendar. It says it’s working on alternatives, so watch SRI’s August fall calendar update. Its historic cars aren’t ADA accessible.

Michigan Transit Museum, Mount Clemens

The museum occupies an 1859 Grand Trunk depot at 200 Grand Ave in Mount Clemens, the station where a teenage Thomas Edison learned telegraphy. Its short train rides depart from Joy Park in Clinton Township, not the museum, and run $7 for adults and $4 for kids 4 to 12. As of late September 2026, the museum’s train ride page still said it was preparing to resume rides, and trick-or-treat train dates hadn’t been posted.

Toonerville Trolley and Tahquamenon Riverboat, Soo Junction

After 96 seasons, the Toonerville Trolley and Tahquamenon Falls Riverboat Tour at Soo Junction has closed permanently. Owners Kris and Dixie Stewart spent several years looking for a buyer, couldn’t find one, and announced the end along with an equipment sale.

It’s worth knowing what was lost. Captain Joe Beach started the tour in 1927, before there was a passable road to the Upper Falls: a narrow-gauge train from Soo Junction to Hunter’s Mill, then a riverboat 21 miles up the Tahquamenon, then a hike through virgin forest to a private viewing area. For decades it was the only way most people ever saw the falls. In 2026, the Neo Wilson Memorial Railway near Skandia began working to acquire the trolley’s equipment and keep it together.

You can still reach Tahquamenon Falls easily by car, and the park is worth a full day. But the boat is gone.

Michigan Fall Train Rides: Questions & Answers

When do Michigan fall train rides run?

Mostly on October weekends. In 2026 the Little River Pumpkin Train starts September 27, Crossroads Village runs select dates October 3 through 30, and the Southern Michigan Railroad’s color tours continue into early November. Popular dates sell out weeks in advance.

Which Michigan train ride is best for fall color?

The Southern Michigan Railroad Fall Color Tour between Tecumseh and Clinton is the only one designed specifically around foliage, and its open-air gondola car gives you unobstructed views over Red Millpond. For color plus steam, the Little River Railroad’s Coldwater-to-Quincy run is the pick.

Do you pick pumpkins on the Coopersville Pumpkin Train?

No. Kids get a gift and candy at the end of the ride back at the Coopersville station, but there’s no pumpkin patch and the train doesn’t stop in Marne. It’s a continuous 90-minute round trip. If you want pumpkins from the train, the Little River Railroad sells them during its Quincy layover, cash only.

How much do Michigan fall train rides cost?

Most run about $15 to $45 a person, from $22 at the Little River Railroad to $45 for Premium Class in Coopersville. Greenfield Village’s Hallowe’en Express is an add-on to an event ticket, and the all-day Fall Colors Steam Special costs considerably more.

Are there fall train rides in the Upper Peninsula?

Just one on this list: the Lake Linden and Torch Lake Railroad on the Keweenaw Peninsula, a 4/10-mile loop run by the Houghton County Historical Society through the end of September. The Toonerville Trolley at Soo Junction, long the best-known UP rail excursion, closed permanently after 96 seasons.

Which Michigan fall trains use real steam locomotives?

For fall 2026: the Little River Railroad in Coldwater, the Fall Colors Steam Special to Hillsdale behind Nickel Plate Road 765, and Lake Linden’s Porter No. 3 on Saturdays through September. The Huckleberry Railroad owns a coal-fired Baldwin steam engine too, though the park doesn’t say which locomotive pulls the Halloween trains.

If you only do one this fall, make it the Tecumseh gondola on a late-October afternoon, bundled up, with cider waiting in Clinton. And if you’re already thinking about December, the Little River Christmas Express and Coopersville’s Santa Train sell out even faster than the pumpkin runs, so put those on your list now.