Yee-ha! Three ways to ride the Wild West

If time indoors has made you crave big skies and vast landscapes, plan a trip to cowboy country on a horse, by road or by rail

ON A TRAIN TA K E THE RAILROAD THROUGH COLORADO

The romance of old-time train travel endures in the mountains of Colorado. Ride a vintage engine that starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid through high-altitude terrain.

WHY IT’S SPECIAL

The Iron Horse played a major role in the story of the American West. High in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado (colorado.com), riding the rails is still a terrific way to see the sights. Century-old engines pull wooden carriages through steep-walled canyons and past rushing rivers, as wide-open vistas slide by.

Chugging along at 15mph on 3ft-wide tracks, passengers travel at the same pace as in the 1880s through landscapes unspoilt by houses, highways and mobile phone towers. In autumn, groves of aspen trees shimmer with gold, orange and yellow leaves. Favourite routes include the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad (coloradoscenicrails.com), from which you can spot bears; and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (durangotrain.com) that runs through steep gorges. The Georgetown Loop is a dizzying horseshoe. As for the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad (cumbrestoltec.com), it passes through high-altitude meadows and over the 10,000ft Cumbres Pass. The landscape and even the engines may look familiar; they appeared in Hollywood blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

YOU’LL NEVER FORGET…

That almost-forgotten smell of coal smoke as you puff through deep gorges and tight tunnels, and the mournful sound of a train whistle.

INSIDER TIP

Read up ahead of your trip. Doris B Osterwald was the doyenne of train enthusiasts, with titles such as Ticket to Toltec: A Mile by Mile Guide for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and Cinders & Smoke: A Mile by Mile Guide for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

HOW TO DO IT

Connoisseurs head for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, America’s longest narrow-gauge steam railway, which links Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. In Antonito, stay at the Indiana Jones Bed & Breakfast (indianajones bedandbreakfast.com). The Durango & Silverton railroad gets you deep into wilderness to go hiking, ziplining or whitewater rafting. The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad leads to old mining communities in the mountains. Holidays by Rail (holidaysbyrail.com) offers an eight-day escorted Colorado Rail Adventure, starting in Denver and featuring five historic train rides.

For more dream trips, see telegraph.co.uk/ 1000dreamtrips