Crozier Canyon (BNSF)

Crozier Canyon sits at approximately milepost 480 on BNSF's Seligman Subdivision, part of the Southern Transcon linking Los Angeles and Chicago. The canyon is roughly 33 miles east of Kingman, Arizona, near the tiny community of Valentine. Access is via a primitive dirt road from the west end of the canyon — approach from the east is not possible as those roads have been gated off. From the canyon floor and surrounding mesa tops, you can watch trains navigate an 8-degree curve on a 1.5% descending grade, one of the tighter curves on the Transcon through Arizona.

The canyon sees 60-70 train movements per 24-hour period, averaging roughly 3 trains per hour around the clock. Intermodal double-stacks dominate the traffic mix, along with manifest freight, unit grain trains, ethanol trains, and occasional military consists. BNSF typically runs distributed power on the longer trains through this territory. The Amtrak Southwest Chief (trains #3 and #4) passes through daily, though both run through the Kingman area late at night — westbound #3 around 11:46 PM and eastbound #4 around 2:03 AM — so passenger train photography here requires dedication or luck with delays.

Cell coverage is unreliable in the canyon. Many railfans bring scanners to monitor BNSF radio traffic for advance notice of approaching trains. The canyon's enclosed shape means you can hear locomotives approaching from several minutes out, which helps compensate for the limited sight lines around the curve. Be prepared for a remote experience: the nearest fuel and food are back in Seligman to the east or Kingman to the west.

Crozier Canyon is a granite gorge where the broad valley of the Yampai River narrows into Truxton Wash, cutting through the western edge of the Hualapai Plateau at roughly 4,200 feet elevation. The canyon walls rise steeply on either side, dotted with juniper, prickly pear, and clusters of tall trees that thrive in the protected microclimate of the canyon floor — a striking contrast to the dry, barren desert of cacti and scrub grass on the plateau above.

The seasonal Crozier Wash runs through the canyon floor, normally dry but capable of becoming a rushing torrent after monsoon storms. This flooding potential shaped the railroad's history here: a major 1904 flood forced the tracks to be relocated to slightly higher ground within the canyon. The original Route 66 dirt road also ran through the canyon, crossing under the railroad via a side drainage, until deep grade cuts in 1936-37 straightened the highway alignment to avoid flood damage.

Light conditions vary dramatically by season. Clear blue mornings from autumn through spring provide crisp, contrasty light ideal for photography. Summer brings intense heat and high UV, with late-day thunderheads forming during the July-September monsoon season. Winter mornings can dip below freezing, but snow is rare. Between trains, the canyon is remarkably quiet — wind through the mesquite and distant coyotes are the dominant sounds, reinforcing the sense of remote desert wilderness.

BNSF's Seligman Subdivision is a core segment of the Southern Transcon, the railroad's primary intermodal corridor connecting the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with Chicago and the Midwest. The subdivision stretches between Needles, California, and Winslow, Arizona, with crew changes at both endpoints. The entire route is now double-tracked, a project that began under the Santa Fe Railway and was essentially completed by BNSF over several decades.

Traffic through Crozier Canyon runs 60-70 trains per day, with intermodal double-stacks making up the majority. These trains carry containers and trailers moving between West Coast ports and inland distribution centers. Mixed manifest freights haul a variety of commodities, while unit trains of grain, potash, and ethanol add variety to the consist mix. Auto-rack trains carrying vehicles from assembly plants to dealers are also regular sightings.

The Amtrak Southwest Chief provides the only scheduled passenger service, running one train in each direction daily. However, both trains pass through the Valentine/Crozier Canyon area in the middle of the night — westbound train #3 passes Kingman (33 miles west) at approximately 11:46 PM, and eastbound train #4 at approximately 2:03 AM. Photographers seeking the Southwest Chief in daylight here will need to count on schedule delays, which are not uncommon on this route.

The best approach to Crozier Canyon for photography is from the west, via a primitive dirt road. All roads from the east end have been gated, so plan your access accordingly. The canyon rewards photographers who are willing to hike and climb: from the canyon floor you get close-up, near-level shots of trains rounding the 8-degree curve, while climbing the mesas on the south side provides dramatic top-down perspectives of entire consists snaking through the canyon.

Seasonal timing matters significantly here. Late October through early November is widely considered the best window: the sun sits lower in the southern sky, allowing you to climb the towering mesas and shoot down into the canyon with favorable lighting. In warmer months, photographs from the north side of the canyon work when the sun sets north of due west. Morning light from the southeast illuminates westbound trains and the canyon's rock face simultaneously, while late afternoon provides front-lit conditions for eastbound movements.

Long lenses (200-400mm) isolate locomotives against the textured canyon walls, emphasizing the contrast between BNSF orange paint and the canyon's rock. Wide-angle lenses (24-35mm) capture the full scope of long trains curving through the gorge. Note that tall trees on the inside of the 8-degree curve can partially obstruct views from certain angles — scout your position before committing to a setup. Dust kicked up by canyon winds can add dramatic backlit haze but also threatens lens optics, so bring cleaning cloths and consider UV filters.

The railroad grade through Crozier Canyon dates to 1882-1883, when the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad (A&P) carved its transcontinental route westward through northern Arizona. The A&P reached the Kingman area by March 1883 and crossed the Colorado River at Topock on August 3, 1883, completing the Arizona segment. The canyon's tight alignment and confined right-of-way required significant excavation work compared to the adjacent high desert plains. The line was double-tracked through the canyon in 1922-1923 and remains in continuous heavy use today as BNSF's Southern Transcon.

Route 66 history is deeply intertwined with the canyon. The National Old Trails Highway, which became Route 66 in 1926, originally followed a dirt road through Crozier Canyon that crossed under the railroad tracks via a side drainage beneath a bridge. After flooding problems, deep grade cuts in 1936-37 straightened the highway to avoid the worst flood-prone sections. The last segment of Route 66 to be paved in Arizona was at the mouth of Crozier Canyon, completed in 1937. A 1930s-era resort — the 7-V Ranch Resort — once stood along Route 66 in the canyon, with red-roofed cabins that reportedly remain partially visible today.

The nearby Truxton Canyon Training School in Valentine, built in 1903 with bricks manufactured on-site by Hualapai students, served as a boarding school for children of several Native American tribes including Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Mojave, Navajo, and Papago. Expanded in 1924, 1927, and 1929, it closed in 1937 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Valentine itself was named after a railroad agent, reflecting the railway's central role in sustaining these remote communities.

Crozier Canyon delivers an experience distinct from the wide-open desert railfanning that characterizes most of the BNSF Transcon across Arizona. Where spots like Seligman or Ash Fork offer vast panoramic views, Crozier Canyon provides an enclosed, intimate setting where trains feel larger and closer. The granite walls create a natural amphitheater that amplifies locomotive sounds — turbo whine, dynamic braking, and flange squeal on the 8-degree curve all resonate through the canyon in a way that open plains simply cannot replicate.

The layered history adds depth to the railfanning experience. You are watching modern intermodal trains roll through on essentially the same alignment that the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad blasted out in 1882-1883, alongside the remnants of Route 66's original path through the canyon. The 7-V Ranch Resort ruins and the nearby Truxton Canyon Training School connect the railroad to the broader story of settlement and travel across the American Southwest.

The canyon's remoteness is both a challenge and an asset. There are no crowds, no parking lots, no interpretive signs — just you, the trains, and the desert. This isolation, combined with heavy 60-70 daily train traffic on a world-class freight corridor, makes Crozier Canyon one of the more rewarding but least accessible railfan locations on the Southern Transcon.