At 3:15 on a November Saturday afternoon, people line up to board at the Verde Canyon Railroad depot in Clarkdale. Fifteen minutes later the train pulls out toward Perkinsville. By the time it comes back, the canyon is lit only by the locomotive's headlight. That run happens on just three Saturdays this fall. They fall between the last beer train on Oct. 31 and the first Santa train on Nov. 27.
In Clarkdale, November is when the depot's four-hour ride is scheduled to run past sunset. In December, the holiday program cuts the trip to an hour.
Oct. 31 Is the Last Ales on Rails
Ales on Rails runs through Saturday, Oct. 31. Departures are listed for Oct. 24 and 31, so Halloween is the last one of 2026. Riders must be 21 or older, and the ticket costs $139. The Ales on Rails ticket covers indoor seating, the open-air viewing car, a charcuterie box and a champagne or sparkling-cider toast. Beer and lunch cost extra, and you can buy both at the depot before boarding.
If your Friday is spoken for already, Camp Verde's downtown Main Street Trunk-or-Treat is Oct. 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Verde Independent's fall events roundup lists decorated cars and businesses, haunted houses, a haunted jail, and a 6:30 p.m. showing of "Hotel Transylvania" at Community Center Field. Fort Verde State Historic Park is open during the event at no extra cost.
Same Price, Different Hour
All three of the railroad's fall-to-holiday programs leave from the same depot. Two of them cost the same. What changes is the hour the train runs and how long the trip lasts.
| Program | 2026 dates | Ride length | Ticket | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ales on Rails | Through Oct. 31 | Four-hour round trip | $139, ages 21+ | Seating, viewing car, charcuterie, toast; beer extra |
| Saturday Starlight Adventures | Nov. 7, 14, 21 | Four-hour round trip, 3:30 p.m. departure | $139 | Seating, viewing car, charcuterie, toast |
| Magical Christmas Journey | Nov. 27 to Dec. 23; Christmas Eve | One hour | $60 adults, $40 ages 2 to 10; $70/$50 on Dec. 24 | Santa and a holiday ride |
The railroad describes its standard Clarkdale to Perkinsville trip as a 40-mile, four-hour round trip. It runs year-round. Standard November tickets cost $139 for everyone age 1 and older, so a Starlight seat costs what a daytime seat does. With a 3:30 p.m. departure, the extra you get is darkness.
Three Saturdays That End in the Dark
The Saturday Starlight Adventures page describes the ride in phases. It starts in daylight, passes through sunset and twilight, and finishes under stars and moonlight, with the locomotive headlight lighting the canyon ahead. The ticket includes indoor living-room seating, access to the open-air viewing car, a charcuterie box and a champagne or sparkling-cider toast.
The November dates are Nov. 7, 14 and 21. After that, the listing skips to Dec. 26 and adds departures Dec. 27 through 30. For anyone whose holidays fill up with guests, the three November Saturdays are the clearest chance to take the night ride this year.
Groups get one more option in November. A caboose charter costs $1,200 for a party of six adults or fewer, all age 13 or older. During the Christmas Journey, a six-person caboose charter costs $700. The holiday caboose is cheaper, but the trip is one hour.
Building a Starlight Saturday
A 3:30 p.m. departure leaves most of the day open, and Clarkdale's daytime stops fit around it. Each of these hours comes from the venue itself.
- Morning at Tuzigoot National Monument. The monument is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., according to the National Park Service.
- Late morning at the Clarkdale Historical Society & Museum. Public hours are Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., per the museum's site.
- A look at the Arizona Copper Art Museum. Its collection has more than 5,000 works of copper art and architecture, dating from 3500 B.C. to the present. The museum's site is the place to confirm fall hours before you go.
- 1:30 p.m. at the depot. On Starlight days, the café, museum, gift store and pavilion bar open two hours before departure.
- 3:15 p.m. boarding, 3:30 p.m. departure.
Coming from Cornville? Yavapai County scheduled overlay work on Cornville Road and Beaverhead Flat Road, from Kimberley's Way to the I-17 interchange, from July 13 through Nov. 12. Crews work Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with one lane kept open. According to the county's bulletin, all three Starlight Saturdays fall outside the work days. The first one, Nov. 7, still lands before the end date, so if you drive that road on weekdays, expect flaggers until mid-November.
Main Street Has Somewhere New to Wait
Until this summer, a Clarkdale afternoon before the train mostly meant the depot. That changed on Monday, July 20, 2026, when The Newstand reopened at 911 Main St. The opening is recorded in the Verde Independent's coverage of the reopening.
The Newstand dates its bar to 1912. After the remodel it has three levels, a new rooftop bar, billiards, specialty cocktails and a café menu of pizzas, sandwiches and rotating dishes. In the Verde Independent's pre-opening story, Connor Barrett is named as one of the owners. He worked on the project with the Tavasci family and Nicholas Perez, and his father made the restaurant's chandelier and door pulls.
The bar also takes pickup-only online orders and offers a picnic pickup. On a Starlight day, that makes it a stop on the way to the depot. Happy hour runs 3 to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, not Saturdays. A weekday visit to the rooftop is its own outing. If you hope to stop in after the train gets back, check the Newstand's posted hours first.
Thanksgiving Week Moves Everything
The last full week of November changes several schedules at once. Tuzigoot closes on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26. Dead Horse Ranch State Park stays open but switches to Thanksgiving hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., instead of its fall and winter day-use hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Day-use entry is $10 for a vehicle with one person, $20 for a vehicle with two to four people, or $5 for an individual on foot or bicycle, per Arizona State Parks. That's enough time for a morning walk before the turkey goes in.
The next day, Friday, Nov. 27, the Magical Christmas Journey begins and the depot switches to the holiday program. At $60 for adults and $40 for children ages 2 to 10, with Santa on board, it suits families hosting relatives. The Magical Christmas Journey page lists dates through Dec. 23, plus a Christmas Eve run at $70 and $50. The railroad also announced morning departures every Saturday through the end of 2026, so the daytime canyon ride doesn't disappear when the Santa trains start. The railroad notes that its schedules can change without advance notice. Confirm departure times when you book.
That leaves Nov. 7, 14 and 21 as the only Starlight Saturdays before the holidays. On those dates, the train leaves Clarkdale at 3:30 in the afternoon and comes back in the dark.
At Cindy Chapman Group, we pay attention to Clarkdale's calendar because it's part of what makes the Verde Valley feel like home, from the Saturday train to a new rooftop on Main Street. If you're thinking about what your own corner of the valley offers, or what it could offer someone else, we'd be glad to talk it through. Schedule your complimentary Sedona home consultation.