National Parks of the Northwest

Welcome to Salt Lake City! Your Tour Director is on hand late this afternoon to answer any questions.

Start the day with a sightseeing tour of Salt Lake City, Utah's capital, and center of the Mormon religion. Highlights include seeing Temple Square, the Capitol Building and downtown. Then head north to the Wild West town of Jackson, with its wooden sidewalks and streets lined with shops, galleries, and restaurants. This afternoon, go with the flow on a fun and scenic optional float trip on the Snake River keeping an eye out for eagles above and for wildlife along the shore. This evening, take a stroll into town. (B)

Enter majestic Grand Teton National Park, rich with scenic vistas and pristine lakes. Visit beautiful Jenny Lake that sits at the base of Cascade Canyon, looking for moose, fox, deer, and black bears along the way. Then drive north to West Yellowstone where you will spend the next two nights. Walk the Fountain Paint Pot Trail to see these curious and colorful hydrothermal wonders there. (CB)

Spend the day exploring all the wonders of Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park established in 1872. See world-famous Old Faithful Geyser, Mammoth Hot Springs, and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Keep a lookout for the parks abundant wildlife that includes moose, bison, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, wolf, bear, fox, and coyote. (CB)

Head north to Helena. Stop at Earthquake Lake Visitor Center to learn about the 7.5 earthquake that moved more than eighty million tons of rock in less than a minute and created Earthquake Lake. Then get a taste of the original Old West with a stop in Virginia City, site of the richest placer gold strike in the Rocky Mountains. Continue to Helena and upon arrival visit their beautiful State Capitol. (CB)

Head north to Missoula and visit the Smokejumper's Visitor Center, home to the largest smokejumper base in the country, to learn about the brave firefighters who risk their lives parachuting into the site of forest fires. Late afternoon arrival in Kalispell. (CB)

Spend the day at gorgeous Glacier National Park. Take a scenic ride aboard a vintage Red Jammer bus and drive one of North America's most spectacular highways, Going-to-the-Sun Road. Scale 6,664-foot-high Logan Pass and enjoy a wonderland of alpine scenery and breathtaking mountain peaks. (B)

Cross into Canada and enter Waterton Lakes National Park where the wilderness of Alberta's prairies meets the natural beauty of the Canadian Rockies. You'll overnight in the park, which is brimming with diverse landscapes, crystal clear lakes, cascading waterfalls, and towering mountain peaks. Tonight, things are looking up with an optional Dark Sky Stargazing excursion, if the heavens and weather permit. (B)

Visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and learn about the longtime relationship between the Indigenous People and the vast herds of buffalo that roamed the plains. Arrive in Calgary and take a city tour with highlights that include Stampede Park, the Saddledome, Fort Calgary, and Canada Olympic Park. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Your vacation ends this morning.