Figure the best formula for your national park vacation
If you're planning a trip that doesn't offer a built-in list of activities, at a national park for example, you need to do a little homework to ensure the best experience for both adults and young adventurers.
Our whole family agrees that the trip to Yellowstone was perhaps the best we ever undertook, even though it required our young teen to arise before 9 a.m., and the 5-year-old to keep up with the rest of us. The middle school boy was simply in heaven.
Factor in ages, fitness levels and family dynamics and there's an ideal national park vacation for your family.
Our 5-year-old remained engaged (heck, I'll go so far as to say there was nary a meltdown, nor a single tear) because we mixed lots of daytime activity with evening down time.
Families with the youngest varmints should consider Yellowstone National Park for its winning activities and sheer beauty. Sign up for the park's Old West Dinner Cookout. Covered wagons and horses take the family to Pleasant Valley, a meadow about three miles from Roosevelt Lodge, for a cookout and cowboy singers. You're back at the lodge around 8 p.m. so Junior can get some needed shut-eye for the next day of fun and discovery. Call (307) 344-7311 or check out www.travelyellowstone.com/old-west-dinner-cookout-1127.html.
Xanterra, the operator of lodges, restaurants, shops, tours and other activities in nine national parks, has created a five-night vacation for families with children older than 8. The Total Yellowstone Package includes day tours and appealing activities, such as horseback riding, guided walk along the geyser basin, lake tour, tour aboard a historic Old Yellow Bus, stagecoach ride and private campfire program. The package also includes meals, accommodations, a gift and photo CD. Price is $1,229 for adults and $619 for ages 8 to 11. If you're game, book this summer package as soon as possible at (307) 344-7311.
Reserve a charter boat on Yellowstone Lake for the older kids and teens to try catching native cutthroat trout. Rates vary for the outing that includes experienced fishing guides, gear, life jackets and fish-cleaning services.
Are the kids into the Wild West? Visit Cody, Wyo., before or after a trip to Yellowstone National Park. About 52 miles from the park's east entrance, Cody was founded by Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody in 1896. The town hosts more than 1 million visitors every year who explore the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and thriving Western culture. Night-time rodeos, cowboy music revues, miniature Old West museum and Cody gunfighters re-enacting gun battles outside the Irma Hotel six nights a week during the summer are just a few family-friendly ideas. See the rest at www.yellowstonecountry.org.
The 5-to-10-year-old gang will adore a ride on the Grand Canyon Railway (www.thetrain.com) that combines a scenic train trip, a Wild West "shootout" and a good look at the Grand Canyon all in one day. Prices for round-trip train travel begin at $35 for children between 2 and 12 years old and $65 for adults.
Families with older kids and teenagers should consider taking some old-school transportation into the canyon: a 10½-mile trip on a mule to Phantom Ranch, then spend one or two nights on the canyon floor in comfortable accommodations followed by a return trip to the South Rim. Xanterra also offers a seven-hour day trip that takes riders from the South Rim to Plateau Point and back. Go to www.grandcanyonlodges.com for details.
Mount Rushmore is more than amazing sculpture. Its National Park Service Visitor Center features an exhibit that allows visitors to virtually blow up the mountain. Kids and adults wait in line for the chance to push a plunger that triggers a perfectly timed video of a dynamite-driven explosion.
Be sure to pencil in a Ranger Walk. It's a quarter-mile walk on the Presidential Trail to the base of Mount Rushmore while the ranger talks about the four presidents on the mountain and why they were chosen for the magnificent carving. For more ideas, go to www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm.
Xanterra offers a stack of other ideas that range from an easy Volcano Boat cruise at Crater Lake National Park to short hikes and strenuous adventures at Zion National Park. Visit www.xanterra.com.