National Parks hiking holiday in America
| country: | USA |
| location: | Grand Canyon, National Parks of America |
| trip type: | Moderate walking holidays |
| departures: | 2010: 3 Jul, 24 Jul, 7 Aug |
| price: | From £2060 (15 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
On this superb hiking adventure we bring to life western USA's most famous parks, home to some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.
During a series of selected hikes, we absorb the geysers, giant waterfalls, prolific wildlife and valleys full of boiling mud pots in Yellowstone, trek and camp in the Grand Canyon amongst the turquoise pools and waterfalls of the spectacular Havasupai Canyon and hike in the dramatic Rocky Mountains. From Aspen and Steamboat Springs we undertake some world class day hikes in the high Rockies. Linking the parks and hikes are stunning drives such as the 'Million Dollar Highway', considered to be the most scenic in North America. A visit to Mesa Verde UNESCO World Heritage Site and Monument Valley and our final night in Las Vegas rounds off this exhilarating adventure.
Price includes 14 breakfasts, 13 lunches and 3 dinners, trail snacks, accommodation in hotels or cabins, all group camping equipment inc. tents and mats (sleeping bags not provided), guide, transport, park entry fees and permits.
During a series of selected hikes, we absorb the geysers, giant waterfalls, prolific wildlife and valleys full of boiling mud pots in Yellowstone, trek and camp in the Grand Canyon amongst the turquoise pools and waterfalls of the spectacular Havasupai Canyon and hike in the dramatic Rocky Mountains. From Aspen and Steamboat Springs we undertake some world class day hikes in the high Rockies. Linking the parks and hikes are stunning drives such as the 'Million Dollar Highway', considered to be the most scenic in North America. A visit to Mesa Verde UNESCO World Heritage Site and Monument Valley and our final night in Las Vegas rounds off this exhilarating adventure.
Price includes 14 breakfasts, 13 lunches and 3 dinners, trail snacks, accommodation in hotels or cabins, all group camping equipment inc. tents and mats (sleeping bags not provided), guide, transport, park entry fees and permits.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Jackson (Wyoming) |
| Day 2: | Grand Teton National Park |
| Day 3-4: | Yellowstone National Park |
| Day 5: | Drive to Steamboat |
| Day 6: | Drive to Aspen |
| Day 7: | Aspen Hike |
| Day 8: | Maroon Bells Hike |
| Day 9: | 'Million Dollar Highway' to Mesa Verde |
| Day 10: | Mesa Verde and Monument Valley |
| Day 11-13: | Grand Canyon & Havasupai Hike |
| Day 14: | Drive to Las Vegas |
| Day 15: | In Las Vegas, trip concludes |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. how this holiday makes a difference
|
Community
During the tour we support rural tourism by buying from local outfitters, Native Americans and small, locally owned family run hotels, restaurants, markets and transport providers. By visiting rural communities you are helping local rural development by as the majority of local people are invested in conservation as most towns we visit are attached to national parks. By travelling on this tour you are also helping to support the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Sierra Club as our local operator passed on a donation from every tour to these organisations. Local cash payments are becoming increasingly popular with many operators in the adventure travel industry. This policy seems to benefit the tour operators more than the local economies or the travellers, as it avoids local taxes and transfers the costs and risks of cash handling onto the travellers. In accordance with our Responsible Travel practices, we have chosen a policy of not asking for such payments. Environment To help keep the national parks of America beautiful our local guides are trained in minimal impact principles and also provide a responsible travel code of conduct to travellers who participate. Each group size is maximum 13 people which helps once again to minimise our impact on each visit. Our philosophy since 1975 has been to leave only footprints and take only photographs. To reiterate this, every customer who travels with us receives a copy of our award-winning Responsible Travel guidebook. This detailed book outlines our environmentally sustainable principles, and outlines how each customer can minimize their impact while travelling. The root cause of Global Warming is society's dependence on emission creating fossil fuel. Planting trees is not going to reverse this trend or cancel our carbon emissions very quickly or effectively. We believe the way to reduce these dependencies is to create clean energy production. Therefore, we support renewable energy projects like wind and solar power, and we are aligned with Climate Friendly, the gold standard setter in effective, meaningful action addressing climate change. So, while we believe that tree planting can play a small role in greenhouse gas abatement, we have gone the extra mile in promoting a longer term solution. Is this cheap? No. Is it responsible? Absolutely. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |