National Parks hiking holiday in America

COUNTRY:
USA
LOCATION:
Grand Canyon, National Parks of America
HOLIDAY TYPE:
Moderate walking holidays
DEPARTURES:
2013: 6 Jul, 20 Jul, 3 Aug, 31 Aug
PRICE:
From £1850 (15 days) excluding flights
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MORE INFO:
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. We can arrange flights from the UK
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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National Parks hiking holiday in America

National Parks hiking holiday in America

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 National Parks hiking holiday in America makes a difference

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 travelers 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 traveling.

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.

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 traveling 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 travelers, as it avoids local taxes and transfers the costs and risks of cash handling onto the travelers. In accordance with our Responsible Travel practices, we have chosen a policy of not asking for such payments.

National Parks hiking holiday in America

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The story of the provider of National Parks hiking holiday in America

This tour operator was set up in 1975 by two university students. Excited by their own trekking adventures in Nepal, they started organising group trips to the Himalayas for people who wanted to see real culture and wilderness and didn’t mind getting a bit dirty. They believed that adventure travel means exploring the unknown and the company’s philosophy remains as such today. These good-quality trips don’t leave anything out, they provide full camping equipment, decent staff wages and a local team of guides that can help break down barriers and offer authentic experiences that lie far beyond well-trodden travel trails.

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Holiday provider no: 273

National Parks hiking holiday in America

Reviewed 02 Nov 2012 by John Baines4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


There were numerous memorable moments during the whole two week holiday due to the ever changing landscape covered by the trip.We covered nearly 2000 miles in the comfortable people carrier and the views,scenery and walks we superb and not too taxing.The first view of the Grand Canyon was of course stunning but for me the mountain views in Yosemite were breathtakingly beautiful ,the walk along the Panorama trail back to Curry village was awe inspiringly spectacular and the highlight for me. All the locations visited where really interesting and the guide on the walks provided lots of interesting nuggets of information about the walk and it's wildlife.The guide on our trip Marianne was simply great,she went out of her way to make the holiday the best it could be.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


I booked an extra night in the start city Las Vegas to see a show,saw Penn and Tellor which was great. Both the start locations are good places to explore and seems a shame to rush it by spending just one night.I would advise people not to take too much luggage in their suitcase as it is a chew to rack a bulging case on the frequent change of locations.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?


The trip visited the Naverro nation at Monument valley and the fees help to maintain the native population and so benefits the Naverro people.Local produce is sold also I bought several items for gifts.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


It was a really enjoyable interesting holiday,superbly planned to get the most out of the areas visited.The locations were truly wonderful,from the desert to the mountains and onto the ocean in San Francisco truly inspiring. The holiday flew over but I look back on it with some wonderful memories. It was as the name suggest simply the Best of the West.
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