America's Magnificent National Parks - end Rapid City, Small Group

Tour Overview

Explore America's top national parks on this 15-Day guided tour. After an evening in Scottsdale, start your journey in bohemian Sedona, where spiritual seekers and nature lovers alike will revel in its red-hued mountainous landscape. Take a short jaunt to the Grand Canyon, where a Local Expert will show you the wonders of America’s most famed natural beauty. In Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Make Travel Matter and board all-terrain vehicles and ride through the desert with your Navajo guide. Glide through Zion National Park on a private shuttle, before watching the red cliffs and valleys give way to the Rocky Mountains of Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Finally, scale the 563-foot-tall Crazy Horse Memorial and stand face-to-face with the stone carving of the Lakota warrior.

Choice Highlights

• Grand Canyon National Park: Join your Local Expert, Canyon Tim, for an informative talk about the wonders of the Grand Canyon. With over seven years of experience in geology, you'll learn about the origins of the five-million-year-old canyon, its rock formation and its current impact. You'll also discover the local flora and fauna, and find out where you might be able to spot elk, mule deer, coyotes, grey foxes, bobcats and mountain lions.
• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Zion National Park: Explore the natural beauty of Zion National Park on a guided hike to the famed Emerald Pools.
• Zion National Park: Visit the Zion Nature Center at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center - The most well known of Zion’s Earth friendly endeavour. Learn about how the Center was built on a previously disturbed site & utilized outdoor exhibits to take advantage of Zion’s climate or alternatively, take a hike to the Emerald Pools led by your Travel Director.
• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Ucross: Live the American frontier dream with a scenic morning country horseback ride.
• Ucross: Take a leisurely fishing outing and enjoy the serene surroundings.

Top Rated Highlights

• Sedona: With its red stone formations that create a haunting skyline found nowhere else in the world. This is where Arizona keeps the Old West. And this is where a New West has evolved, as a haven for creatives, a center of spiritual health and enlightenment, and an epic playground for outdoor enthusiasts.
• Sedona: Experience the essence of the great American road trip, as you travel through the Red Rock Scenic Byway. Along your journey you will be immersed in the stunning, natural peaks and rock formations of the Red Country, that look as though they could have been shaped by the countless artists they have inspired.
• Grand Canyon: Early risers will take advantage of the lodge location, close to the Grand Canyon South Rim, to witness one of Mother Nature's grandest shows on earth: a sunrise over the majestic Grand Canyon.
• Monument Valley: Meet your Navajo Local Experts and board all-terrain vehicles with open sides for a private, off-the-beaten path exploration of this magical valley. Learn about Navajo history, culture and heritage from your expert as you travel deeper in the natural wonders of this unique landscape.
• : Travel through Bryce Canyon Country on a portion of the Scenic Highway 89, recognized by National Geographic as the number 1 Driver's Drive in the world.
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Head to the sandstone cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park in Southern Utah. Here you will be met by pine trees and red rock pillars. Take a leisurely walk along Sunset Point while you view the great amphitheatres of the odd-shaped monoliths, known as hoodoos.
• Zion National Park: Travel through more amazing scenery on your way to Zion National Park. Cut through the Checkerboard Mesa and meander down to Zion Canyon while taking in many of its famous landmarks.
• Jackson: Historic Jackson, where the majestic peaks of the Teton Range act as your constant backdrop. Feel like you’ve stepped back in time as you walk through the town's famous landmark arch of tangled elk antlers. Spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the town’s boutiques and stores, which blend the Old West and the modern West harmoniously.
• Grand Teton National Park: Travel through a mountainous landscape like no other. Witness the striking Grand Tetons thrust skyward 6,562 feet (2,000 meters) from the valley floor and keenly watch for exciting wildlife that call these mountains home. Including the grizzly bear, bald eagles, moose, bison, and elk.
• Yellowstone National Park: The world’s first National Park, Yellowstone spans 2,219,789 acres and even has its own Grand Canyon. The park is home to half of the world’s hydrothermal features, more than 10,000, of which over 300 are geysers. Yellowstone is also a wildlife paradise. Some 1,700 species of plants and 400 species of birds, fish and mammals live in the park, including bison, wolves, bears, elk and moose.
• Yellowstone National Park: Catch the renowned colorful bubbling mud pots and observe Old Faithful geyser shooting water over 120 feet (37 meters) into the air. The Upper Geyser Basin boasts the highest concentration of spouting geysers, hot springs and steaming fumaroles in the world.
• Cody: Explore the award-winning Buffalo Bill Center of the West, known for its excellent Western art collection and natural history.
• Yellowstone National Park: Travel out of Yellowstone NP through Shoshone Canyon and Absaroka Rocky Mountains to the Wild West Town of Cody.
• Black Hills: View the awe-inspiring Devils Tower National Monument, a butte that protrudes from the landscape and is considered sacred by the Lakota and other tribes.
• Custer State Park: Continue venturing through the Black Hills to arrive at Custer State Park. Renowned for its beautiful landscape and abundance of wildlife. Home to a famous herd of 1,500 free roaming bison, accompanied by elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mountain lions and feral burros.
• Badlands National Park: Steep yourself in all that is the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Preserved here are 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires, blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in America. The unique beauty of this landscape is like no other. Sightseers as well as scholarly scientists are attracted to the area for its astounding beauty and the opportunity to gaze into an ancient world.
• Black Hills: View iconic Mount Rushmore National Memorial where carvings of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt overlook the landscape.
• Zion National Park: See the grandeur and natural features of the canyon in total comfort while traveling via private open-air tram with live on-board commentary.

Make Travel Matter

Grand Canyon: Trace the scenic South Rim of the Grand Canyon along Desert View Drive. See the historic Watchtower built by Mary Colter in the Puebloan style and track the Colorado River that leads you to the aptly named Painted Desert which extends towards Navajo and Hopi Indian lands. A MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience that supports the Grand Canyon Conservancy and the development of the Desert Viewpoint Intertribal Cultural Heritage Site, fulfilling the UN’s Global goals of reducing inequality and creating sustainable communities.

Monument Valley: Deepen your knowledge and connection with the first nations of this land as we travel to Monument Valley by way of off-road vehicles to the cookout site. Here you’ll enjoy an authentically delicious barbecue dinner with members of the Navajo Nation, where traditional Navajo tacos and fry-bread will be served while you are immersed in traditional dance and songs of this great ancient culture. Your experience advances UN Global Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities.

Page: Navajo (Diné) owned and operated, Red Heritage is a Native American Performing Arts Theater showcasing awe inspiring local talent: powwow dancers, flute playing, and live drum music. Your experience helps to preserve Navajo Culture and dance and advances UN Global Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities.

Page: Navajo (Diné) owned and operated, Red Heritage is a Native American Performing Arts Theater showcasing awe inspiring local talent: powwow dancers, flute playing, and live drum music. Your experience helps to preserve Navajo Culture and dance and advances UN Global Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities.

Philip: Discover the past, present, and future of the Lakota people at the Oglala Lakota Living History Village. Walk the trails through displays of 19th-century living quarters. Local artists present culture and tradition through their crafts and storytelling. Your visit contributes to the sustainability and resilience of the Lakota community.

Authentic Dining

Scottsdale: Mingle over a delightful dinner at your resort's renowned Zuzu Restaurant, named for the beloved matriarch of the family that owns the property.

Clearmont: Start off your evening with cocktails in the historic Ranch House bar. After your All-American ranch style dinner, head to the fire pit for some s'mores and live music.

Custer: Toast to the finale of your trip at a dinner served at your lodge in Custer State Park.

Salt Lake City: At 18:00, join your Travel Director for dinner where you'll have the chance to mingle with fellow guests.

Insight Choice

Ucross: Ucross Ranch: Explore the ranch life and choose to head on a scenic country horseback ride accompanied by a Ranch Hand. Alternatively, try your hand at fishing.

Ucross: Live the American frontier dream with a scenic morning country horseback ride.

Ucross: Take a leisurely fishing outing and enjoy the serene surroundings.

Zion National Park: Explore the natural beauty of Zion National Park on a guided hike to the famed Emerald Pools.

Zion National Park: Visit the Zion Nature Center at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center - The most well known of Zion’s Earth friendly endeavour. Learn about how the Center was built on a previously disturbed site & utilized outdoor exhibits to take advantage of Zion’s climate or alternatively, take a hike to the Emerald Pools led by your Travel Director.