Tour: ANQ - 2012 (ANQ) - 2012 / 2013

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DATES & PRICES

Itinerary

DAY 1Arrive in Denver

Welcome to Denver. Explore the “Mile High City” on your own this evening.

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DAY 2Denver–Rapid City

Meet your Tour Director this morning and head north to Wyoming, then continue into the Black Hills. At 6 pm, meet your traveling companions for a welcome drink. Your Tour Director will prepare you for your upcoming adventure. (Breakfast)

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DAY 3Rapid City

After an orientation tour of Rapid City, visit CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL, built in honor of the fearless Sioux Indian chief whose fame is derived from the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Afterward, explore MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL, which features the monumental likenesses of four U.S. presidents—Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt—carved on the face of a mountain. Maybe stroll along the Presidential Trail for more intimate views, or visit the Information Center. (Breakfast)

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Mount Rushmore: The Secret Chamber

The four presidential faces, carved 60-feet high in the granite of Mount Rushmore, comprise one of America’s most revered images. But many visitors cannot help thinking of Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller North by Northwest, where he and Eva Marie Saint clamber across the monolith pursued by Communist spies. The shot was actually filmed in a Hollywood studio, but it convinced millions of people that they too could climb the patriotic monument. This is not the case: Access to Mount Rushmore has been blocked by a high-security fence ever since the artist Gutzon Borglum died in 1941 and work on the giant sculpture ceased. But according to his original plan, Borglum had intended that the public be able to reach his giant faces via a splendid stone staircase. In the late 1930s, he even began work on a splendid vault buried within the rock for tourists to visit – called the Hall of Records, it was planned as a repository for the original Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

Our partnership with Tourism Cares, established by the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), helps us not only show off the world's most spectacular destinations and sights, but also assist in the preservation of attractions that our travelers go to great lengths to experience.

DAY 4Rapid City–Deadwood–Sheridan

This morning, journey through the rolling BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST to TATANKA. Here, learn “The Story of the Bison,” and experience the richness of the Lakota people, a Plains Indian buffalo culture. Afterward, experience the area’s colorful history with a guided tour of DEADWOOD, once a wild gold-mining town, and hear the stories of legendary Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Then, continue through Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to the cattle town of Sheridan at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. (Breakfast, Dinner)

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DAY 5Sheridan–Little Bighorn Battlefield–Cody

Journey this morning into southern Montana to visit LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD, the site commemorating one of America’s most famous battles. Tour the battlegrounds where Custer was defeated by approximately 7,000 Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors, and visit the museum. Afterward, continue your scenic drive through the Bighorn Mountains, stopping at Shell Falls en route to Buffalo Bill’s Cody, with time for an optional float trip on the Shoshone River. (Breakfast)

See the spectacular views of Cody, Wyoming

Little Bighorn Revisited

"You might think that not much changes on a 19th century battlefield. But at Little Bighorn in Montana, the scene of the most famous fight in the West, the landscape is always in flux. It was on this lonely expanse that Lt. General George Armstrong Custer and 262 men of the United States Seventh Cavalry were wiped out by a combined force of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne on June 25th, 1876. For generations, the physical focus for visitors to the site has been the poignant monument at Last Stand Hill. (All around, gravestones of Custer’s men lie in the grass; they were buried where they fell by United States soldiers three days after the battle, illustrating just how Custer’s defense disintegrated before the Indian onslaught)."

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DAY 6Cody–Yellowstone National Park

This morning, visit the BUFFALO BILL HISTORICAL CENTER, a fine museum of historic weapons and Western art. Then, continue through Shoshone National Forest to YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, established in 1872 as the world’s first national park, where wild animals roam freely in vast meadows and forest. Enjoy several photo stops along the way to your hotel, including world-famous Old Faithful Geyser. (Breakfast, Dinner)

Note:
The routing and areas visited within Yellowstone are subject to favorable weather and/or road conditions. When conditions are unfavorable, routing may be adjusted accordingly.

A beautiful paint pot, named for their vibrant colors, in Yellowstone National Park

A vibrant paint pot in Yellowstone National Park

Elk roam freely through Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone: Into the Wild Victorian Yonder

Today, Yellowstone is virtually a country unto itself. It has its own weekly newspaper, a vast staff, a $30 million annual budget, army-sized campgrounds and visitor complexes as busy as miniature cities. But even with this infrastructure, much of the landscape has not changed since the Victorian era, when only 300 or so lucky travelers would arrive on horseback each summer, following rough animal trails. The first hotel arrived in 1871, McCartney’s Cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs, a makeshift log structure where guests had to sleep on the floor. Most preferred instead to camp in the forest, catching fish for their dinner in the pristine lakes.

DAY 7Yellowstone National Park

Spend the day exploring Yellowstone. Travel along Grand Loop Road to Fountain Paint Pots to see the bubbling mud. Continue on to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with magnificent views of Yellowstone Canyon and the spectacular Lower Falls, almost twice as high as Niagara Falls. Next, stop at Mammoth Hot Springs and take a short trail walk through steaming limestone terraces. (Breakfast)

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DAY 8Yellowstone National Park–Grand Teton National Park–Jackson

Journey south this morning into breathtaking GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK. Visit beautiful glacier-fed Jenny Lake at the foot of the rugged spires for a delightful walk along the shore before ending the day in the all-Western town of Jackson. This evening, travel by horse-drawn covered wagons into Cache Creek Canyon and experience dinner at the BAR T-5 CHUCK WAGON COOKOUT and Wild West show. (Breakfast, Dinner)

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The “War” for the Grand Teton

In the winter of 1927, residents in the cattle town of Jackson, Wyoming began to learn of a mysterious business concern known as the Snake River Land Company that was rapidly buying up property around their picturesque valley, which is overshadowed by the dramatic Teton Mountains. Rumors soon began to spread that a plot was afoot to elbow ranchers out of the area and close off key cattle drives. Finally, in 1930, it was revealed that the company was actually a front for America’s richest man, the oil magnate John D. Rockefeller Jr. Rockefeller had visited the area three years earlier and had been stunned by its alpine beauty; a visionary philanthropist, he decided to purchase the whole valley floor from private owners and donate it to the United States Government for an extension of the Grand Teton National Park, which was then only a tiny enclave covering the remotest mountain zones. But tempers flared against Rockefeller’s secrecy; many suspected that the magnate might use the land for his own private ends.

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DAY 9Jackson

Full day at leisure to enjoy this spectacular playground. Perhaps choose an optional float trip along the Snake River or stroll along the downtown boardwalks and enjoy a drink at one of the swing-door saloons. (Breakfast)

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DAY 10Jackson–Salt Lake City

Today’s journey continues alongside some of Wyoming’s most beautiful mountain ranges into Utah, home to five national parks. Arrive in Salt Lake City, founded by Brigham Young in 1847. Enjoy a sightseeing tour of the capital city and its historic monuments. This evening, your Tour Director hosts a special farewell dinner at Temple Square. (Breakfast, Dinner)

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DAY 11Salt Lake City

Your vacation ends this morning with guests departing on independent schedules. Transfers are provided to Salt Lake City International Airport. (Breakfast)

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DATES & PRICES