PARKS & CANYONS SPECTACULAR - 2010

13 days from Rapid City to Las Vegas (AP)

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Vacation Overview

Marvel at the West's premier natural wonders on this 6-state escorted tour. Your vacation starts in Rapid City, South Dakota, with visits to the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana and tour the battlegrounds where Custer was defeated. Continue to Cody, Wyoming, then head to Yellowstone National Park to see magnificent views of Yellowstone Canyon, Lower Falls, and world-famous Old Faithful Geyser. Journey into breathtaking Grand Teton National Park for a delightful walk along glacier-fed Jenny Lake, and experience a chuck wagon cookout, Wild West show, and free time in Jackson.

Next, it’s on to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a sightseeing tour; then marvel at the “hoodoos” and dramatic landscapes of Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. Continue into Arizona to Page, on the shores of Lake Powell, for an afternoon cruise. Cross the Painted Desert to the amazing Grand Canyon, where you witness amazing and mouth-dropping beauty. Your hotel is located on the rim of the Grand Canyon, giving you a rare opportunity for great views. Finally, travel part of the legendary Route 66 to Las Vegas, where this spectacular escorted tour ends. On this vacation through some of the West’s premier national parks, you see breathtaking scenery that cannot be found anywhere else!

Fall Foliage Departures:
Enjoy the spectacular fall colors of the West on our special Fall Foliage departures: September 17–October 1 (if Mother Nature permits).

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Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story 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.