Wild West, Cowboys and Buffalos

Start Your Travels In Salt Lake City

Saddle up for a Wild West family adventure starting with a relaxing afternoon together in Salt Lake City before meeting your travel companions for a rootin’ tootin’ evening Kick-off Party with your Travel Director.

Little America

• Salt Lake City

National Oregon/California Trail Center

Relive the adventures of an 1850s westbound wagon train with a visit to the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho. Accompanied by actors playing wagon masters and pioneers, you'll journey back in time, exploring historically accurate attractions, including a gun shop, mercantile, and a ride in a covered wagon. After a picnic-style lunch at the Center, you're off to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where you can walk through the town's famous landmark arch of tangled elk antlers. Step back in time as you explore the Town Square with its Western boardwalks, craft boutiques and ice cream shops, all surrounded by the majestic Rockies.

Modern Mountain Motel

• Salt Lake City
• Blackfoot
• Jackson

Visit Grand Teton National Park

Family fun awaits every day of this trip and today is no exception. If the season is right, today is your chance to get out on the water for some adventures. Rise early to float down the Snake River on an optional, scenic wilderness float trip. It’s the most relaxing way to experience the river as you learn about its history, geology, and wildlife from an expert guide. Later, discover dramatic shimmering peaks of the Teton Range rising above alpine forests and lakes in the iconic Grand Teton National Park. Travel onward to your hotel for the night.

National Park Lodges Yellowstone

• Jackson
• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone Sightseeing

Today you’ll enjoy a full day’s exploration of the geothermal wonderland of Yellowstone. You’ll join your Travel Director, marvelling at Old Faithful, the thousand-year old geyser which has been shooting up water every 90 minutes for centuries. We aim to explore as much of the park’s geological wonders, stopping at Lake Yellowstone, which contains the largest number of wild cutthroat trout in North America. See the wonders of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone whose colours and shapes are a sight to behold. We’ll also view Artists Point, a view point from which you watch in awe as water cascades down the Lower Falls. Our last stop on our Yellowstone exploration is the Mud Volcano home to Dragon Mouth's Spring. After a full day of sightseeing, enjoy a three course dinner at your hotel.

National Park Lodges Yellowstone

• Yellowstone National Park

Immerse Into The Culture Of The Old West

You’ll get a glimpse into “Spirit of the West” at the Buffalo Bill Center for the West museum complex. As you wander through this huge set of exhibits, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported back to a time of cowboys and cowgirls, lawmen and brave Native American warriors. The complex gives you the opportunity to explore the Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indians Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, or the Draper Natural History Museum. Round out the day with a Be My Guest experience at By Western Hands Art Gallery where you’ll meet local leatherwork artist John Blair for a demonstration before enjoying a picnic style lunch hosted by Sitti’s Table, featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

Best Western Sheridan Center

• Yellowstone National Park
• Cody
• Sheridan

Venture Into Rapid City

We continue our discovery of the Wild West heading through the "Energy Capital of the US," Gillette, WY. Then, we travel to South Dakota to spend the afternoon getting familiar with a famed Lakota warrior at Crazy Horse Memorial. You’ll gaze in awe of this colossal carved tribute to Crazy Horse, which you’ll learn is the largest mountain carving in the world.

Alex Johnson Rapid City

• Sheridan
• Crazy Horse Memorial
• Rapid City

Explore Badlands National Park Make Travel Matter

Today, participate in a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience with a visit to the Oglala Lakota Living History Village, introducing you to the beautiful landscape of the past and present Lakota culture, and of indigenous knowledge of Pine Ridge Reservation. Your visit contributes to the sustainability and resiliency of the Lakota community. Walk with a local guide on the trails through displays of living quarters used through the 19th and 20th centuries. Meet local artists who, through crafts and storytelling, provide insight into their cultures and traditions. Later, visit the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, the perfect place to prepare for your visit of Badlands National Park. Learn about the local earth science, wildlife and history as you explore museum exhibits, visit a working Fossil Preparation Lab or learn about Indigenous communities who one inhabited the land.

Alex Johnson Rapid City

• Rapid City
• Oglala Lakota Living History Village
• Badlands National Park
• Rapid City

Encounter The Traditions Of Black Hills Make Travel Matter

Today, head for the famous Black Hills of South Dakota to view the giant faces of former American presidents etched in the stone cliffs of Mount Rushmore. This evening, join your fellow adventurers at a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience and Farewell Dinner featuring your Lakota Sioux Tribe Member Stephen Yellowhawk (or another tribe member).

Alex Johnson Rapid City

• Rapid City
• Mount Rushmore
• Rapid City

Farewell Rapid City

Your Wild West adventure comes to an end after breakfast. Say so long to your newfound friends this morning. Depart from Rapid City at your leisure.

• Rapid City