Yellowstone Family Adventure

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Yellowstone Family Adventure: Review

Are you the family vacation-planner, who spends hours on the internet scouting destinations and activities, making phone calls, reservations, emailing?

Wouldn't it be great if you simply decided where to go-- and someone else took care of everything?

Meet the Family Adventure concept: all hassles handled for you. Just let the good times roll; and they were good, as Yellowstone is a superb destination for families.

Highlights of our Yellowstone Family Adventure included:

• at Mammoth Hot Springs, the ethereally beautiful "terraces"
• The rustic and historic Old Faithful Inn.
• Old Faithful geyser and other "geothermal features": crystal-blue hot springs, burbling mudholes, Belching Dragon...
• the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,which some say surpasses the other Grand Canyon, with its spectacular waterfall.
• wildlife viewing: herds of bison; elk; even a grizzly bear.
• horseback-riding through rolling hills on a cattle ranch
• white-water rafting, fun for all

The Group-Travel Thing
I had my doubts about group travel, but we enjoyed great company on this trip: the guests (11, total) and guides were friendly, funny, and considerate. My son, aged 11, had no match in age, so we spent lots of time together; two other boys, aged 8, became instant pals.

Group travel does have certain inherent: maybe some kids can't hike as far as others; maybe someone will get sick. In such situations, all depends on the guides. Because we had three guides, our group could split up: one guide could take a sub-group on a challenging hike, while another could lead a group on an easy path; the third guide meanwhile did the hotel check-ins, etc.

Small Details, Big Impression
Funny, how small touches can add so much. The nightly surprises on the hotel-room bed: a gift bag with toys; local-specialty candies; an album of photos from the trip.

After a dusty horse-ride, cool face-towels materialized. After a long hike to the awesome Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, out popped one of our guides with a silvery platter of tropical fruit.

Add to the list of trip highlights: pampering.

Continue to:

• photos & tips about Yellowstone Family Adventure: lodgings, geothermal features, wildlife

• more Family Adventure Vacations

- photos © 2001 by Teresa Plowright As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary accommodation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.