The Best of Yellowstone: From Colter's Hell to America's Hot Spot

Program Registration: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. After you have your room assignment, find your Group Leader who will have a Road Scholar sign, register with the program staff, and get your welcome packet containing your up-to-date schedule that reflects any last-minute changes, and confirm when and where dinner and the Orientation session will take place. If you arrive late, please ask for your packet when you check in.

In the hotel conference room.

Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. This program will be led by both the Group Leader and an instructor, who is an expert naturalist and will lead the educational portion of the program. Unless specified otherwise, all transportation will be provided via private motorcoach, requiring the ascending/descending of a few steps when getting on/off. Remember to bring your own water bottle. Ice water will be available in coolers on the bus during travel, from which you may fill your water bottle; disposable cups will not be available. “America the Beautiful” passes cover entrance fees at national parks and wildlife refuges for up to 4 adults. If you have one of these national park passes, please bring it with you to the program and on our field trips to benefit other members of the group. The Greater Yellowstone area is considered high desert, very dry. At high altitudes you are more susceptible to dehydration and altitude sickness. Hiking an average of 3 miles per day at elevations of up to 8,000 feet. Elevation gains can range from up to 600 feet in 1/2 mile to 1,400 feet in 3 miles. Periods in the daily schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

At the hotel

Enjoy an introductory lecture given by our instructor. During our morning class time our instructor will put Yellowstone into perspective as we hit the road and discuss some of the geologic processes that have shaped Yellowstone's landscape through the ages. We’ll consider tectonic plate movement, the Yellowstone hot spot, and how the Park's unique ecosystem and diverse habitats are a direct result of glaciations, as well as tectonic and volcanic activity. We will check out of our hotel, meet our motorcoach, and transfer to Yellowstone Park via the beautiful Gallatin Canyon.

Sack lunches in the park.

After lunch, we will board our motor coach and continue the day's discovery. Our instructor will offer commentary as we travel south through a magnificent landscape. We'll travel along the beautiful and thermal lined Firehole River as we go toward Old Faithful, breathtaking vistas of seemingly endless countryside roll out. Upon our arrival at Old Faithful, we will check into the Old Faithful Inn

At the Old Faithful Inn dining room.

At leisure.

At the Inn.

We will board our motorcoach and continue our expedition toward the mighty Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Through our exploration, we will experience the roar of the 109-foot Upper Falls and see the mighty Lower Fall's 308-foot plunge into its Canyon depths. Our instructor will lead our examination of the canyon's geologic story of glaciers, a volcanic eruption, lava flows and huge ice dams as we have a clear view of the pinnacles towering among the canyon walls. As an early explorer wrote, "There are perhaps other canyons longer and deeper than this one, but surely none combining grandeur and immensity with peculiarity of formation and profusion of volcanic or chemical phenomena."

Sack lunches in the park.

We'll continue our discovery of the Canyon area as we follow our instructor on a walk along a portion of the Canyon that is 20 miles long, 800 to 1,200 feet deep, and 1,500 to 4,000 feet wide. This walk along the canyon trail will reveal extraordinary colors of muted scarlet, pale yellows, greens and blue, all created by hot water acting on volcanic rock.

At a restaurant near Old Faithful.

The rest of the evening at leisure. Explore the geyser basin on your own or enjoy the historic Old Faithful Inn. Prepare for checkout in the morning.

At the Inn

After checking out of the Old Faithful Inn, we'll spend some time along the West side of the park taking in any of the geyser basins we may have missed along the way. The largest concentration of thermal features in the world is located in the few miles around Old Faithful.

Sack lunches in the park.

We'll board our motorcoach and set out towards Grant Village via Craig Pass. We'll cross the continental divide three times as we wind our way up and over the pass, with beautiful views in all directions. Upon arriving at Grant Village we'll check in to the hotel.

At the Grant Village dining room.

At leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and transfer in the morning.

At the Grant Village dining room.

After checking out of the hotel, we'll board our motorcoach and travel to West Thumb Geyser Basin. West Thumb is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. It is speculated that its heat source is only 10,000 feet down. Thermal features here extend under the surface of the lake as well as along the shore; several underwater geysers were discovered in the early 1990s. A number of geological forces are still at work here and are affecting the active hydrothermal features.

Sack lunches in the park.

We'll board our motorcoach and begin our trek North to Gardiner. Our Journey will then lead us to Norris Geyser Basin and on to Mammoth Hot Springs. As we travel our instructor will offer on board commentary and, when possible, we will stop to explore! We'll check into the hotel upon arriving in Gardiner

At a local restaurant.

At leisure.

From a local restaurant.

Our expedition will then head eastward to the Tower area as our naturalist discusses Yellowstone's "forests of stone" en route. Upon arrival, we’ll go on a walk with our instructor in the lead to appreciate Tower Fall and Tower Creek's graceful 132-foot plunge among volcanic pinnacles. This area is known for its black bear habitat and, while sightings cannot be guaranteed, we'll want to keep our eyes "peeled" and our binoculars handy.

Sack lunches in the park.

We’ll then travel to Lamar Valley's beautiful, wide-open reaches – a fitting final destination to our week of discovery. Here is rich habitat with an abundance of wildlife including hoofed, winged, clawed, antlered and horned creatures. As we travel our instructor will provide onboard commentary to help us understand and see evidence of an ancient flood that scoured the valley. The instructor will point out the diverse vegetation of the area, which includes varieties of grasses, shrubs and trees, sagebrush covered hills, mixed forest habitat, and rich riparian areas. Stay alert and keep binoculars at the ready because we may be lucky enough to see pronghorn, elk, bison, meadowlarks and sandhill cranes. We’ll then set off back towards Bozeman. Check in upon arrival.

At the hotel conference room. Share some of your favorite experiences from the program with new Road Scholar friends.

We’ll then gather for our wrap-up session and reflect on our time in Yellowstone. Afterwards, be sure to prepare for check-out and departures in the morning.

At the hotel.

We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Please join our Facebook page and share photos of your program. Visit us at www.facebook.com/rsadventures. Best wishes for all your journeys!