Yellowstone National Park Lodges Offers Four Tips for Fourth Graders Traveling to Yellowstone
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, September 29, 2015 – As the nation’s largest concessioner in national parks, Xanterra Parks & Resorts is enthusiastically supporting the initiative launched by the National Park Foundation and the White House called “Every Kid in the Park” which allows fourth grade students across the country free access to national parks throughout the 2015-2016 school year.
In Yellowstone, for example, Xanterra’s Yellowstone National Park Lodges suggests these four activities to make a trip to the park that much more enjoyable:
1. Become a Junior Ranger. The Junior Ranger program introduces children to the park and asks them to help preserve it for the future. The process starts at any park visitor center with a $3 Junior Ranger book that kids complete as they learn about the park. After answering various questions, participants are awarded an official Yellowstone Junior Ranger patch.
2. Check out the visitor centers. Specifically, the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center which opened in 2010 features exhibits on Yellowstone’s thermal features such as geysers, hot springs, mudpots and fumaroles. Children flock to the Young Scientist exhibit room to check out a geyser model and hands-on exhibits. The Canyon Visitor Education Center focuses on volcanoes and features other interactive exhibits that kids love.
3. Take a stagecoach or horseback ride. Roosevelt Lodge offers both throughout the day, and many families opt for the Old West Dinner Cookout accessible by riding on a covered wagon or by saddling up a horse. In addition to an authentic Western dinner, folks enjoy western songs performed by a singing cowboy.
4. Let your 4th grader take the lead. Everybody should have a chance to be in charge for part of a vacation. Pick a day for each kid in the group to have a chance to choose a sight, activity or hike.
“Above all, appreciate the park and try to mix up the activities,” said Jim McCaleb, general manager of Yellowstone National Park Lodges. “When my kids were young we always used to compare notes after a vacation, and it was great the way everyone had their own perspective and memory of the trip.”
Families with a fourth grader who wish to delve deeper into the magic of a park via a fully guided experience in Yellowstone should consider a tour with Xanterra’s Austin Adventures (http://www.austinadventures.com/). In 2016, Austin Adventures is waiving trip fees for all fourth graders traveling on any National Park adventure with them (some conditions apply). A leader in multisport vacations, Austin Adventures’ homegrown guides have been leading small groups of intrepid travelers through America’s parklands for decades revealing both the iconic and often-missed wonders.
For more information about Austin Adventures national park tours, go to www.austinadventures.com/find-your-park/.
Reservations for lodging and dinners in the park can be made by visiting www.YelllowstoneNationalParkLodges.com or calling 1-307-344-7311 or toll free 1-866-GEYSERLAND (1-866-439-7375).