Travel with children - Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks - page 85

Program ( www.nps.gov/grte/forkids/index .htm; donation $1) also trains Junior Rangers;
inquire about it at any visitor center.
Junior Rangers and their families can participate in Yellowstone Wildlife Olympics , a
field day with physical challenges that pit your abilities against those of iconic wildlife (in
theory, no pronghorn are injured in the making of this game). This three-hour activity is
held at different visitor centers twice a week; see the park newspaper for details.
Yellowstone also launched the Young Scientist Program ( www.nps.gov/yell/forteach-
ers/youngscientist.htm ) , which lets kids investigate the mysteries of the park with a spe-
cial toolkit in hand, completing tasks for a coveted patch or keychain. It's for ages five
and up.
At the in-depth program Expedition: Yellowstone! (lodging/instruction per day $35/
$60; school year) kids learn about preservation, the park's natural and cultural history
and current issues affecting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Includes hikes, field in-
vestigations, discussions, creative dramatics and journal writing. This four- to five-day
curriculum-based residential program is for students in grades four to eight. Badger your
teachers to arrange a visit; parents can come along as chaperones. It's based at Lamar Buf-
falo Ranch or Mammoth.
Families should take advantage of Yellowstone's ranger-led activities: half-hour pro-
grams presented at the visitor centers. Several campgrounds run family-oriented campfire
programs with lectures or live music in the early evenings. See the park newspapers for
details. Grand Teton's campfire program is based in Colter Bay.
Private Programs
Inside the parks, concessionaires and nonprofits run a range of family-friendly activities.
For more in-depth experiences, the Yellowstone Association ( 307-344-2289;
www.yellowstoneassociation.org ) offers a range of excellent year-round family programs.
The most popular is Yellowstone for Families, where a qualified naturalist takes families
(with children aged from eight to 12 years old) animal tracking, exploring and wildlife-
watching in the park. Other fun stuff includes painting at Artists' Point or taking wildlife
photos.
Two-hour stagecoach rides from Roosevelt Lodge travel the sagebrush flats. Trips go
several times per day and run from early June to August. Reserve with Xanterra (
307-344-7311; adult/child $12/6) .