Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NO ADULT—OR CHILD—LEFT INSIDE
Yellowstone is not the only national park to offer field schools. In fact, it might be
easier to list the national parks that don't offer courses. With packages ranging from
afternoon lectures to a week's backpacking trip, these roving classrooms are geared
for all ages. Here's a short list of some of the best:
Glacier Institute.
With the slogan “Learning Gone Wild,” this top-notch in-
stitute affiliated with Montana's Glacier National Park has been providing hands-
on, field-based education adventures since 1983. Classes include everything from
nature journaling to stalking grizzly bears. Many packages offer lodging in comfy
cabins. Packages run from $55 to $415.
Glacier Institute, 137 Main Street, P.O. Box
1887, Kalispell, MT 59903, 406-755-1211, www.glacierinstitute.org.
Grand Canyon Field Institute.
With lots of multiday backpack trips, this re-
lative newcomer to the field school community teaches everything from the geo-
logy of Red Canyon to the inner workings of the Havasupai Indian tribe. Scheduled
courses are offered March through November with the option of a “You Pick the
Dates” class offering hikes all months of the year. Prices from $95 per person for
a daylong class to between $400 and $550 for a multiday backpack course.
Grand
Canyon Field Institute, P.O. Box 399, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023, 866-471-4435,
www.grandcanyon.org/fieldinstitute.
North Cascades Institute.
Offering more than a dozen field seminars, this field
school at Washington's North Cascades National Park covers such topics as geo-
logy, history, wildlife, and art. Instructors include scientists, poets, photographers,
loggers, and rangers. Year-round courses range from $75 for a one-day seminar to
$425 for a four-day naturalist retreat.
North Cascades Institute, 810 State Route 20,
Sedro Woolley, WA 98284, 360-856-5700, ext. 209, www.ncascades.org.
Smoky Mountain Field School.
Run in conjunction with the University of
Tennessee, this school in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has courses for
everyone. There are strenuous five-day hikes along the Appalachian Trail as well
as nature sketching and wilderness orienteering, Courses are offered March through
November and average $49.
Smoky Mountain Field School, 600 Henley Street, Suite
105, Knoxville, TN 37996, 865-974-0150, www.outreach.utk.edu/smoky.
Teton Science Schools.
Founded in 1967, this stellar school has four locations,
including one in Grand Teton National Park, two in Jackson Hole, and the newest
one in Jackson. Prices range from $20 for a four-hour family bird-banding and
breakfast seminar in summer to $400 for a five-day course for a child at the Teton
Junior Science School in June to August. Science School classes fill up fast, so try
to register no later than February. Also available are several Elderhostel programs
