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Montana

Wildlife & Geysers: Yellowstone With Your Younger Grandchild

Program No. 14910RJ
Get to know Yellowstone with your grandchild as you kayak, ride horses, discover spouting geysers, watch for bears, wolves and bison, and earn your Junior Ranger badge!

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Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone? 800-454-5768
climate
Plan ahead.
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Age 8 - 11
ROOMING OPTION PRICING
The figures below indicate the rooming options available.
DATES
Jun 24 - Jun 29, 2024
Per Adult
3,049
Per Child
1,999
Select
Jun 24 - Jun 29, 2024
3,049
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
3,049
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
3,999
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
Select Date
Jul 8 - Jul 13, 2024
Per Adult
3,049
Per Child
1,999
Select
Jul 8 - Jul 13, 2024
3,049
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
3,049
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
3,999
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
Select Date
Jul 22 - Jul 27, 2024
Per Adult
3,049
Per Child
1,999
Select
Jul 22 - Jul 27, 2024
3,049
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
3,049
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
3,999
/ Adult
1,999
/ Child
Select Date

At a Glance

Explore the wild wonders of Yellowstone National Park with your grandchild. Investigate bubbling mud pots, hissing steam vents, spouting geysers, thundering waterfalls, animal diets and more during hands-on activities. Get a close-up look at the park’s carnivores at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, discover how to recognize rarely seen animals using silhouettes and tracks. Spend the week learning from an expert naturalist and park rangers as you work towards your very own Junior Ranger badge!
Activity Level
Outdoor: Spirited
Hiking up to two miles daily on varied terrain; some inclines and stairs. One-hour horseback ride and kayaking four hours. Elevations of 6,666-7,800 feet.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Visit the SeaLife Center and participate in hands on activities while learning all about the sea animals that call Alaska their home.
  • Sail past massive glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park as the experts help you search for local wildlife like whales, otters, puffins, sea lions and more.
  • Learn about Alaska’s long history of dog sledding at the Seavey Iditarod Racing Team's facility where the three-time champions train, enjoy a ride through the wilderness and meet the puppies-in-training.

General Notes

For a comparable grandparent adventure for grandchildren ages 8-15, check out "Wild About Alaska: Glaciers & Wildlife With Your Grandchild" (#24149).
Featured Expert
All Experts
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Zack Baker
Zack Baker attended high school in Livingston, Montana, 52 miles north of Yellowstone. His love for the park started while snowshoeing and observing wildlife. At Montana State University in Bozeman, he earned a B.S. in plant science, but it was Yellowstone’s mammals that grabbed his interest. He led private wildlife watching, hiking, and photography trips, and drove snowcoaches in the winter. He joined up with Road Scholar in 2017 and is now the Program Director for Road Scholar at the University of Montana Western.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Zack Baker
Zack Baker View biography
Zack Baker attended high school in Livingston, Montana, 52 miles north of Yellowstone. His love for the park started while snowshoeing and observing wildlife. At Montana State University in Bozeman, he earned a B.S. in plant science, but it was Yellowstone’s mammals that grabbed his interest. He led private wildlife watching, hiking, and photography trips, and drove snowcoaches in the winter. He joined up with Road Scholar in 2017 and is now the Program Director for Road Scholar at the University of Montana Western.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country
by William Fritz & Robert Thomas
Updated, classic roadside geology book for the Yellowstone Region explains current geological theories.
It Happened in Yellowstone: Remarkable Events That Shaped History
by Erin Turner
Discover true tales from Yellowstone's past that shaped its history including geologic events like the volcanic eruption that formed Yellowstone over 600,000 years ago and the massive 1959 earthquake that created Quake Lake. Read about wildlife, the historic Nez Perce flight and early tourists, Truman Everts-lost in Yellowstone and a great stagecoach robbery.
Yellowstone National Park (True Books: National Parks)
by David Peterson
Ages 7 and up. An introduction to Yellowstone National Park includes a look at its thermal features, wildlife, habitat and human history. Includes map, index, related titles, important terms and online sites.
To Save the Wild Bison: Life on the Edge in Yellowstone
by Mary Ann Franke
The author brings clarity and revelation to one of Yellowstone's most complex struggles by tracing the history of bison and humans into the 19th century and further into the national parks era. Here's discussion of bison management and park policy - the battle over brucellosis, snowmobiles and groomed winter roads, desires of Native Americans, bison and predators.
Yellowstone Place Names, 2nd edition
by Lee Whittlesey
Yellowstone National Park Historian's well-researched and entertaining reference source for information on many of Yellowstone's place names and their origins.
Who Pooped in the Park? Yellowstone National Park: Scat and Tracks for Kids
by Gary Robson and Elijah Brady Clark
Accurate information that is fun to read. Kids will learn how to identify critter scat and tracks in a straight forward manner. Lots of extra detail is included such as how to tell the difference between similar looking tracks, why wolf scat has hair in it and much more.
Watching Yellowstone and Teton Wildlife: The Best Places to Look From Roads and Trails
by Todd Wilkinson and Michael L. Francis
Pack this guidebook, along with your binoculars and enthusiasm, when visiting both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The authors identify numerous viewing areas for optimum wildlife watching and have included maps, color photographs, samples of animal tracks, driving tours, hikes and animal descriptions including behavioral information.
After the Fires: The Ecology of Change in Yellowstone National Park
by Linda Wallace, Editor
The ravaging fires of 1988 caused many scientists to predict long-term devastation which did not come to pass. This scientific summary by wildlife biologists, ecosystem and forest scientists and landscape ecologists discusses the many things that changed and did not change in the Yellowstone area. Realize the role of fire in the ecosystem and the resiliency of nature.
Hey Ranger? Kids Ask Questions About Yellowstone National Park
by Kim Justesen
Here are real questions - some smart and some silly - that kids ask rangers every day. This well researched, educational guide is fun to read and filled with fascinating facts and amusing anecdotes.
Decade of the Wolf, revised and updated edition: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone
by Douglas W. Smith and Gary Ferguson
Research and storytelling meld to document wolf recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Wolf biologist, Smith, and nature writer, Ferguson, provide an inside look at the Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Project ten years after the controversial decision was made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to reintroduce wolves into the park. Smith, wolf project leader who has worked with the Yellowstone Wolf Project since its inception, has studied wolves for 25 years. Ferguson, whose writing largely arises from intimate experiences, followed through the seasons, the first 14 wolves released into Yellowstone National Park. Their collaboration offers hard facts and 'impressionistic portraits of individual wolves that reveal their epic lives full of struggle and conquest.' Here is the history of the return of the top predator to Yellowstone.
Lost in Yellowstone, Truman Everts' Thirty-seven Days of Peril
by Lee Whittlesey, editor
Read this true life adventure of the fifty-four year-old, nearsighted Truman Everts who visited the Yellowstone area with an exploration party in 1870. Although he was an inexperienced woodsman, he was determined to map and investigate the grand and mysterious Yellowstone country. After becoming separated from his party and abandoned by his horse, he wandered Yellowstone for thirty-seven days, injured, alone and with little food and shelter. Lee Whittlesey, Yellowstone National Park's historian, edited Everts' story which records one of the American frontier's most grueling survival adventures. Appreciate many early day photographs of Yellowstone National Park which illustrate the book.
Meals
14 Meals
5 Breakfasts
4 Lunches
5 Dinners
The following choices may be available when requested in advance: Vegetarian, Gluten Free
Lodging
Lodgings may differ by date. Select a date to see the lodgings specific to that date.
Display
Jul 22, 2024 - Jul 27, 2024
  • Jul 22, 2024 - Jul 27, 2024
  • Jun 24, 2024 - Jun 29, 2024
  • Jul 08, 2024 - Jul 13, 2024
  • Jul 22, 2024 - Jul 27, 2024
5 nights
West Yellowstone
Clean and friendly no-frills motel that offers more reasonable pricing. Free breakfast and WiFi. Convenient to West Yellowstone dining and shopping & activities.
5 nights
West Yellowstone
Clean and friendly no-frills motel that offers more reasonable pricing. Free breakfast and WiFi. Convenient to West Yellowstone dining and shopping & activities.
5 nights
West Yellowstone
Clean and friendly no-frills motel that offers more reasonable pricing. Free breakfast and WiFi. Convenient to West Yellowstone dining and shopping & activities.





Important registration tip:
If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
If you enroll after a lecture is complete, we’ll send you a recording of the event.