National Parks and Lodges of the Old West

Welcome to Rapid City—nicknamed "The City of Presidents" for the series of life-sized bronze statues situated throughout downtown of our nation’s past leaders. Transfer to the hotel to meet your fellow travel companions and Orbridge Expedition Leader for a welcome dinner and briefing to kick off the exciting week ahead.

Overnight: Hotel Alex Johnson (D)

今天早上 after breakfast, head to Badlands National Park, 超过244人,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie, 以该地区最壮观的风景和各种野生动物为特色. Gaze in awe at the layered rock cliffs, 高耸的尖顶, and narrow canyons that create this amazing landscape. 午餐是空闲的. 

之后，乘坐吉普车游览卡斯特州立公园. 欣赏壮丽的景色，欣赏成群的野牛, 麋鹿, 大角羊, 以及在风景优美的道路上可以观察到的其他野生动物. 小心那些接近游客寻求施舍的“乞讨驴子”! 

For the following two evenings, retire to Custer State Game Lodge, 它提供了一个宁静的, 充满自然的体验结合了令人惊叹的景色和出色的服务. 建于1921年, this impressive stone and wood lodge surrounded by stately trees is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1927年，卡尔文·柯立芝总统曾将这座迷人的小屋作为“夏季白宫”, who saw it as a quiet retreat from the heat, 错误, 和华盛顿的人群, DC. 德怀特·D总统. 1953年，艾森豪威尔在访问黑山地区时也参观了这座小屋. 

Overnight: Custer State Game Lodge (B,D)

今天早上, travel to Hot Springs to visit The Mammoth Site—w在这里 history of the late Ice Age comes to life. 这个古生物遗址, 研究中心, and museum contains the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world and earns recognition worldwide for its interpretation and exhibits. 漫步在哥伦比亚猛犸象和长毛象出没的天坑边缘, 骆驼, 狼, 巨型短面熊被困超过26只,1000年前, leaving a treasure of fossils. For centuries the bones lay buried until discovered in 1974 during excavation for a housing development. After a short tour, stroll the boardwalk over the dig area and see the paleontology laboratory. 

午饭后你自己去, continue into the heart of the Black Hills to see the world’s largest monument carving in progress—the Crazy Horse Memorial. Under construction since 1948, 工作人员正在钻井, 雕刻, and removing rock more than 70 years later. The work honors Crazy Horse, a member of the Oglala Lakota, and the values of Native Americans. Crazy Horse led his warriors to victory against Custer’s battalion at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. 如果按照设计完成，这座雕塑将有563英尺高，641英尺长.  

Experience an audio-visual program featuring artist Korczak Ziolkowski and his sculptures that illustrate the culture, 传统, and living heritage of Native Americans. 参观疯马纪念馆的基地，享受自由探索的时间.

Overnight: Custer State Game Lodge (B,D)

今天，我们将参观世界上最大的标志性石碑之一——拉什莫尔山. 始于1927年, this remarkable granite sculpture was originally designed to portray the four Presidents—George Washington, 托马斯·杰斐逊, 亚伯拉罕。林肯, and Theodore Roosevelt—from the waist up, 但由于预算限制，工程于1941年结束. The stone visages that remain, 然而, are inspiring in both their beauty and the enormous feat of engineering it took to create them. Carved under the direction of sculptor Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmore was a massive undertaking requiring 800 million pounds of stone to be removed by dynamite from the mountain face.

Pass through the Avenue of Flags walkway and peer up to capture sight of four influential presidential faces, 每只大约有60英尺高，眼睛和嘴巴分别有11英尺和18英尺宽, 分别. 

在空闲时间, perhaps explore the Visitor Center or Sculptor's Studio, 或者沿着环绕纪念碑底部的422级台阶的总统步道徒步旅行. Wandering through gorgeous scenery, 体验雕塑的近距离视角，并有机会发现当地的野生动物.

今天晚些时候, retreat to your accommodations, 在世界上最美丽的峡谷之一的深处, nestled alongside lofty pines and spectacular cliffs. 这幢房子的建造和装饰都是西部老式小屋的风格. 享受休闲时间，在小屋散步或徒步旅行，然后再加入团队吃晚餐.

Overnight: Spearfish Canyon Lodge (B,D)

享受开阔的空间和西方的热情款待，今天有一个美丽的旅行日. 放松ing aboard the motor coach en route to Cody, encounter vistas of historic and geologic significance among the rolling plains of the Old West, the towering peaks of the Bighorn Mountains, 也有机会停下来伸伸腿. 

American scout, bison hunter, and showman William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody founded Cody in 1896. He was drawn to the area’s rich soil, 丰富的鱼类和野味, 大风景, and proximity to 黄石公园 National Park. The town now boasts a population of more than 10,在周边地区生活和工作的000名居民. 

过夜:假日酒店科迪-在水牛比尔村(B)

Visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West for a journey into the region's rich past with five museums, 研究型图书馆, 特别展览. Learn about Western and Native American history, the life of “Buffalo Bill” Cody, 黄石公园, 旧枪支, 和更多的. Experience the spirit of the American West through art by surveying the Whitney Museum’s collection of paintings, 打印, 和雕塑. 

继续前行，穿过肖肖尼国家森林来到黄石国家公园. The Shoshone National Forest was set aside in 1891 as part of the 黄石公园 Timberland Reserve, 使其成为美国第一个国家森林. 它由2组成.400万英亩的不同地形，从山艾树平原到崎岖的山脉. With 黄石公园 National Park on its western border, 肖肖尼人包括从蒙大拿州南部到兰德州的地区, 怀俄明, and includes portions of the Absaroka, 风河系统公司, 和熊牙山. 

作为世界上第一个国家公园，自1872年以来，黄石公园一直让游客感到高兴. 地球上很少有地方能在一个地区提供这样的风景和科学奇迹. Staggeringly beautiful and home to dramatic canyons, 高山河流, 茂密的森林, 温泉, 涌出的间歇泉, and hundreds of animal species, experiencing 黄石公园 in person is a humbling, 迷人的冒险.

Sitting atop a slumbering super volcano, 黄石公园 has half of the world’s known geysers, including iconic Old Faithful. 带着激动的期待观看，见证3的力量,700加仑到8加仑,400 gallons of hot 水 (depending on the duration of the eruption) shooting high into the air at extreme force.
 
其他的地质景观包括公园的上下瀑布. 听到黄石河的轰鸣声倾倒了多达60个,000 gallons of 水 per second over the Lower Falls. 壮观的景象, the Lower Falls towers over 300 feet, making it nearly twice as tall as Niagara Falls. 

Take time to spot for 野生动物 in Hayden Valley. 在地理上、历史上和生物上，它都是黄石公园的心脏. 灰熊、野牛、狼、土狼、麋鹿、驼鹿和几十种鸟类生活在这里. 

Overnight: 黄石公园 Lodging (B,D)

享受全天探索黄石公园，包括其活跃的火山口.

Along Fountain Paint Pot Trail, see various hydrothermal features that are expressions of 黄石公园’s still active volcano. 在这个地质系统中，每种类型的热特征都被表示出来. They can be grouped into two general categories—those with a great deal of 水 (温泉 and geysers) and those with limited 水 (mudpots and fumaroles). 尽管它们的结构相似，但没有两个特征是完全相同的. 学习有趣的事实, such as the “recipe” for mudpots—a perfect mix of heat, 气体, 水, 火山岩, 矿物质, 酸, and even living microorganisms. Walk the half mile boardwalk nature trail to see it all.

在猛犸温泉, 欣赏蒸汽露台和温泉如何俯瞰游客设施. Limestone, a naturally white rock, underlies this area. 热水能溶解石灰石中的矿物碳酸钙, which is deposited at the surface to form travertine. Colors in the 温泉 come from thermophiles, organisms adapted to live at high temperatures. This unique thermal feature of beautiful formations has been described as looking like a cave turned inside out, creating a surreal landscape. Perhaps visit the Albright Visitor Center and Museum, with its interactive displays, great animal 野生动物 exhibits, 定位区域, and educational ranger talks. Elk are often spotted close by. 

Overnight: 黄石公园 Lodging (B,D)

With the remaining space on your camera’s memory cards, capture the “grand” of Grand Teton National Park. Head south through vast unspoiled wilderness to the park and take in its jagged mountain peaks that form postcard perfect backdrops behind lakes, 比如珍妮和杰克逊. The Tetons—the highest at more than 13,700 feet—are the youngest of the Rocky Mountains, 但仍以其富丽堂皇的美吸引着来自世界各地的游客. 站近7点,000 feet above the valley floor, they make a bold and beautiful geological presence and are arguably North America’s most spectacular mountains. Savor this natural world as the wind blows through some 700 species of trees and higher plants, 包括棉白杨, 白杨, 梳理, 冷杉, 还有黑松. 这是一个真正的水牛漫步和鹿玩耍的地方, 还有大角羊, 黑熊和灰熊, 红尾鹰, 驼鹿, 麋鹿, 叉角羚, 秃鹰, 狼, mountain lions and other animals.  

今天晚上, join a farewell dinner hosted by your Orbridge Expedition Leader to celebrate the grand adventures from the past week. 

过夜:Jackson Hole Creekside Resort and Spa的乡村酒店(B、D)

早餐后, guests departing during the suggested times take a complimentary transfer to Idaho Falls Regional Airport for flights home. (B)