Duration: 10 Days
Immerse yourself in the beauty and wonder of nature as you travel to four magnificent national parks in two countries, on this National Parks of the Northwest tour. Experience the splendor of Grand Teton National Park with its soaring peaks and pristine lakes. Be amazed by the variety of natural wonders in the world’s oldest national park, Yellowstone. At over two million acres, it is home to the most active and diverse collection of geothermal features and half the world’s active geysers, including the most famous, Old Faithful. Watching it erupt is a sight you won’t soon forget! See thundering Yellowstone Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and view abundant wildlife. The park is home to herds of bison, elk, moose, black bear, grizzly bear, fox, and wolves. Discover Glacier National Park, a showcase of melting glaciers, alpine meadows, and sparkling lakes. Take a guided tour in a vintage Red Jammer bus and travel on breathtaking Going-to-the-Sun Road to the top of Logan Pass for spectacular views of the valley below. Enter Canada and stay in Waterton Lakes National Park, one of the most beautiful destinations in the Canadian Rockies with captivating scenes in every direction. Between park visits, stop at Smokejumper’s Visitor Center and learn how brave firefighters parachute into the forests to put out wildfires and visit Earthquake Lake Visitor Center to learn how the strongest earthquake in the Rocky Mountains moved 80 million tons of rock in less than a minute to create the lake. You’ll also visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to learn about the Indigenous people and their relationship with the herds of buffalo that roamed the area. Stunning scenery with majestic mountains, crystal clear lakes, and wonderous wildlife await you on this value-minded adventure!
Traveller Notes
- Adventure is knocking with everything you need for perfectly affordable touring. Cosmos includes hand-selected accommodations, guided sightseeing, and seamless transportation between destinations—with value-minded travel lovers in mind. Explore with expert Cosmos Tour Directors and Local Guides, and private, first-class, air-conditioned motorcoach with free Wi-Fi where available. Enhance your free time to explore like a local with your CosmosGO mobile app!
- Extend your holiday with departures that connect with our Heart of the Canadian Rockies Tour (8910) or our Western Canada by Rail Tour (8930), both with Alaska cruise options!
- This itinerary enters both the US and Canada.
- Extend your holiday with departures that connect with our Heart of the Canadian Rockies Tour (8910) or our Western Canada by Rail Tour (8930), both with/without Alaska cruise options.
- Maximum elevation on tour: 9,033 ft.
Welcome to Salt Lake City! Your Tour Director is on hand late this afternoon to answer any questions.
Start the day with a sightseeing tour of Salt Lake City, Utah's capital, and centre of the Mormon religion. Highlights include seeing Temple Square, the Capitol Building and downtown. Then head north to the Wild West town of Jackson. This evening, take a stroll into town and enjoy, its wooden sidewalks and streets lined with shops, galleries, and restaurants. (B)
Depart for majestic Grand Teton National Park, rich with scenic vistas and pristine lakes. Visit beautiful Jenny Lake that sits at the base of Cascade Canyon, looking for moose, fox, deer, and black bears along the way. Then drive north and enter wild and wonderful Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is home to more geysers than anywhere else on Earth with none more famous than Old Faithful. Watch in amazement as it erupts, reaching heights of up to 184 feet! Then travel to West Yellowstone where you will spend the next two nights. (CB)
Spend the day exploring all the wonders of Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park established in 1872. Be amazed by the bubbling, colourful collection of hydrothermal features at the Fountain Paint Pot Trail. Then visit Mammoth Hot Springs and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with breathtaking views of the cascading Lower Falls, the biggest waterfall in Yellowstone, all the while keeping a lookout for the park's abundant wildlife that includes bison, moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, wolf, bear and more. (CB)
Head north to Helena. Stop at Earthquake Lake Visitor centre to learn about the 7.5 earthquake that moved more than eighty million tons of rock in less than a minute and created Earthquake Lake. Then get a taste of the original Old West with a stop in Virginia City, site of the richest placer gold strike in the Rocky Mountains. Continue to Helena and upon arrival visit their beautiful State Capitol. (CB)
Head north to Missoula and visit the Smokejumper's Visitor centre, home to the largest smokejumper base in the country, to learn about the brave firefighters who risk their lives parachuting into the site of forest fires. Late afternoon arrival in Kalispell. (CB)
Spend the day at gorgeous Glacier National Park. Take a scenic ride aboard a vintage Red Jammer bus and drive one of North America's most spectacular highways, Going-to-the-Sun Road. Scale 6,664-foot-high Logan Pass and enjoy a wonderland of alpine scenery and breath-taking mountain peaks. (B)
Cross into Canada and enter Waterton Lakes National Park where the wilderness of Alberta's prairies meets the natural beauty of the Canadian Rockies. You'll overnight in the park, which is brimming with diverse landscapes, crystal clear lakes, cascading waterfalls, and towering mountain peaks. Tonight, things are looking up with an optional Dark Sky Stargazing excursion, if the heavens and weather permit. (B)
Visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and learn about the longtime relationship between the Indigenous People and the vast herds of buffalo that roamed the plains. Arrive in Calgary and take a city tour with highlights that include Stampede Park, the Saddledome, Fort Calgary, and Canada Olympic Park. The remainder of the day is at leisure.
Your holiday ends this morning.
