Study up this fall at Yellowstone and other national parks

In September, many families with kids nationwide will be adjusting to their back-to-school routines. If you aren’t part of that population, you’re in a great position to take advantage of the fewer crowds at national parks in the fall – and to learn a little something while you’re at it.

At Yellowstone National Park, the “Roosevelt Rendezvous Lodging & Learning” package offers you the opportunity to nourish your brain cells in the classroom of the wilds. For $639 per adult (based on double occupancy; does not include taxes or gratuities), you’ll receive cabin accommodations at Roosevelt Lodge, three meals per day (either at the lodge or in “the field”), evening programs at the lodge, in-park transportation and guided educational excursions, which will explore wildlife, history, the park’s geothermal features and more. Program start dates are Sept. 5, 9 and 13, 2008.

If that doesn’t sound like a fit for you, you can make just about any national park stay educational; most national parks offer at least a couple of short, sign-posted trails describing area history, flora, geology and/or other topics, and many guidebooks out there make handy textbooks for the inquisitive mind on the trail.

At any national park, check out the free ranger programs. Schedules for ranger-led events are posted at the visitors’ centers. At Glacier National Park, in Montana, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about local wildlife and geology on ranger-led hikes. At Yosemite National Park, which I visited last week, I received info on a range of topics including bears and hiking during a brief “coffee with a ranger” talk by a morning campfire.

The best part of an adult-oriented, education-focused trip come September? Fall means fewer families, so you won’t have to compete with school-age know-it-alls (we’ve all been one or known one). According to park concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts, visitation at national parks tends to drop significantly in September. For instance, visitors to Yellowstone numbered 822,773 in July 2007 while in September, 463,994 people visited the park.

Do you have any national-parks tips for the knowledge-hungry? What have you learned on the trail?

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Roosevelt Lodge, Xanterra Parks & Resorts]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 7:00 am by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Fall, National Parks, Outdoors & Adventure, Yosemite National Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.