National Parks of the American West with Brandon Smith 2024

ArawjoTours, LLC is delighted to present an exciting itinerary for a twelve days air-inclusive tour to the National Parks of the American West.  Arriving in Rapid City South Dakota, the package below will take us to some of the most famous historical and natural wonders of our beautiful country and will end in Salt Lake City, Utah.  We will have our own motor coach throughout the journey and will be accompanied by Brandon Smith, our full-time local guide/escort who will share his knowledge with us of all the sites we will be visiting.  Below is the complete daily itinerary for this fantastic tour of the National Parks of the American West.  We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to experience what has become one of our ArawjoTours Classics (ATC).  Come on board!

DAILY ITINERARY:

Day 1 - Rapid City

Departure from Newark International Airport and arrival in Rapid City via Denver. We will be met by our tour escort Brandon Smith and our private motor coach and transferred to our hotel. The evening if free at leisure. Overnight at the Alex Johnson Hotel.

Day 2 - Minuteman Missile Site and Badlands

After breakfast, meet in the lobby at 9:00 a.m. for a full day of sightseeing, including visits to the Wall Drugstore, the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and the Badlands National Park.  We will also see some of the statues of US Presidents in Rapid City. Overnight again at the Alex Johnson Hotel.

Day 3 - Deadwood, SD

After breakfast, meet in the lobby with your bags at 9:00 a.m. for our full day of sightseeing, which includes Mount Rushmore National Monument, the Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park  This evening will be spent at the The Springhill Suites in Deadwood, SD.  The evening is free for leisure to walk around this charming historic town.

Day 4 - Cody, WY

Following breakfast, meet in the lobby at 9:00 a.m. with your bags for our drive to Cody, WY, via the Bighorn National Forest. On the way, we will visit Devil’s Tower National Monument and we will have lunch at a local restaurant in Buffalo, Wyoming, before arriving in Cody, WY for overnight at the Holiday Inn Cody - At the Buffalo Bill Village.

Day 5 - West Yellowstone

After breakfast at the hotel, meet in the lobby with your bags. We will visit the Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody and then we will continue our drive to Yellowstone National Park, where we will visit Old Faithful, Lake Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.  Our hotel for the next two nights is in West Yellowstone at the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone. 

Day 6 - Yellowstone

Following breakfast at the hotel, meet in the lobby for more sightseeing in Yellowstone National Park.  Some of today's highlights include the Fountain Paint Pot and the Mammoth Hot Springs. The evening is free for leisure. Overnight at the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone.

Day 7 - Grand Tetons and Jackson, WY

After breakfast, meet in the lobby with the bags for our journey to visit the Grand Teton National Park.  Among the highlights of this park we will see Jackson Lake. We will continue our journey to Jackson WY where we will spend the next 3 nights at the lovely the Lexington Hotel.

Day 8 - Snake River and Jackson, WY

Meet in the lobby at 10:00 a.m. for our 13 mile scenic float on the Snake River with Grand Teton views.  Please be sure to dress in layers and take an extra pair of shoes (along with a rain coat or poncho).  Overnight in Jackson at the Lexington Hotel.

Day 9 - Jackson, WY

Free day at leisure to enjoy the town of Jackson and its beautiful surroundings. Overnight in Jackson at the Lexington Hotel.

Day 10 - Salt Lake City

After breakfast, meet in the lobby with your bags at 9:00 a.m. We will drive to Montpelier ID to visit the National Oregon/California Trail Center, where we will participate in a simulated wagon train experience of the 1850s. After our visit to Montpelier Idaho, we will continue our trip to Salt Lake City. We will visit the Golden Spike National Historic Park, site of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. We will see the replicas of the "Jupiter", and the "199" locomotives that took part in that historic event. Lunch is included in Logan, Utah en route to Salt Lake City, where we will spend the next two nights at the Homewood Suites SLC Downtown. The evening is free to enjoy on your own.

Day 11 - Salt Lake City

Following breakfast at the hotel, meet in the lobby at 9:00 a.m. for A day of sightseeing.  Highlights include the Temple Square, the Mormon Tabernacle , Heritage Park and "This is the Place Monument."  In the afternoon we will visit Park City.  Overnight at the Homewood Suites SLC Downtown.

Days 12 - Salt Lake City and Return to Newark

After breakfast, we will depart to the Salt Lake City Airport for our flight back to Newark.

Transfer back to Lehigh Valley.

TOUR FEATURES: The National Parks of the American West is a fully-escorted, air-inclusive package with twelve days (eleven nights) of accommodations in excellent hotels with American breakfasts and an extensive program of sightseeing. (See above full itinerary.) Remember that this is a fully-escorted tour, with the group’s own full-time tour manager (Brandon Smith), full-time driver, private motor coach, and a full-time ArawjoTours Tour Representative. It is an excellent package that is a bit longer than tours offered by our competitors so that your experience can be more relaxed and immersive and less superficial. Our tours, also unlike our competitors, INCLUDE AIR. Rest assured, you will never forget the beauty of Yellowstone, the magnificence of the Grand Tetons and the friendliness of the people out West.