Tauck Tours is now offering a one-time, eight-day journey to explore Yellowstone Park with famous filmmaker Ken Burns. The event will debut next January and will include access to the park with naturalists and other park experts.
Burns was one of the creators of the acclaimed PBS documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”
The park hosts three-and-a-half million people each year, but less than three percent of those visitors experience Yellowstone at its very best, during the winter months,” said Burns. “In winter, the normal crowds are gone, the park has a special majesty and serenity, and the opportunities to see wildlife are incredible.”
“Wildlife viewing at Yellowstone is enhanced in winter because ground cover is thinner and animals stand out more clearly against a white background of snow,” Tauck says. “Heat from the park’s geothermal features can also reduce snow accumulations in specific areas, attracting grazing animals that dig through the shallow snow to reach underlying grasses.”
Tauck claims Yellowstone is seen to its maximum during the winter months.
The eight-day “Winter In Yellowstone” event is limited to 210 attendees, split into two groups of 105, starting on January 6 and January 8.
The event (from $4,190 per person, double, plus air) features stays at the Chico Hot Springs Resort, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Spring Creek Ranch.
Activities include explorations aboard heated, motorized snowcoaches (specially equipped vehicles with treads and skis instead of wheels) and wildlife viewing in areas including the Lamar Valley, Norris and Lower Geyser Basins, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Optional activities during free time include ice skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
Included in the event price are airport transfers, accommodations, most meals, all sightseeing, lectures and other presentations, and a farewell cocktail reception and dinner at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Tauck is also offering six departures of a similar itinerary as part of its Culturious collection of immersive, small-group trips for active boomer-age travelers.
By David Wilkening
