Sightseeing Tour Spirit Starting from Denver Ending in Denver (10 nights) 2011 American Holiday Inc.
Day 1 : Denver - Denver You will be welcomed at the airport by our local French speaking guide. Transfer to the hotel by Grand Tourism bus. Dinner at leisure. Hotel accommodations at the Red Lion Downtown (or similar). Day 2 : Denver - Moab Departure across the Colorado Rockies. From the eternal snows of Mount Elbert, to the lush green valleys, where the remains still stand today, of the cities founded during the time of the Gold Rush. It is here that the Rockies come together in their greatest majesty and where we take the highest roads in the United States. You'll cross the cities of Copper Mountain and Vail, which are said to be the largest ski and winter sports resorts in the United States. Lunch at leisure. Tour of Colorado National Monument. Thanks to a road which snakes around the park and offers many viewpoints, you can admire a scene composed of deep canyons, brown and orange rocks sculpted by wind and erosion and high plateaus which are characteristic of these Western landscapes. Depart for Moab: This city was founded by the Mormons in 1879 and was called Moab in reference to Moab in the Bible. Situated near the Arches and Canyonlands National Park, it naturally became the tourist capital of the region. This is the starting point for raft rides down the Colorado River. Day 3 : Moab - Salt Lake City Breakfast - Continental style. Tour of Arches National Park. As its name indicates, this park regroups a large quantity of natural arches carved out of the rock by erosion. But Arches National Park is also rich in rock formations with amazing shapes, such as "The Three Gossips" or even the "Balanced Rock", apparently balanced in that position for a very long time. 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 2 to 8
Lunch - Picnic in the park. Tour of Dead Horse Point, one of the most spectacular viewpoints of the National Canyonlands Park. Located at an altitude of 1,800 meters, the panoramic view looks over the Colorado River running 600 meters below and is surrounded by red and green canyons. Continue on to Salt lake City. Hotel check-in. Day 4 : Salt Lake City - Jackson Hole Tour of Salt Lake City. With its back to the mountains, Salt Lake City faces the Great Salt Lake. With its homes which appear to be climbing and taking the first snowfields by storm, the capital of Utah is a surprisingly quiet city. With carefully trimmed lawns, streets lined with plum and poplar trees empty of people completely on Sundays. On that day, the Mormons spend the day with their families. The city, founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, is the religious center of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter Day Saints. You'll discover the Temple Square, Mormon sanctuary which contains the Temple, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall and two Visitor Centers; Seagull Monument, stone column crowned with two seagulls which were erected in the memory of the birds which exterminated the locusts and saved the colonies from famine in 1848; Utah State Capitol, inspired by Washington D.C., which was completed in 1916. Depart towards Wyoming, the "Cowboy State". First you'll go towards the banks of the "Great Salt Lake", a mythical lake which is more than 100 Km long and only 15 meters deep with salt content 8 times that of the ocean. Water evaporated over billions of years created the huge salted desert. Continue on for a photo-op stop on the banks of "Bear Lake" before returning to Paris and Montpelier. Then going along the southern part of Idaho you'll go through the towns of Afton and Alpin to finally arrive in Jackson, entry point of the Yellowstone National Park. Lunch. Continue on to Jackson Hole. Hotel check-in. Sightseeing in Jackson. The wooden homes painted in lively colors and their amusing signs giving them a "Far West" feel. 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 3 to 8
Day 5 : Jackson Hole - Yellowstone Breakfast American "Cowboy" style. Tour of Grand Teton National Park. This park offers a first look at a breathtaking landscape. A mountain range, the Tetons, rise up over a valley formed by glaciers at the bottom of which the Snake River winds its way along and which contains three lakes that are an extraordinary blue color. On the slopes covered by pine trees, large herds of moose pass calmly by, sharing their land with the stags and the brown bears. The lakes attract many types of birds; swans, pelicans, ducks and wild geese, but the most prestigious in the park is the bald headed eagle. Lunch at leisure. Tour of Yellowstone National Park, which is not only the first National Park in the world, but also the largest in the United States. Situated at the heart of the Rocky Mountains, on a volcanic plateau penned in by a ring of mountains, it offers magnificent natural sights: Geysers and hot water springs in the hundreds, form extraordinary shades of colors, the spectacular waterfalls of the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone River and the richness of its enchanting wildlife. Day 6 : Yellowstone - Yellowstone Breakfast - Continental style. Second day dedicated to sightseeing in Yellowstone National Park. The entire region was the site of intense volcanic activity during the Cretaceous-Tertiary Period and the remaining traces form geysers, mud volcanoes, hot springs, gas and smoke, stone terrace formations, hills of sulfur, craters, obsidian rocks as well as petrified trees and forests. Next to these impressive geological and thermal phenomena, (200 geysers), Yellowstone offers visitors a mountain landscape with sumptuous lakes and rivers full of fish and cut into sections by waterfalls. Lunch - Picnic in the park. Dinner at leisure. 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 4 to 8
This evening, depart for sightseeing in the Yellowstone Wildlife Reserve where you may see bear, Wapiti deer, moose, Muflon sheep, antelope, Roe deer or even lynx, pumas or wolves. Day 7 : Yellowstone - Cody Breakfast - Continental style. Depart for Cody taking a road which follows the Shoshone River in the Wapiti Valley and crosses a part of the immense Soshone National Forest. The countryside is punctuated with sandstone rock formations shaped by the wind which have amusing names: Playground of the Gods, Chinese Wall, Laughing Pig, etc. Located at an altitude of 1835 meters on a plateau overlooking the Shoshoni River, Cody owes its fame to Buffalo Bill (from his real name William F Cody) founder of the city in 1901. The entire city pays hommage to him. An ambiguous character, adventurer and outstanding rider, he claimed to be a friend of the Indians while all the while fighting them without mercy. The business man Buffalo Bill made the rodeo into a show known worldwide, even signing on the Sioux Chief Sitting Bull to his show and women such as the famous sharp shooter Annie Oakley. Lunch - Picnic in the park. Dinner - Buffet. Day 8 : Cody - Deadwood Depart towards the Black Hills which rise up majestically over the Great Plains, in the confines of the western part of South Dakota. The "Black Hills", riddled with caves, are the sacred heart of the Sioux land which calls them the Paha Sapa. In the morning, you'll cross the Bighorn National Forest and its mountainous landscape. Lunch. Tour of Devil's Tower National Monument, an isolated basalt column stands at 390 meters above the river bed. Continue on to Lead-Deadwood, towns which would be nothing if it weren't for the Gold Rush and a few famous bandits. At the announcement of the first extracted gold nugget, the waves of hysterical the gold prospectors armed with pickaxes surged on Deadwood. 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 5 to 8
The sides of the hills were covered with prospectors such as Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok and other legendary figures which left their mark there. There is still some folklore (see the chair in the saloon apparently authentic - where Wild Bill was treacherously shot down) and an interesting gold mine! Day 9 : Lead Deadwood - Rapid City Tour of Badlands National Park. These bare plateaus dating back to the Cretaceous-Tertiary Period are eroded by weather and carved into by twisting gorges. Their moonlike appearance, desolate, unsettling; their superb beauty is seductive and is even more so when the sun sets and highlights its contours, coloring the ridges orange and darkening the folds in the rock. They are neighbor to peaceful green hills and vast open prairies, bearing witness to the lush plant life that was here long ago. Lunch. Tour of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Mount Rushmore is one of the symbols of the American Democracy: Four immense faces of American Presidents are carved into the granite rock at an altitude of 1,800 meters (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt) and look out majestically over the Black Hills mountain range. Depending on the lighting, the rock is bathed in striking shadows and light which bring the expressions to life and reinforce the spectacular nature of the monument. Sightseeing tour of Black Hills. Gold was discovered in 1874 in the Black Hills which were just as quickly attacked by gold prospectors. A treaty signed with the Indians in 1868 guaranteed immunity of their territory; they were fooled once again and the territory was taken from them. On the way to the Badlands, you'll certainly see the sights which will remind of you that this is where the famous film "Dances with Wolves" was made. 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 6 to 8
Day 10 : Rapid City - Cheyenne Visit Custer State Park. Founded in 1910, it is one of the biggest natural parks of the United States. The many species of wildlife that live here in freedom adds to the beautiful scenery: deer, elk and bighorn sheep are well established and bison reintroduced now form a robust herd of nearly 1,500 animals. Tour of Crazy Horse Memorial. In 1942, a man named Korczak Ziolkowski, student of Borglum who sculpted the Presidents of Mount Rushmore, was asked to create this tribute to the great Sioux Chief Ogallala. Ogallala was a figure of the Indian resistance who fought at the siege of Little Bighorn (1876), the most terrible defeat of all the Indian wars for the army of George A. Custer. Once completed, this gigantic sculpture was to measure about 600 meters wide, 200 meters long and reach a height of about 170 meters. Lunch. Depart for Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming, city which is close to the Colorado border and which still has an unfinished feel to it. Perhaps this is because it was originally a railroad crossing founded by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1867. It got its name from the Cheyenne Indians who occupied the region before the arrival of the Whites. It is still an authentic Far West town with, among other things, its own famous rodeo, called the Cheyenne Frontier Days (the last week of July) which brings cowboys together each year from all around the United States. Day 11 : Cheyenne - Denver Breakfast - Continental style. Tour of Rocky Mountain National Park. At the heart of the American Rockies and by taking this road which is the highest paved road in the United States, you'll discover a sanctuary of abundant animal and plant life. Lunch - Picnic in the park. Depart for Denver. In 1858 and after crossing the vast plains of Colorado, prospectors found gold. The first building was built right away: A saloon. Known from then on as Denver the name of General James W. Denver, Governor of the Kansas territory the town would grow little by little as the new veins of gold were discovered. Three successive economic booms shaped the architecture of the city. The first two, following right after the discovery of the silver mines at Leadville and gold at Little Creek, 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 7 to 8
covered the city with Victorian style buildings. The start of oil exploration in the Rockies in 1973 led to the construction of 16 buildings in the center of town. Orientation tour of Denver: The "Mile High City" or "Queen of the Plains", the capital of Colorado seems more like a provincial (country) township than heavily populated urban area. Nothing is outrageous, futuristic or truly old in this peaceful city; it is just a handful of buildings which act as downtown! Depending on flight schedules, transfer to the airport will be by Grand Tourism bus. Assistance with boarding formalities will be provided. Customer Service 24/24-7/7 We are at your service. Don't hesitate to call on us. Your contact in France : Marie-Paule Griesbach mp@american-holiday.fr +33 (0)6.88.16.17.98 Ours sightseeing tours on : http://www.american-holiday.net 2011 American Holiday Inc. Page 8 to 8