Bison, bear and wolves, oh my! You will not believe this trip. Steaming pots of turquoise and copper. Sulfur in the air. A geyser shooting off like clockwork. Tumbling waterfalls. Another Grand Canyon! Golden grassland. Snowcapped peaks. Rushing rivers. Weathered barns. An old Western town - with real-life cowboys! The Continental Divide by bike. Gorges by foot. Glacial lakes by boat. Finding your way through a life-size maze. And camping out every night. These two national parks are unreal.

Deluxe Camping

Madison Campground (1 night): Camp close to the junction of the Gibbon, Madison and Firehole Rivers.

Grant Village Campground (2 nights): Your tent is a short walk from the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

Colter Bay Campground (2 nights): The stunning Teton range provides the backdrop at our wooded campsite near Jackson Lake.

Daily Mileage Options & Cumulative Elevation Gain

Day 1

• Levels 1 to 3 3 Route Options Available
• Biking 9, 16, 35 miles
• 100 - 800 feet elevation gain

Day 2

• Levels 1 to 4 3 Route Options Available
• Walking 4.1, 7.4, 9.2 miles
• 500 - 1200 feet elevation gain

Day 3

• Level 1 1 Route Option Available
• Biking 15 miles
• 700 feet elevation gain
• Kayaking 4 hours

Day 4

• Levels 1 to 3 Several Route Options Available
• Hiking 3 - 7 miles
• 0 - 1000 feet elevation gain   

Day 5

• Levels 1 to 3  4 Route Options Available
• Biking 15, 22, 28, 37 miles
• 0 - 500 feet elevation gain

Day 6

• Levels 1 to 2  3 Route Options Available
• Biking 9, 21 miles
• 200 feet elevation gain
• Hiking 1 mile
• 500 feet elevation gain

Please note: On this Family Trip, our routes follow gentle terrain with no significant gain or loss in elevation. Liberal van shuttling is incorporated into the itinerary to facilitate our activities and mileage is kept moderate to enable you to spend more time exploring on your own.

Routes For All Abilities

Every Backroads trip is designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests and fitness levels. We know your pace may vary from one day to the next-and your traveling companion's may differ somewhat from yours. So we present a range of mileage options, and each day you decide exactly what and how much you want to do.

Activity Level	Average Time	Biking Average	Walking Average
Level 1	2-3 hours	10-20 mile	2-5 miles
Level 2	2-4 hours	21-30 miles	5-7 miles
Level 3	3-5 hours	31-40 miles	7-9 miles
Level 4	4-6 hours	41-55 miles	9-11 miles
Level 5	5-7+ hours	56-75+ miles	11-13+ miles

2012 Dates & Pricing*

FAMILY TRIPS

*Prices may change. Once you book your trip, your price is guaranteed.

Recommended Kids Ages

Minimum Ages:

• Recommended minimum age for the trip: 6 years
• Minimum age restriction to ride own bike: 7 years
• Minimum age restriction to kayak: 6 years

General Info on Minimum Ages:

We strongly encourage families to join our Family Trips, designed with kid- and adult-friendly features. Please note that we have a minimum age requirement of 1 year for all Inn trips and 2 years for all Camping trips. Other than that, we do not restrict trips to a minimum age except in the rare case of a hotel age restriction. We do, however, recommend minimum ages based on the following criteria:

• 12+ amount of cultural appreciation, difficulty of activities, routes
• 9+ difficulty of activities/activity age restrictions, routes
• 6+ several longer dinners; routes are difficult for pulling a Burley and therefore not appropriate for younger children; difficulty of activities/activity age restrictions

Please note that a trip may feature an activity with an older age requirement than the minimum age recommendation for the trip. Younger kids are still welcome on the trip and while they will not be able to participate in the activity, the leaders will suggest an alternate activity. For safety reasons, children under 7 may not ride their own bikes and are required to ride on a Piccolo or in a Burley. For certain destinations, children must be 9 or older to ride their own bikes.

Guest Trip Reviews

The Yellowstone/Grand Teton trip was nothing short of fabulous. I had expected the parks, wildlife, and activities to be outstanding...what I didn't anticipate were the phenomenal guides! Each one of them could hold an intellectual conversation about the history of the park, mating habits of a particular species with the adults then switch gears in a heartbeat and organize a game of "Zip-Zap" with 13 kids! They had endless energy, were fun-loving, humorous, considerate, and possessed excellent communication/ organizational skills...not to mention superior intellect. In addition, I didn't realize how much fun we would have getting to know the other families. It was a superb crowd. As a final testament to how much our ENTIRE family enjoyed our Backroads experience...as we departed we were all teary eyed saying good-bye to our fellow travelers and Backroads guides, but our daughters cried for two solid hours after we left because they were so sad it had to end! What an experience...THANK YOU BACKROADS!!

Jennifer Foster - Phoenix, AZ

We have traveled all over the world, and have had many great experiences. However, this Backroads trip topped them all!! This was, without a doubt, the best vacation we have ever had. Our trip leaders were absolutely amazing. They worked endlessly to make sure everything for the guests went off without a hitch. These are truly great people to have in your company. They are not only very competent and intelligent, but they are also just such nice people!! We were just in awe of their amazing work ethic and even more amazed at their patience. They made everyone comfortable and at home. Everything about this trip was fantastic and I think all the guests were disappointed that it had to come to an end. My kids are already asking, "What Backroads trip are we taking next year?" We will definitely do another trip in the near future. Thanks for the great memories!!

Brad Johnson - San Francisco, CA

Absolutely fantastic. This is our second trip with Backroads and you exceeded our expectations in every way. The opportunity for our family to experience Yellowstone and the Tetons on a family camping trip was something we will never forget. Every aspect of the trip was well planned and beautifully executed. We had a blast. I can't say enough about the Backroads leaders and support people we've met on our trips. The thing that comes across so clearly is that they absolutely love what they're doing and appreciate that no matter how many times they've done this or seen that, for us it's usually a first time experience and your great folks embrace the opportunity to share that wonder with us.

Joel Kelly - Studio City, CA

The trip was amazing. Very well organized and executed. But the thing that made it such a spectacular success were our amazing leaders. Each one of them contributed something special and memorable. Even when they were working so hard to make us a great meal, or unloading/loading equipment, they were always willing to stop what they were doing to answer a question, or assist with any request. We took pictures of them so that we can always remember them and I can point to each of them when guiding my kids toward their adulthoods. They were inspiring, fun and attentive.

Erin Ades - Ridgewood, NJ

The trip exceeded my expectations. The leaders worked seamlessly together to provide a very active, yet still relaxing, vacation. Not something easily pulled off with a large group that included more kids than adults! Their balance of efficiently and proactively taking care of all the details and extensive chores involved with camping and facilitating the day's activities, yet still being very engaged with their guests on a personal level is to be commended. Could not have asked for a better group of leaders!!

Ken Hines - Palo Alto, CA

We saw and did so many wonderful things each day that I'm sure that we experienced more in one vacation than most families do in two or three. I appreciated the structure of the trip: from moderate activity on days 1 and 2, to a more relaxed pace on day 3 (kayaking) to the "day off" on day 4, and the more challenging pace on days 5 and 6. I've always wanted to camp with my family but couldn't face all the planning and work involved. This trip let me share all that I love about the outdoors with my family and allowed me to enjoy it without becoming exhausted! We appreciated the cheerful and patient attention that the leaders gave our girls and the time that gave us to spend together and with the other adults on our trip. It was an awesome trip. We will always remember our 15th anniversary!

Mary Fernandez - Madison, NJ

I have never been to that part of the country before, so I really did not know what to expect. We have traveled many places and by far this was it for us. I believe the team made this trip so inspiring that we have decided to visit again. Without Backroads we would have never seen the area the way we did. Even my 17-year-old wanted to know when can we do it again.

Jamie Horn - Howell, MI

The best trip we have ever had. Before the trip my kids did not want to go, but they had such a great time that they were sad the trip was ending. The leaders were excellent. They were great with the kids and the adults. They were extremely knowledgeable, personable, and helpful. We had an amazing time.

Diane Mazziotti - McDonald, PA

We had a great time on this trip! We are not campers and we don't exercise outdoors much, so we were a little concerned about how we would do. However, the trip planning and our guides did everything to make us extremely comfortable. The campsites were well planned and set up and the food was excellent. We really enjoyed the van support on all the activities. It was so nice for each of us (the adults and the kids) to do only the amount of activity we wanted to, and to have the option to stop at any time along the route when we had had enough. We were so grateful to have our kids well taken care of if my husband and I wanted to take a longer route and the kids had a great time staying with the guides and the other kids. And, the food was incredible! I can't believe what the guides could pull out of an outdoor cooksite. On top of the great meals, we looked forward to the wonderful hors d'oeuvres every night, and the snacks that were provided for every outing were superb.

M. Fry - Evanston, IL