Travel Tips

The Virtuous Traveler: Back to School in Yellowstone National Park

Locations in this article:  Toronto, Canada

Yellowstone National ParkAs school starts back up, America’s national parks often empty out as visitors get back to their real-life routines.  

Leslie Garrett, The Virtuous Traveler, reports on one organization that chooses to bring the classroom to the park.

The instructors and students who choose Yellowstone National Park as their classroom argue that little is more real than the geography, geology, biology, and history they see, touch and hear in the park.

To Jeff Brown, director of education of the Yellowstone Association, the not-for-profit overseeing the park’s education program since 1933, the courses give a much deeper understanding of a place with many facets.

Visitors can focus on aspects of particular interest, such as wildlife or the park’s fascinating geothermal features.

“We take visitors off the beaten path,” says Shauna Baron, one of the guides/instructors, “that others don’t get to see.”

Check out other places most Americans don’t see with America the Beautiful: Five Hidden National Parks. Or visit our National Parks Travel section.

Surprisingly, with more than 3 million visitors annually, less than 19 percent of Yellowstone visitors head into the backcountry. Indeed, less than 10 percent get more than 100 feet from their vehicle.

Yellowstone CraterYet the behind-the-scenes aspect offered by these courses is hard to resist, given that Yellowstone covers more than 2.2 million acres, reaches into three states, and provides refuge to many rare or endangered species, including the bison, grey wolf and bald eagles. The park is also home to such fascinating geothermal features that scientists flock to study and analyze the phenomena, including the cyano bacteria that is believed to be the first life form on the planet.

Baron loves to see, when a group, accustomed to being “spoon fed” information, as she says, start to become curious instead. She sees it often during the courses she teaches. Visitors start asking deeper questions and seeking answers themselves.

Learn more about the park system with Spotlight on America’s National Parks: Documentary Filmmaker Ken Burns’ Best Idea?

Pink Cone Geyser at SunsetBrown shares in Baron’s pleasure, noting that our day-to-day lives have taken many of us far from the natural world. “And the idea of going to the middle of Wyoming into a wilderness park can be daunting,” he says.

The courses, he explains, take the worry away. You’re accompanied by a naturalist guide, equipped not only with an incredible wealth of knowledge and passion for the park, but wilderness skills should they be required (and they rarely are).

The park is particularly reaching out to families, offering up a Yellowstone for Families program, designed for parents and kids aged 8 – 12. The kids go through the park ranger program and Brown is heartened to note how quickly kids who, he says, arrive “too cool for school” quickly become enamored with the park.

Shauna Baron, who guides family programs, says she sees a bond form among the family as “busy-ness fades away.”

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A focus on the threats facing the park has become a key component of all the courses. Beth Pratt, environmental director for Xanterra, Yellowstone’s in-park concessioner, was slated to teach a specific course on climate change and its affect on the park.

“Environmental/social justice classes in the park are a natural fit and important to foster stewardship,” she insists. “These classes bring public attention to these threats and compel visitors to protect the resources they cherish.” She says it’s important that visitors to the park draw a connection between what they do at home and how that helps protect natural resources.

The issue of climate change is becoming inherent in all of the courses, says Brown. “We include that message so that visitors understand the threat.” Kids, he says, understand immediately the importance of conservation. And adults, “once they really understand,” says Brown, “will be more motivated to protect it.”

Read Leslie Garrett’s exploration of climate change’s effects on Yellowstone in The Virtuous Traveler: Yellowstone National Park, Hot(ter) and Bothered.

While the bulk of the programs are offered throughout the summer, there are still plenty from which to choose throughout the year. Winter is a particularly good time for viewing wildlife, says Brown, when it’s much more visible. For keeners, some courses offer a volunteer research component. “These courses are one of the park’s best-kept secrets,” he says. “They help people fall in love with Yellowstone.”

Find the Yellowstone Association’s course offerings at www.yellowstoneassociation.org

Yellowstone isn’t the only national park offering up educational programs. Plenty others are happy to offer up nature as the teacher and guide you through topics of interest, from wildlife photography to getting to know grizzlies (figuratively speaking). Check out the parks below and check with other national parks to see whether your favorite park offers up some education with the great outdoors:

The Sierra Club also offers guided trips through many of the national parks, led by informed and entertaining instructors. Find out more by visiting www.sierraclub.org

Leslie Garrett is author of The Virtuous Consumer: Your Essential Shopping Guide for a Better, Kinder, Healthier World.Visit her at www.thevirtuoustraveler.com.

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