This unique geography school trip to San Francisco, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon offers your students the chance to get close to nature in a fun and active way!
Start your trip in San Francisco, where your students will consider how it's affected by its location on the San Andreas fault. Then visit the award-winning California Academy of Science and their Earthquake exhibit, where you can learn all about aspects of earthquakes on a local and international scale.
Then spend 4 nights in Yosemite National Park, where your students will enjoy a real geography adventure! Continue on towards Las Vegas, making a brief stop in Death Valley before ending your trip with the spectacle that is the Grand Canyon.
Suggested Itinerary (11 days, 9 nights)
| Day | Morning Summary | Afternoon Summary | Evening Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Flight to San Francisco |
On arrival transfer to your hotel for check in |
Free time |
| 2 |
Visit the California Academy of Science - Rainforest Exhibit |
Take in the view of the Golden Gate Bridge |
Free time |
| 3 |
Optional visit to Alcatraz |
Visit to Fisherman's Wharf |
Free time |
| 4 |
Depart San Francisco for Yosemite National Park |
Arrive at Yosemite and move in to your NatureBridge heated tent camp at Curry Village |
Dinner and evening programme |
| 5 |
Breakfast in camp and depart on hike |
Lunch on trail Today focus on "Earth Science & Geology" |
Dinner and evening programme |
| 6 |
Breakfast in camp and depart on hike |
Lunch on trail Today focus on "Watershed Studies" |
Dinner and evening programme |
| 7 |
Breakfast in camp and depart on hike |
Lunch on trail Today focus on "Current Environmental Issues" |
Dinner and evening programme |
| 8 |
Breakfast at camp before departing from Yosemite for Las Vegas |
Stop en-route to visit Death Valley - the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America |
Arrive in Las Vegas, evening at leisure |
| 9 |
Day trip to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam (entry optional) |
Free time |
|
| 10 |
Free time to explore Las Vegas |
Transfer to the airport for flight home |
Overnight flight |
| 11 |
Arrival in the UK |
||
- 4-day NatureBridge Adventure field trip programme (full board)
- 9 nights' bed and breakfast accommodation
- Airport taxes and passenger duty at current rates
- Airport transfers in resort
- ATOL protected return flights from the UK
- Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
- Day trip to the Grand Canyon by private coach
- Detailed information pack
- Entry to the California Academy of Science
- Free staff place ratio 1:10
- Itinerary planning service
- National Park entrance fees
- Private coach transfers between destinations
- Vamoos travel app - giving you access to all your trip documents on your phone or tablet
- VAT at current rates to tour operators
Curriculum Links
A-Level
- Water and carbon cycles
- Characteristics of a distinct ecosystem
- Biodiversity: flora and fauna adaptations
- Hot desert systems and landscapes
- Minerals and rocks
- Fossils and time
- Geomorphic processes
- Geomorphology
- Geohazards - seismic activity
- Glacial landscapes beyond the UK
- Glacial erosion, transportation and deposition
- Case study of a river catchment
- Fieldwork
GCSE
- Characteristics of ecosystems
- Biodiversity: flora and fauna adaptations
- Balance and interrelationships of biomes
- Water and carbon cycles
- Features of drylands and deserts
- Physical processes affecting land formation
- Erosion, transportation and deposition
- Fluvial landforms
- Fieldwork - investigating physical environments
- Characteristics of plate boundaries
- Effects of tectonic hazards
Key Stage 3
- Geological timescales and plate tectonics
- Rocks, weathering and soils
- Hydrology and coasts
Accommodation
Tour Highlights
Explore Yosemite National Park
Hike and study the landscape of Yosemite National Park with a choice of three areas to focus on – life sciences and ecology, watershed studies, earth science and geology, cultural history or current environmental issues.
Located in the western Sierra Nevada and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite National Park is world famous for its spectacular scenery including waterfalls, giant sequoias, mountains, glaciers and meadows.
Yosemite was key to the development of the USA’s national park system, thanks to the movement to protect it from development which led to President Abraham Lincoln signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864.
Did you know?
Almost 95% of Yosemite National Park is designated wilderness and boasts an incredible biological diversity – the park is home to over 250 species of vertebrates.
Visit California Academy of Science
The California Academy of Science is the greenest museum in the world and houses a world-class aquarium, planetarium and natural history museum!
It’s also one of the largest natural history museums in the world, with over 46 million specimens in its collection.
Founded in 1853, the Academy is particularly notable for championing the involvement of female scientists. In fact, in its first year of existence it passed a resolution approving of female participation in every department of natural science and inviting their cooperation.
Did you know?
The Academy is topped by a living green roof of 1.7 million plants, all of which are native to California. And its design was inspired by the seven major hills of San Francisco!
Visit the Grand Canyon
Possibly the most famous natural attraction in the US, the Grand Canyon is possibly one of the best places in the world to learn about the effects of erosion.
Here, two billion years of the Earth’s geological history is laid bare, thanks to the erosive power of the Colorado River and its tributaries.
This is a truly spectacular visit that will impress upon your students how the study of geography can help them to understand the incredible world around them.
Did you know?
The Grand Canyon is huge! It measures 277 miles in length and at its stretches 18 miles across at its widest point!
