Travel Tips & Trends

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Interesting places to take the kids

Engaging teens and "tweens" in family travel can be challenging. Here are four notable Western American destinations for family travelers:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Carlsbad, N.M.

Visitors of all ages can access the 8.2-acre Big Room cave via an elevator ride and a short walk, or they can descend the equivalent of 79 stories on a more strenuous trail. Curious junior spelunkers might prefer a ranger-led cave tour requiring belly crawls through narrow passages. Bat Flight-the nightly feeding exodus of more than 400,000 cave-dwelling Mexican bats-is a summertime phenomenon viewed from an outdoor amphitheater.

Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada

Elevators lower visitors down 500 feet inside canyon walls, where they must walk another 250 feet to see the eight power-plant generators.

An observation deck atop the visitor center provides a great photo opportunity. After a self-paced tour of Hoover Dam, enjoy the facilities of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.

Yellowstone holds the distinction of being America's first national park. Turn your visit into a true outdoor adventure by participating in hiking, bicycling or horseback riding, or take the family on an Old West cookout, stagecoach ride or motorcoach tour. The Junior Ranger Program puts Yellowstone's unique geology and ecology into perspective for youngsters.

Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, Calif.

Some star-struck teens and tweens dream of going to Hollywood, the cradle of the motion picture industry. The Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour goes behind the scenes of blockbuster movie sets—War of the Worlds and Jurassic Park: The Lost World, for example—and reveals special-effects secrets of other new releases. Rides, performances and the Nickelodeon Blast Zone add to the fun. While in Tinseltown, stop at Grauman's Chinese Theatre so kids can stand in the footprints of movie idols like Adam Sandler and Johnny Depp, and then visit the landmark Hollywood Bowl.