waterton wildflowers

What is an interpretive tour? 4 reasons you’ll love it

People often think that getting out into nature means going hiking or camping⁠—and this is definitely one of our favourite ways to connect with the outdoors! But when engaging in this type of grand, goal-getting adventure, it’s easy to miss the smaller, delightful details of what’s around you. If you’re looking for an outdoor experience where you can explore, connect, and learn in a fun, immersive environment, an interpretive tour is your best bet and here are some reasons to fall in love with interpretive tours. 

Interpretive tours are fully guided adventures that use storytelling techniques to make guests feel like they’re connecting with culture or nature in a whole new way and engage them in a narrative exploration of local environments. An interpretive tour helps you immerse yourself in the landscape and understand its history and traditions like never before.

Here are four facts about interpretive tours and why they make such fantastic experiences for all ages. 

1. Interpretive tours are immersive adventures.

Interpretive tours are an intimate, hands-on, and immersive way of learning about a region’s culture, history, and wildlife through the expertise of a knowledgeable guide. You get to interact with your environment in a whole new way, and it’s not your basic “get acquainted with nature” kind of experience. You’ll be integrating yourself into the place you’re visiting instead of just passing through.

At Uplift Adventures, all our interpretive tours are guided by a knowledgeable person who teaches you about the history and ecology of the area, and offer hands-on activities that draw your senses into the hike. For example, did you know that mining remnants are scattered along the Miner’s Path? On our Miner’s Path Historical Tour, our guides share real stories from this underground mine while helping you find the hidden gems along the trail. 

2. Interpretive tours are interactive. 

Interpretive tours are very much a shared experience where guests are encouraged to ask questions and share their stories or thoughts on what they’re seeing, hearing, smelling, or even tasting. Learning alongside other people helps bring about conversations about what you see around you, which helps us connect to the world around us, even if we’re just talking about a flower growing by the trail!

Our stories are powerful. They’re how we relate to each other and make sense of the world. By telling stories, we can better understand places and have more meaningful experiences in the outdoors.

3. Interpretive tours are all about storytelling to connect people with place.

Your interpretive tour experience will allow you to connect with nature through the story of the people and place, offering exciting ways to discover the rich history and cultural diversity of a region. They don’t just present facts: they make those facts come alive by putting them into a dynamic, interactive form.

At Uplift, our interpretive guides share stories about the culture, landscape, wildlife, and plants so that visitors can understand and appreciate what they see.

4. Interpretive tours are great for families and all activity levels.

Interpretive tours are great for kids and adults alike! If you prefer learning through participation instead of reading facts in a guidebook or listening to lectures, you’ll love interpretive tours. On an interpretive tour, you can really explore the environment in an immersive and fun way.

For families, interpretive tours offer an engaging way for kids to learn about local history. They’re especially popular because they don’t feel like school⁠—learning happens through experiencing the outdoors firsthand.

Interpretive tours in Crowsnest Pass and Waterton Lakes National Park
At Uplift Adventure, interpretive tours are our favourite outdoor experiences! 
There’s nothing like travelling back in time as we discover old mine ruins, settlements, and mine entrances as we explore a ghost town on our Lille Historical Tour. Or learning how to identify the unique and stunning biodiversity on the Waterton Wildflower Walk tour. Join us in a tour and give yourself more reasons to fall in love with interpretive tours


Book your interactive, immersive interpretive tour now!

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