Mike portraying
      Jack London in the first person (2005)

      
 Basic
      Guidelines 

      for Guided Tours 

      of

      Jack London 

      State Historic Park

      with 

      Mike Wilson

Does your class desire an unusual, educational experience? A personal tour of the Park is a chance to experience Jack London’s historic, beloved 1,400-acre Beauty Ranch in Glen Ellen, California, and an opportunity to quickly learn a great deal more about the life and times of this fascinating and legendary American author and adventurer. Tours can be specifically tailored for your group. For more than two decades, school groups, business organizations, tour groups, tourists, and entertainers enjoyed having “Jack” guide them through the Park for the day. It was a narrated, walking tour and can be custom-tailored to fit your schedule and what you are most interested in learning.

NOW, you can still enjoy the same insights on a custom-tailored, narrated walking tour of the Park with the man who is celebrated for his portrayal of Jack London. Mike is still available!

For a fee schedule or for more information, please contact us (see below).

“I had a great time and this was one of the best field trips ever.” ~ John B., 7th grader, Pacifica

The following information should be helpful to you in planning your tour with Mike Wilson:

View from Jack and Charmian’s cottage	When confirmation of a tour has been received, Mike will talk with the coordinator of the event to plan an individualized tour specifically tailored for your group and its interests, and what would be most effective within your group’s scheduled time frame at the Park. If you are coming to the Park with a school group, Mike likes to know which works by Jack London the students have read. Comfortable walking shoes and comfortable clothing are a must! The smaller the group, the more intimate and effective the learning experience will be.
Mike prefers a minimum tour time of two hours in order to physically tour the Park at a comfortable pace and to relate an appreciable amount of information about Jack London’s life and times. If requested, he will join you while you eat lunch, continuing to talk and answer any questions. The fee we charge covers up to four hours of Mike’s time. And remember . . . even though Mike is no longer impersonating Jack London, he is an acknowledged expert on London’s life and times.	Ruins of the magnificent Wolf House
Mike will meet your group at a pre-arranged time and location. There are several locations within the Park from which a tour can start. (1) Some tour groups first visit the House of Happy Walls gift shop and informal museum. This museum, filled with personal belongings of both Jack and Charmian, and its souvenir gifts (including books), orients visitors very well to Jack London and his Beauty Ranch, which became Jack London State Historic Park. Mike usually meets the group after they exit the museum, and after a brief introduction, begins the tour by leading them down the trail to Wolf House. (2) We recommend that a school group meet Mike in the upper parking lot, choosing to visit the House of Happy Walls, with its many learning opportunities, at the conclusion of the tour. Visiting the Museum at the conclusion of the tour offers an excellent opportunity to reinforce what the students have learned . . . and learn some new facts on their own. It is also a chance for the students to purchase books by and about Jack London and souvenir items . . . and not have to carry them during the Park tour. (3) Mike has also met groups in the parking lot as their bus first arrives, at the picnic grounds area while they eat, or at the ruins of Wolf House.
To reserve a specific date, a 25% deposit is requested. A confirmation and invoice letter are mailed when booking arrangements are finalized. Full payment is requested upon completion of the tour. If a tour is cancelled more than 45 days before your tour, your deposit will be returned, less a small processing fee. With 45 days or less cancellation notice, the full 25% booking deposit fee will be retained. Rain does not cancel a tour; if it rains, dress appropriately and bring umbrellas. A recommended reading list is available. References can be provided upon request. Please note: Groups are responsible for their own transportation, lunch, and entry fees into the State Historic Park.	The gravesite of Jack and Charmian London
	“Jack” speaking to 7th graders from the Oakland Military Academy on their Park Tour in mid-June 2002. Special thanks to Rick Moniz for taking the photo and to the Hitachi DVD Camcorder belonging to Saundra Leake.