A family-oriented geography field course about the southwestern United States was conducted in 1978 by a community college in Michigan (Delta College). Course activities took place in Colorado. The major purpose of the field experience was to offer learning experiences to family groups rather than to individual students. For purposes of the field course, the family was interpreted to include nuclear families, single parent families with children, couples, and single person families. Teaching methods were based on the multiple age structure and multiple learning levels of the family unit. The course centered on five topics: (1) topography, flora, and fauna of the Colorado Plateau along the Colorado River; (2) cultural aspects related to settlement patterns of the area; (3) institutional aspects such as visitor centers, museums, mines, and businesses; (4) group dynamics involved in interactions between students of various ages, instructors, and resource persons; and (5) social aspects of potlucks, campfires, and recreation. Activities involved participants in traveling from Michigan to the Southwest, camping, rock identification, writing and art exercises, group discussion, and compiling and viewing slide shows. Feedback indicated that participants enjoyed the program and learned a lot about geography. The success of the program implies that field experiences are particularly beneficial to family groups and that field experiences may increase interest in geography. (DB)