Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful, iconic, and diverse locations in the world, Yellowstone National Park offers a plethora of incredible scenery, complete with everything from geysers to geothermal springs to mud pools. Encompassing more than 3400 miles, Yellowstone National Park is a true behemoth, and planning a visit requires conscientious care to ensure you get the most bang for your buck. Larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined, Yellowstone National Park is a bucket list visit for all. Keep reading to learn about the most popular Yellowstone National Park tours.
Day Tour from Jackson or Teton Village
If time is not in your favor, this one-day tour will allow you to see the majority of Yellowstone’s top attractions within the Lower Loop, including Upper Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring, and the Fountain Paint Pots. For the best experience, opt for guided Yellowstone tours that include an expert to navigate you through the landmarks and discuss their history.
Snowmobile Tour
The majority of the park is inaccessible to four-wheeled vehicles, but snowmobiles are able to take those with an adventurous spirit off the beaten path to areas where the park’s larger animals like to roam, and the scenery is breathtaking.
Rafting Adventure
Take to the water on a two-hour trip that will have you paddling Class II and III rapids while passing unbelievable sights like Electric Peak at 11,000 feet and Devil’s Slide. Running from May to August, these trips are age-appropriate for youngsters, with riders starting at the age of 12.
Photography Tours
Whether you are looking to spot wild animals or want to capture breathtaking scenery, a photography tour offers the best of both worlds. You’ll explore the park with a leading photographer as you search for moose, bears, wolves, and more along your route.
When it comes to enjoying all that Yellowstone National Park has to offer, you’ll want to select the best available Yellowstone Park tour guide. Luckily, the team at Yellowstone Tour Guides is a family-owned operation that has been specializing in tours, sightseeing, and hikes across Yellowstone and Big Sky, Montana since 2001. Fully licensed and accredited by the National Park Service, Yellowstone Tour Guides offers road-based trips, photography tours, day hiking, backpacking and skiing tours. To learn more information and schedule a tour with us, give our friendly team a call today.
For decades people have visited Yellowstone National Park to get up close and personal with nature and the amazing wildlife that lives there. Guided Yellowstone tours are one of the best ways to see the park. With a trained tour guide, you can be sure that you will not miss any of the exciting aspects of this amazing place.
Recently, backpackers enjoying Yellowstone were treated to a rare encounter. While backpacking through the Teton wilderness, Yellowstone naturalist guide Doug MacCartney witnessed what many experts believed to be an unusual phenomenon. Recorded on film, MacCartney witnessed a large gathering of wolverines chasing grizzlies across the snow.
Mr. MacCartney admits that it is already a rare thing to see wolverines at all, but images of the event recorded about 13 wolverines congregated in the high alpine. It was obvious that they were foraging for food.
When grizzlies entered the area, MacCartney was then given the show of a lifetime, as the wolverines commenced chasing the grizzlies.
Mr. MacCartney was not alone during this interesting experience in Yellowstone as he had two companions with him. The backpackers were hiking toward a particular peak, which was their goal for the day. While transversing a bowl on the summit’s western side, an area that was almost flat, they noticed a mother grizzly with two cubs. They were far enough away to safely continue hiking, while carefully watching the bears’ movements from a distance.
The hikers then noticed that the bears had started running. They stopped to see why and that was when they could see a wolverine. The animal was moving off of a big rock and going straight in the bears’ direction. To their great surprise, they saw another wolverine and another headed after the bears. All three men witnessed this unusual occurrence.
Soon there were too many wolverines to easily keep track of, but the men claim it was at least 13. They observed the wolverines split up into two groups to more effectively chase the grizzlies out of the area.
Several experts were consulted following this encounter. After reviewing the photos that were taken, some experts believe that the animals clashed in this way in competition for food in the area. There were likely animal carcasses nearby that the wolverines had already claimed. This in and of itself is not unusual, but what was unusual was the fact that the wolverines were congregated.
Generally, wolverines do not behave this way, and they do not work together to protect food or to fight off invaders.
This could be a result of animal behavior evolving as space and resources become scarce.
Yellowstone National Park is full of amazing animal encounters and guided tours are one of the best ways to experience these marvels of nature.
Many people pass up on vacation travels during winter because they think it’s not a good time to be out and about. Apart from the discomfort of the cold and the hazards of being out in the snow, it’s also mistakenly believed that there really is nothing much to see anyway.
Well, that can’t be any farther from the truth. Especially not with the fun adventures offered by Yellowstone Winter Tours. From bison and elk sightings to bighorn sheep, and even wolves, there’s still plenty to see and do in winter at Yellowstone.
If you’re looking forward to going on an adventure during winter, there’s no better place to do so than Yellowstone. Here are some of the best places you can check out for your winter wonderland experience.
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake would be frozen around this time, but there would certainly still be open pockets where you view otters coming in and out of the freezing cold waters.
Other wildlife that could be found lingering around the area during this season are bighorn sheep, antelopes, and coyotes.
Lamar Valley
The coyotes sure do wander freely throughout the park as they can also be found over the Lamar Valley in the winter. This is because the valley becomes a perfect spot for foraging and hunting food for them and other animals like mule deer and bison.
For the most part, however, Lamar Valley is more popularly known as the wolves’ turf, so if you’re eager to see them in their natural habitat, this would be a good place to go.
Firehole River & Madison River
Over at the Firehole River and Madison River, sightseers can look forward to witnessing a variety of wildlife while sitting inside a warm, cozy coach. Bison, elk, bobcats, as well as small songbirds, and trumpeter swans head to the rivers for winter sustenance.
The Northern Range
The Northern Range in Yellowstone offers plenty of activities to do in the wildlife in winter, such as snowmobiling, dog sledding, and ice fishing. Aside from that, it’s also a great place to find foxes, bison, elk, and moose, as well as dozens of interesting owl species.
There’s also the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, although the grizzlies will be in hibernation during this season.
Old Faithful
The Old Faithful area offers plenty of treats, from the most famous geyser to the herd of bison known to hang out nearby. There’s also a snowshoe tour that happens in the area that taps into the backcountry of Yellowstone.
These are but some great wildlife sights and activities you can look forward to in Yellowstone during winter. Find the right winter wildlife adventure for you and your family with Yellowstone Wildlife Tours.
Yellowstone National Park is one of the most majestic areas of the country with some of the best Yellowstone tours. However, that magnificence comes with some unfamiliar dangers. Yellowstone is full of various forms of wildlife, including bears, bison, elk, and wolves.
Believe it or not, bison have caused injury to more people in the park than any of the other wildlife. Bison are considered the largest land mammal in North America. They are beautiful creatures, but they can be dangerous. In fact, bison can run roughly three times as fast as you, so taking precautions is always your best bet.
Don’t Approach Wildlife
Bison, as well as the other animals in Yellowstone National Park, are completely unpredictable and wild. While they may appear calm and approachable, they most certainly are not.
Keep Your Distance and Remain on Trails
It is recommended that you stay a minimum of 25 yards away from bison. As you are hiking in Yellowstone, make sure to stay on the trails. Avoid venturing off into the meadows, especially if you see bison nearby.
Avoid Feeding Wildlife
Wildlife can become dependent on human food. Unfortunately, when this happens, the animals become increasingly aggressive toward humans and must be put down. Therefore, you should never feed bison or other wildlife. At the same time, keep any food or strong-odored items well sealed when not in use.
Don’t Block Traffic and Stay in Your Vehicle
When viewing Yellowstone wildlife and scenery from the roads, make sure that you never block vehicle or wildlife traffic. Use the provided pullouts to watch Yellowstone wildlife and provide cars behind you the option to go around. If you encounter a wildlife traffic jam, stay n the vehicle. You should never pursue any animal in the park to obtain a picture.
Stay Safe in Yellowstone National Park
If you’re planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park in the near future, it is important that you understand how to not only protect yourself but the park and Yellowstone wildlife as well. Your safety cannot be guaranteed while within the national park, but following the rules and staying aware of your surroundings will help prevent common accidents and injuries. It will also keep the wildlife safe.
Aside from keeping the aforementioned Yellowstone wildlife safety rules in mind, consider opting for Yellowstone Tours which are offered by certified guides.
People often wonder what the best hike in Yellowstone is. However, this tends to come down to personal preference. There are easy trails that take you to impeccable views, while there are longer, more difficult trails that also lead to impressive payoffs. Below are 5 of the most popular hikes in Yellowstone National Park that you won’t want to miss if you’re planning on hiking Yellowstone.
#1: North Rim Trail
Located in the Grand Canyon area of Yellowstone, the North Rim Trail is a moderate hike of roughly eight miles that follows the northern edge of the canyon. On this trail, you will encounter some of the most popular viewpoints in the area, including Grand View, Lookout Point, Crystal Falls Overlook, and Brink of the Upper Falls.
#2: Fairy Falls Trail
As one of the best waterfall hikes in Yellowstone, Fairy Falls Trail offers incredible waterfall views, as well as an impressive view of the Grand Prismatic Spring. From beautiful wildflowers to bears, there is a lot to see on this easy, kid-friendly hike to the 200-foot-high Fairy Falls waterfall. This is also the area of a younger pine forest, which is recovering from a late 1980s forest fire.
#3: Midway Geyser Basin Trail
For an up close and personal look at the Grand Prismatic Spring, the Midway Geyser Basin Trail is a short yet rewarding trail at less than one mile. Often referred to as the boardwalk trail, this trail will allow you to encounter all of the beautiful colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring—pinks, blues, purples—that are harder to see from the overlook point.
#4: Observation Point Trail
Old Faithful is Yellowstone’s most popular geyser. Erupting between 100 and 180 feet and roughly every 94 minutes, Old Faithful can be seen by hiking Yellowstone via the moderate Observation Point Trail. This trail provides you with a unique vantage point of the geyser. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to the observation point before the next eruption to ensure you don’t miss it.
#5: Clear Lake-Ribbon Lake Loop Trail
At roughly four miles, the Clear Lake-Ribbon Lake Loop Trail is an easy to moderate hike that offers a lot of variety for those looking to take in popular hotspots and the backcountry. From wildflower meadows and forests to hydrothermal activity, this trail will take you to the majestic, emerald green lake known as Clear Lake and the beautiful Ribbon Lake covered in lily pads.
There are many beautiful trails and places to see in Yellowstone National Park. With great hikes for everyone, this is by far one of the best national parks in the United States. Consider requesting information about Yellowstone Guided Tours to experience the park with an entertaining and informative guide.
