Private Tours Available

Best of Yellowstone

Visitors Stop Along The Wooden Boardwalk To Admire The Vibrant Reds, Greens And Blues Of The Grand Prismatic Spring In Yellowstone National Park
  • Destination
    Yellowstone
  • Season
    Apr - Oct
  • Group Size
    Max 8
  • Duration
    8-10 Hours
From $350
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Overview

Yellowstone National Park is one of America’s great treasures. This full day safari will show off the highlights of this incredible place; volcanic thermal features, giant waterfalls, diverse wildlife, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and Yellowstone Lake. Throughout the day we will drive scenic roads, walk historic boardwalks, enjoy the peace of natural landscapes and use our optics to view wildlife. Your guide is your driver, and their goal is to cover as many of Yellowstone’s famous features as they can in a day.

Highlights

  • Old Faithful & Grand Prismatic Spring
  • Lower and Upper Falls, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
  • Geysers, Hot Springs, Mudpots & Fumaroles

Each tour will be tailored to the specific desires and needs of each group and guest. Our guides’ flexibility and adaptability allow them to plan the day perfectly for optimal sight-seeing. Along the way we will include what we consider to be “must-see” attractions of the National Park; famous volcanic features such as Old Faithful Geyser, geologic wonders such as The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and the megafauna who call Yellowstone home such as bison, elk, bears and wolves. 

This safari will entail a full day of exploration where we take care of every detail so all you have to do is enjoy the day. We will pick you up and drop you off at your lodging or the most appropriate meeting point. We provide fuel for the journey, including snacks, beverages, fresh picnic lunches, optics for distance viewing, and the passion of our naturalists who will feed your curiosities with their knowledge gained from years of experience in the field.

Your exact route and itinerary will be determined by your interests, current wildlife sightings, and current weather and road conditions.  Our guides are all highly experienced, with thousands of hours in the field, and will expertly tailor your safari to you and your group.

Yellowstone is the world’s first National Park, and for good reason. Not only does this land sit atop one of the largest super volcanoes in the world, showing off half of planet Earth’s hydrothermal features like geysers and hot springs, but also the environment itself is nothing short of awe-inspiring; with mountains that touch the sky, grizzly bears that scour the earth and the sound of more than 250 waterfalls roaring as our wilderness ambience.

Yellowstone is vast National Park notable for a variety of landscape and terrain. The southern half of the park is known as the Yellowstone Plateau, a level expanse of sprightly lodgepole pine forest which has grown over the crater formed by the last eruption of the Yellowstone Volcano. It is a high-elevation landscape between 7000 and 8500 ft above sea level. Here we focus on Yellowstone Lake, the largest alpine body of water in the United States, the rolling wildlife-filled hills of Hayden Valley, the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River with several waterfalls as tall as sky-scrapers, and as many geysers, hot springs, mud-pots and fumaroles as our guests want to see.

Yellowstone’s roads cover about 300 miles of the National Park in a unique figure-eight design meant to bring visitors as close as possible to the highlights. Our tours focus on all the best known and unknown attractions on the lower loop of this path. Our guides will make the most of your time and in a single day show you as much as they can to paint the picture of why Yellowstone deserves its status not only as the first, but as the best-loved National Park in the country.

What's Included

  • Hotel pickup (private tours only)
  • Professional naturalist guide
  • Private or small group safari
  • Catered picnic lunch
  • Assorted snack basket
  • Non-alcoholic beverages (hot and cold)
  • Use of UHD binoculars and spotting scopes
  • Guide gratuities
  • National Park entrance fees

Open Safari NORTH

Departs Bozeman/Gardiner
$350 per guest. Two person minimum booking requirement. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests. This is a mixed group safari.
From $350
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Open Safari WEST

Departs Big Sky/West Yellowstone
$350 per guest. Two person minimum booking requirement. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests. This is a mixed group safari.
From $350
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Open Safari EAST

Departs Cody
$350 per guest. Two person minimum booking requirement. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests. This is a mixed group safari.
From $350
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Private Safari NORTH or WEST

Departs Bozeman/Gardiner/Big Sky/West Yellowstone
$895 for 1-2 guests; $250 for each additional guest. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests.
This is a private safari.
From $895
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Private Safari EAST

Departs Cody
$895 for 1-2 guests; $250 for each additional guest. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests.
This is a private safari.
From $895
Book Now

Pickup Options

Open Tours

For open tours, we have three entrance options.  If you are staying in Bozeman, Paradise Valley, Gardiner or Mammoth, choose the NORTH entrance.  These tours will stop in designated meeting locations along this route. Guests on this route will enjoy the following highlights: the historic town of Mammoth, which is Yellowstone’s Headquarters and the site of pre-park service Fort Yellowstone, the Travertine Hillside Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, beautiful Swan Lake Flats, the ethereal Norris Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring or other Geyser Basins, Old Faithful Geyser erupting, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with two major waterfalls, and countless wildlife potential along the way.

For guests staying in Big Sky or West Yellowstone, choose the WEST entrance.  These tours will stop in two designated meeting locations along this route. Guests on this route will enjoy the following highlights: Yellowstone’s Western Gate in the town of West Yellowstone, the gorgeous Madison River Valley, Grand Prismatic Spring or other Geyser Basins, Old Faithful Geyser erupting, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with two major waterfalls, and countless wildlife potential along the way.

For guests staying in Cody, WY or nearby, choose the EAST entrance. These tours will stop at several designated meeting points along the route from Cody to the East Entrance of the park. Guests on this route will enjoy the following highlights: The Shoshone River Canyon through Shoshone National Forest, Sylvan Pass and Yellowstone’s Eastern Gate, Yellowstone Lake and Fishing Bridge, Hayden Valley, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with two major waterfalls, Grand Prismatic Spring or other Geyser Basins, Old Faithful Geyser erupting, and countless wildlife potential along the way.

For all open tours, you will meet your guide at designated central meeting locations. When you reserve, we will confirm your exact pickup time and location based on the season and proximity to your lodging.  Please check your confirmation email for the full list of meeting locations for open tours.

Please allow your guide an additional 5-10 minutes before and after the scheduled pickup time in case of weather delays or traffic conditions.

Approximate pickup times include:

North Entrance

  • 6:00AM Bozeman
  • 6:45AM Paradise Valley
  • 7:30AM Gardiner
  • 7:45AM Mammoth

West Entrance

  • 6:45AM Big Sky
  • 7:45AM West Yellowstone

East Entrance

  • 6:00AM Cody

Private Tours

For all private tours, our guests are picked up (and dropped off) at their lodging location. We pick up in BozemanParadise ValleyGardinerMammoth, Big Sky, West Yellowstone, and Cody. We also offer specialty pickups at West Yellowstone**, Canyon Lodge**, Old Faithful Inn** and Madison Junction**.  At the time of reservation, we’ll confirm your exact pickup time, based on the season, as well as your exact pickup location.

Please allow your guide an additional 5-10 minutes before and after the scheduled pickup time in case of weather delays or traffic conditions.

Approximate pickup times include:

North Entrance

  • 6:00AM Bozeman
  • 6:45AM Paradise Valley
  • 7:30AM Gardiner
  • 7:45AM Mammoth

West Entrance

  • 6:45AM Big Sky
  • 7:45AM West Yellowstone
  • 6:00AM West Yellowstone**

East Entrance

  • 6:00AM Cody

Yellowstone Interior

  • 6:30AM Madison Junction**
  • 7:00AM Canyon Lodge**
  • 7:00AM Old Faithful Inn**

**Specialty pickups in West Yellowstone and at these specified locations within Yellowstone National Park are available for an additional fee of $100.

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Thank you Yellowstone Safari Company! My guide was top notch. He shared quite a bit of historical, geological, and biological information about Yellowstone. I saw bald eagles, a moose, elk, bison, and a grizzly bear, among other animals. If you're looking for a tour of Yellowstone, this is the tour company to choose.
Roxanne W.

FAQs

When is the best time to visit Yellowstone?

Each season provides a different experience in Yellowstone National Park.  Summer days are warm and long and many different kinds of animals can be seen on the move, tending their young or foraging for food.  Grizzly bears might be the main summer attraction, but plenty of other wildlife can be seen and observed.  Winter, in contrast, is the season of the wolf.  While grizzly bears hibernate and other wildlife migrate to lower elevations or warmer climates, the wolf has adapted to thrive in the harsh winter conditions of Yellowstone and is much more visible on the landscape than in the summer months.  There’s no best time to visit the park, but if you know where to look, you’ll be rewarded with an amazing experience in any season.  Our Best of Yellowstone Tour is a summer tour, designed to show off the highlights of Yellowstone National Park.

How do I take the best photos at Yellowstone?

In a place like Yellowstone National Park, it’s hard to snap a bad photo. With dramatic alpine landscapes and colorful geological wonders, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for a frame worthy photo. Our Best of Yellowstone Tour offers great opportunities to photograph the landscape and the geology that is unique to Yellowstone National Park. Be sure to let your guide know that photography is a goal for the day, so they can be on the lookout for photo opportunities. If wildlife photography is more your style, the Yellowstone Wildlife Safari offers personalized attention to wildlife throughout the Park. We will always be sure to keep our distance from wildlife, so be sure to pack your favorite equipment. Let your guide know in advance if you would like to capture a certain area or species in particular and they can be on the lookout for photo opportunities for you. For the best opportunities to photograph both wildlife and landscapes, we recommend booking the tours back to back – booking a Yellowstone Wildlife Safari first, then a Best of Yellowstone Tour for the next day, so that you can make the most of your time in the area.

What is the difference between a Best of Yellowstone tour and a Yellowstone Wildlife Safari tour?

The Best of Yellowstone tour is designed to show you the highlights of Yellowstone National Park.  We will spend time at most of the major sites, such as Old Faithful Geyser, Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone Lake, the Lower and Upper Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and other lesser known wonders.  This tour will focus the time mostly along the Lower Loop of Yellowstone, while the Yellowstone Wildlife Safari will be traveling the Upper Loop and the Northern Range in search of wildlife.  Yellowstone is a large place, covering over 2 million acres in size.  It is impossible to see it all in a day, a week, or even a month.  To get the most out of your visit, book a Best of Yellowstone for one day, followed by a Yellowstone Wildlife Safari for the next day.  You’ll get to cover the best parts of the National Park and see more than you would on your own.  We recommend booking your tours for the beginning of your vacation.  You’ll learn a lot about the area on each tour, and you’ll be able to apply that knowledge as you continue your travels in the area.

What do others say about this tour?

5 Stars
I can’t recommend this group enough. Our guide was informative and entertaining. We saw a lot of wildlife and beautiful scenery. Best of all he was able to keep a six year and a two year old interested and engaged for hours. The company was well organized and easy to work with.
Allison V.

5 Stars
Hands down kudos to our tour guide!! Bless his heart, he was so knowledgeable of the park and knew where all the wildlife hung around. He was so helpful with our children, helping them with his scopes to get a closer look at the animals. He drove through an early spring snow to see the higher elevation at old faithful. Also, provided us with tips on the bears, which we used in Glacier as well. Offered to take family pictures for us too, which was a huge plus! He made the trip very fun, we were happy with our experience and he is such a great guy! We highly recommend this tour for a pleasant trip to Yellowstone!
Mandy M.

5 Stars
Our tour was in depth, our guide is very knowledgeable, history, park, places for best photo ops. Food and drink were tasty, we observed many buffalo, cougar, long horn sheep, hot springs… No wolves, many deer, elk, eagle, and more… Well worth your time and money, provided us very fine memories of our Montana trip. Thank God for Teddy Roosevelt; without his foresight the country would be deprived of our geographical monuments.
Steven D.

Further Reading

Visiting Yellowstone in the Summer

Jun 18, 2021

Yellowstone is one of the most popular National Parks, and it’s no wonder why. Between the stunning scenery, unique wildlife, and hot springs, there’s plenty to do and see during your stay, no matter the season.

The Best Things to See in Yellowstone National Park

Mar 8, 2021

Yellowstone National Park truly has something for everyone.  From wildlife watchers to geyser gazers, and history buffs to the most intrepid of explorers, this iconic wonderland offers endless opportunities for observation, adventure, and inspiration.

 

 

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