Best Time to Visit Yellowstone: Spring
Spring is an exciting time to visit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The land has survived the depth of winter and is re-emerging into life again with the new prospect of sustenance and prosperity for all wild creatures and plant ecosystems. The deep cold relents and warmer temperatures move in to awaken the land and welcome the change.
Starting in April, tiny green shoots of grasses and buds on trees start to emerge. The snow begins to melt in the valleys and river bottoms, exposing open water and the enriched soils that nourish the landscape biome. A breath of warmer air brings an awakening to sleeping creatures inspiring them to reemerge, and the biological impetus for many animals arises to give birth to their young. Everything literally “springs” to life.
Spring is a time for excitement. All of our ungulate species give birth from April through June. Bighorn Sheep on sun-swept southern slopes, mountain goats high on cliff-faces in the Absaroka mountains, and pronghorn have their calves right out in the open. Elk, moose, bison and deer all have their young in hidden safe places, but emerge 4-6 weeks after they are born. Grizzly and black bears emerge with new cubs or their yearlings and search eagerly for food. The landscape is full of new life and exuberance.
Our favorite aspect of Spring is witnessing how the landscape changes on a day-by-day basis. We enjoy the aspens. Cottonwoods and willows bud-out and songbirds arrive in flocks to partake in the sugars. Flocks of waterfowl, swans, pelicans, osprey and raptors descend to open water and open land with all the prospects of food available to them all. Predators and prey come out into the open to dance their dance of survival.
Spring Photography in Yellowstone
Yellowstone in spring is a major draw for photographers. Wildlife become active after the deep cold of winter and are moving through their winter to summer ranges, having young, hunting and reemerging from their deep sleep. Our guides are very experienced and follow these nuanced movements as they play out day by day, week by week to optimize our opportunities for newborns, migrations and predator-prey relationships. Spring is a time for variable weather and temperatures, and the opportunities are vast and varied for light, weather, wildlife and scenery conditions that are very exciting for those with the photographer’s eye.
Visit Yellowstone in Spring
Visiting Yellowstone in spring is a special time. The North Gate from Bozeman, Paradise Valley, Gardiner and Mammoth is open year-round, and visitors can view great wildlife migrations from their winter to summer ranges, all on the move in the open, awakening and giving birth.
The Western Gate opens in the third Friday of April each year and allows us to see the Madison River Valley, many of our famed hydrothermal regions in the southern portion of Yellowstone National Park, where geysers erupt into cool air, steam billowing, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in its melting phase as colors in the canyon walls become more vibrant in the sunshine, and the waters swell with snow melt from on high.
Guest Favorites
Enjoy a guided Yellowstone safari with our professional naturalist guides on one of our highlighted tours in the region…
Best of Yellowstone
This safari focuses on the highlights and main attractions of Yellowstone National Park. We visit Old Faithful Geyser and other exciting thermal basins to witness the energy of an active volcano. We will see one of the great wonders of the Park and one of the reasons why it was protected; the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its two stunning waterfalls. We drive along the lakeshore of Yellowstone Lake, the largest alpine lake in the country, and we stop for many wildlife viewing opportunities all along the way.
Public Safari
$350 per guest, (plus taxes and fees). Two person minimum booking requirement. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests. Minimum age is 6. This is a mixed group safari.
Private Safari
$995 for 1-2 guests; $225 for each additional guest, (plus taxes and fees). Average per vehicle, 4-8 guests, maximum 11* guests; *large groups please inquire. This is a private safari.
Yellowstone Wildlife Safari
This safari focuses on the sweeping landscape of Northern Yellowstone including regions such as Lamar Valley known locally as the American Serengeti. This is one of the best tours to take advantage of professional naturalist guides who are very familiar with wildlife movements throughout the National Park and throughout the seasons. They focus on the best habitats for our diverse wildlife species including wolves, bears, elk, bison, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and many others. We use HD optics to view wildlife whether they appear near or far and will photos and videos for our guests with our special Phone Skope attachments.
Public Safari
$350 per guest, (plus taxes and fees). Two person minimum booking requirement. Maximum per vehicle, 6-8 guests. Minimum age is 6. This is a mixed group safari.
Private Safari
$995 for 1-2 guests; $225 for each additional guest, (plus taxes and fees). Average per vehicle, 4-8 guests, maximum 11* guests; *large groups please inquire. This is a private safari.
Stargazing Tours
Our region offers some of the best night-sky viewing in the United States. Here in Big Sky country we can provide a very special experience to view the stars, planets, moon, and milky way in an immersive and educational format. Using high-powered, computerized telescopes we can hone in on all of the usual visible elements such as constellations, stars and the moon, and further into deep-space on the clearest evenings to see nebulae and other galaxies. Viewing the night sky broadens our experience and is a perfect compliment to any visit to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Private Safari
$750 for 1-2 guests; $75 for each additional guest, (plus taxes and fees). Average per vehicle, 4-8 guests, maximum 11* guests; *large groups please inquire. This is a private safari.
Yellowstone & Grand Teton Day Tour
This Safari is a wonderful opportunity to visit the highlights of both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. will spend the morning with local wildlife such as bison and elk, with other sightings possible on our way to Yellowstone’s western thermal basins. We will visit Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest in the Park, as well as witness Old Faithful and its wonderful, predictable eruption. We get a peek at Yellowstone Lake and can visit multiple waterfalls, rivers and springs. When we leave Yellowstone we enjoy a beautiful stretch of road descending into incredible views of Jackson Lake surrounded by groves of colorful aspen trees. The Teton Mountain Range are some of the most impressive mountains in the world! Your guide will showcase the special history of Grand Teton National Park, its landscape, people and wildlife, before returning for the evening.
Private Safari
Yellowstone Photography Safari
This safari is led by one of our outstanding professional photographers on our guide team. They will focus on finding a great itinerary for guests looking to photogragh landscapes, thermal features, wildlife, or all of these subjects! This tour is great for amateur photographers looking to learn to shoot and explore their cameras, or fellow professionals with specific goals in mind. Our guides will work to find great lighting conditions, framing, and best opportunities for wildlife you. This tour is ideal for the fall season when wildlife is active, days are shorter, and light is soft and golden. We have seen great success with our photography tour experiences during this time.
Private Safari
The best safari adventure in Yellowstone. We continually checked off the animals we wanted to see!! From wolves to bison to pronghorn to osprey, our guide was up to date on location of these animals. I would use this company again in a heartbeat. The transportation was clean and safe. All of us had binoculars provided by the company as well as spotting scopes. Our guide attached his camera to the spotting scopes and took pictures and video of all the animals. Seeing the wolves in their natural environment was awesome!! Thank you to our guide for a great experience!
FAQs
When can we see Old Faithful if we to visit in spring?
The West Gate of Yellowstone will open on the third Friday in April. This date changes yearly and is usually around this time, and is dependent on road conditions. So much snow falls in the winter that it does take time for the Park Service to effectively plow the roads to be safe for travel by this spring opening date. We offer many tours into the West Gate of Yellowstone National Park at this starting date including our Best of Yellowstone southern loop tour to view all the highlights of the Southern Loop including Old Faithful and other hot springs, geysers and thermal features.
What is the best tour to see wildlife in the spring?
In the spring months from April to June, there are many options for wildlife viewing. We offer a private or public wildlife safari year-round from Bozeman, Paradise Valley, Gardiner Mammoth and Big Sky all year round into Yellowstone’s Northern Range, a region from Mammoth to Cooke City which is a fantastic ecosystem in which to view wildlife. We also offer Wildlife Safaris from Big Sky and West Yellowstone starting from the West Gate opening in April to explore the eastern regions of Hayden Valley and Yellowstone Lake where wildlife opportunities are wonderful and varied.
What are spring temperatures like?
Spring is a variable time. In April, May and June we may receive rain or even snow if temperatures are low enough. Often it will rain in our valleys and snow higher on the mountain peaks, which can be very beautiful. Temperatures will range from the 30’s up to the 70’s in the daytime and still be cold, close to freezing sometimes, at night. It is a good time to wear layers of clothing to accommodate for cold and warm days (or even hours) accordingly. We recommend hats and gloves in case the temperatures drop. We will always make sure our guests are comfortable and provide hand and foot warmers if we expect a colder day.
Guides and Staff
Our Team
Local, experienced naturalist guides.
National Parks Gallery
All photography has been shot by our talented tour guides.
