Come See the World’s First National Park!

Duration

11 Hours

About

Come see for yourself why Yellowstone is the world’s first National Park! From Old Faithful to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, to the Fountain Paint Pots, you will experience some of the world's most phenomenal natural wonders. Our experienced and friendly guides will take care of all the details while you enjoy Yellowstone from the comfort of our late model, clean, and safe vehicles. With our small group tours limited to 8 persons you will get personalized service and won’t feel like you are just one of the crowd. Trips departing daily!

We are happy to pick you up from your place of lodging anywhere in Jackson or Teton Village. We will make arrangements to meet lodgers staying in outlying areas at a convenient location. Our day begins as we head north from Jackson, WY towards Yellowstone National Park, passing through Grand Teton on the way. A couple of photo ops as we pass through Grand Teton, but mostly heading directly towards Yellowstone’s south entrance, of course stopping for a photo with the Yellowstone sign.

The theme for the morning will be “thermal features.” Will over ten thousand thermal features in Yellowstone National Park (half of the world’s), it is tough to see them all, but we will explore some of the more fantastic and famous as well.

Generally, our first major stop will be at Upper Geyser Basin or the Old Faithyl area. The old faithful geyser will erupt every ninety minutes and we will make a point of witnessing the eruption. Given the timing of our arrival, we may have time for a short boardwalk stroll to view some of the other thermal features in the basin. In addition to Old Faithful, there are numerous other fantastic geysers that will erupt with less certainty and frequency, which we may also have the good fortune to witnesses, including Beehive, Castle, The Lion Group, Sawmill, Grand, Daisy, and such. In addition to the numerous thermal features, the history buffs will also enjoy a visit to the Old Faithful Inn, (in season) arguably one of the most magnificent National Park Lodges in existence.

We will venture north and most tours we will have the time to spot at least two more times for short and exciting boardwalks excursions. I really enjoy stopping at both the Midway Geyser Basin, and Fountain Paint Pots. Both truly fantastic thermal collections unto themselves. I will not ruin the surprise but such features as the Grand Prismatic Spring, Clepsydra Geyser, Excelsior Geyser crater, and the Fountain Paint Pots are just a few of the features we will visit while walking on the boardwalks.

By 1:00 we generally are arriving at the lunch stop, usually Fountain Flats, or beyond.. A great, fresh picnic spread provided by us including Boars Head turkey, ham, lettuce, onion, tomato, avocado (freshly prepped on-site) chips and salsa, fruit, cookies for dessert, condiments, etc. A really great picnic stop. After lunch, we will spend some time in the vehicle as we make our way north around the loop with our next real major stop being the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. Some points of interest along the way will include Firehole Canyon drive, Madison River, Gibbon River Falls, Elk Park, Virginia Cascades, etc.

We will spend some time at the Canyon Area with the main draw being the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, 109ft, and 308 feet tall respectively. Also, the beauty of the Canyon itself is not to be missed. We try to be heading south by about 3:30pm with still some ground to cover. Heading south from the Canyon Area we will pass through Hayden Valley, Mud Volcano, Yellowstone Lake, and West Thumb. This will complete our lower loop as we head back towards Jackson from there, usually arriving back in Jackson between 6:30 and 7:30 pm.

Included

• Hotel pickup
• Guide
• Vehicle
• Locally made snack bars
• Waters
• Picnic lunch
• Binoculars and spotting scope

Excluded

• Breakfast
• Dinner
• National Park entrance fees
• Guide gratuity, usually 15-20% of tour price

What to Bring

• National Park Pass if you have one
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Appropriate clothing for the weather