Yellowstone Winter

I have been running trips to Yellowstone National Park with Natures Images for many years now and it is without a doubt one of the most beautiful locations on the planet and during the winter months this winter wonderland is a fantastic location for the wildlife photographer. We will explore the beautiful valleys of the park using a combination of 4×4 vehicles and a specially designed Snow coach that allows us to visit the interior of the park which is closed off to the normal vehicles. I will be running this tour alongside Stan Teikla who has been visiting Yellowstone for over 40 years so knows the park so well.

The challenges its wildlife faces in the deep cold of winter are well known. We will be spending the first few days exploring the northern ranges which includes the Lamar Valley in search of its wolf packs, bison, red fox, elk, and dramatic landscapes. Then we will board our own privately hired snow coaches with drivers and access the heart of the park, we have two of these vehicles for our exclusive use and because of the small numbers we will have plenty of space to be able to work comfortably in our quest for images. We’ll look to capture the harsh challenges this tough season brings to the landscape and inhabitants of the park, from the iconic bison, coyote, tundra swans, and bald eagles along with some dramatic geysers and a true winter landscape.

This is an amazing photographic opportunity for the lovers of this unique season can offer in one of the world’s truly dramatic settings.

Day 1: It’s a day of travelling as it’s a long flight to Bozeman airport in Montana and we will not be arriving until the evening. We will then transfer to the local hotel for a well needed first night’s rest. (We will send out the flight recommendations nearer the time).

Days 2 – 4: After a hearty breakfast we will transfer ourselves to our base for the next 3 nights in Gardiner, a small town on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. From here and using the large vehicles we have at our disposal, we will look to explore and photograph under our own steam the dramatic settings, scenery and wildlife along the Lamar Valley, the only area of the park that opens to the public during the winter months. You could expect to encounter bison, big horn sheep, bald eagle, wolves, and coyote as well as plenty of landscape, scenic winter opportunities in this 40 odd mile long valley – there’s plenty to explore.

Day 5: This morning, we will drive back into the park and explore the Lamar Valley for the last time and then during the early afternoon we will make our way round to West Yellowstone and our base there from which we will explore the southern and central parts of the park by our own private snow coaches. We might have to leave even earlier if the weather conditions are bad as it can take around 4 hours to drive to West Yellowstone, we will play this on the actual day. We will check into the Three Bear Lodge in West Yellowstone. Dinner will be at the lodge.

Days 6 – 8: It’s an early start as we look to meet up with our drivers and snow coaches which we will have for the next four days. Breakfast will be at 6.00am as the snow coaches will pick us up around 6.50am, breakfast is buffet type affair. Although there will and has to be a degree of flexibility with this based on what we’ve achieved to date and want to prioritise, our potential programme for the next couple of days should include a day travelling to the Hayden Valley and Yellowstone River, and another day exploring Upper and Lower Geyser Basin for bison. The geysers generally are the main attraction for bison too, so steam and bison combinations will be high on the wish list for sure. We will be keeping a close eye on wolf pack movement in this upper interior of the park whilst looking out for otters, foxes and coyotes too. To have four days to explore this beautiful upper interior of Yellowstone is a real treat and so we will maximise our time here.

Day 9: We’ll look to prioritise areas we want to revisit and work on as we begin our final snow coach trip. At the end of the day, we will then drive back to Bozeman where we will once again stay near the airport before your flights home the next day.

Day 10: We catch our return flights to our destinations, but please note that we won’t land until the morning of Day 11.