We operate two one day Yellowstone tours from Bozeman and this is the longer tour. Leaving Bozeman we’ll head south and enter a small portion of Yellowstone that is separated from the rest of the park by a small mountain range. This area is the best chance we have of seeing moose.
We will enter Yellowstone proper at the small town of West Yellowstone, and make our way through the vibrant Madison Valley with its elk herd, towards Madison Junction. At this point we join Yellowstone’s lower loop, and will travel to the part of the park where the main geyser basins are located.
The first of these is the Lower Geyser Basin, home to Fountain Paint Pot, followed by the Midway Geyser Basin and Both Excelsior Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring. Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin are just a short distance up the road. Time permitting, other locations we may visit in this part of the park include Firehole Lake Drive, as well as Biscuit and Black Sand Basins.
West Thumb Geyser Basin, on the east side of the Continental Divide, and lying alongside Yellowstone Lake, is the next major stop. From there we will continue north on the lower loop, past Lake Hotel and Fishing Bridge, to the Hayden Valley, where you can expect to see a lot of wildlife.
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, an unexpected surprise amongst the thermal wonders, is close by, and we will visit both the north and south rims of the Canyon, taking in the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls.
We will cut across the road between Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Norris Geyser Basin, which separates Yellowstone’s two loops, stopping to check out Porcelain and Back Basins at Norris. Traveling now on the west side of the upper loop, we will go past Roaring Mountain, before dropping down to the park’s headquarters, Mammoth Hot Springs, where you can explore both the terraces and the old Fort Yellowstone.
Going past the Boiling River and the 45th Parallel, we will exit Yellowstone at the north entrance, where the historic Roosevelt Arch is to be found. The trip back to Bozeman heads north from Gardiner to Livingston, where we pick up the Interstate and return to your hotel in Bozeman.