Overview
Join an experienced naturalist guide to track, study and photograph the bears, wolves and mega-fauna in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. This popular wildlife safari tour will focus on finding and safely viewing Greater Yellowstone’s predators and big game while learning about the geology, history and ecology of the Greater Yellowstone area. We will spend our time in prime grizzly and wolf habitat within both national parks including places like Willow Flats, Pacific Creek, Hayden Valley and the famous Lamar Valley, often referred to as the Serengeti of North America. During your safari we will also make time to visit famous Yellowstone landmarks like Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Lake and several waterfalls. Our small group sizes and expert guides will ensure personalized attention, great wildlife viewing and endless photo opportunities. Throughout the safari you will learn how to safely find, view and photograph bears in the wild. This will include a lesson on techniques for safely traveling in bear country, how to use bear spray and proper behavior in the presence of bears. In addition, your guide will teach you the basics of tracking and some tips and tricks for spotting wildlife. Depending on group interest and ability, day hiking is also an option throughout your safari.
Tour availability is contingent on room night availability at our preferred lodging locations. Reserve your wildlife safari first, then we will confirm room nights and give you a final confirmation when everything is set.
The exact routes and itineraries will depend on a number of factors – the most important being your areas of interest and expectations. One of the great things about our safaris and our guides is that we customize each safari for you. Our guides are all highly experienced with thousands of hours in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone allowing them to make suggestions and calibrate the tour to your experience level and desires. Every day is different for us which makes our safaris more fun for both you and your guide.
What's Included
-
Hotel pickup
-
Professional naturalist guide
-
Small group safari: 8 guests per vehicle, maximum
-
Breakfast x3
-
Lunch x3
-
Dinner x2
-
Locally sourced snacks
-
Lodging x2
-
Souvenir water bottle
-
Use of spotting scopes and binoculars
-
Guide gratuities
-
National Park entrance fees
Private Safari
Rates are dependent on hotel availability at the time of booking.
Pick-up Times
All guests are picked up and returned to their place of lodging. We pick up at hotels and condos in Jackson and Teton Village. Please make note of your pickup time, and save it for your reference.
Please be ready and waiting in the hotel lobby a few minutes before your pickup, and allow an additional 5-10 minutes for your guide to arrive, just in case they are delayed for any reason.
Seasonal changes to trip timing may be made to accommodate daylight and/or optimum wildlife viewing.
Approximate pickup times for Jackson Hole include:
6:30AM, May-October
We booked a tour with this company and it was fabulous! Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and shared lots of information about both the animals and the area. We would gladly go again! The company was very professional and made us feel like a valued client. We saw every animal we wanted to see as well as the most beautiful scenery ever. We highly recommend it.
Itinerary
Grand Teton National Park
Your 3 day Bear and Wolf Safari tour into Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks will begin when your guide meets you at your Jackson Hole area hotel. We will begin by searching for the abundant wildlife of Grand Teton National Park. Over the last several years Grand Teton has become one of the best wildlife viewing parks in the world with all of the region’s wildlife represented. Moose, elk, deer, bison, pronghorn, fox, coyote, bald and golden eagles, black bears, grizzly bears and even wolves are commonly spotted depending on season. We will also spend time enjoying the scenery and attractions of Grand Teton with time to enjoy famous park sites and scenic overlooks including the Moulton Barns, Mormon Row, Schwabacher’s Landing, Elk Ranch, Signal Mountain and Maude Noble’s cabin to name a few options.
The tour will then travel north into Yellowstone National Park along the Snake and Lewis rivers, past Lewis Falls and Lewis Lake to the continental divide. From here we drop into the Yellowstone Lake Basin to West Thumb Junction with an option of going around the lower loop in either direction depending on conditions and current events that might dictate the route on your trip. Our guides will make recommendations but we will see the other side of the loop on the third day on the return trip. Usually we will travel to the east side on day one which will take us around Yellowstone Lake to the north side where the Yellowstone River flows out to the north at the famous Fishing Bridge. From here on is some of the best bear and wolf watching in Yellowstone! We will see Mud Volcano on our way to Hayden Valley where the river flows through open sage meadows towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. At the top of the canyon the river falls over both the upper and lower falls creating the 20 mile long canyon that is one of the most scenic places in Yellowstone.
From here the route will vary on road conditions but we will make our way to the Lamar Valley, often called the Serengeti of North America. This is the single best wildlife viewing area in Yellowstone and known for the abundance of grizzlies and wolves. Here we will spend the afternoon and evening in search of these apex predators with time to learn about and photograph other wildlife, thermal features and the magnificent scenery in this part of the park.
The day will end in Silvergate Montana at the Grizzly Lodge (or similar). Silvergate is only a half mile from the park entrance and one of the most remote places you will ever spend the night. We will enjoy dinner at a local eatery and then roast marshmallows over a fire surrounded by Soda Butte creek and huge mountains. This is one of our favorite places on earth!
Yellowstone National Park
We will start with an early morning in Lamar Valley where we will have another opportunity to find, watch and photograph wolves and bears. The day will also include time for exploring classic park features including Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls and the north entrance. Depending on current conditions and group interest might also spending part of the day exploring the famous Beartooth Pass and the Top of the World! The afternoon will be spent back in the Lamar Valley area in search of the region’s abundant wildlife. After a full day we will return to Silvergate for dinner and time to enjoy a campfire.
Yellowstone National Park
We will wake early to return to Lamar Valley for another opportunity to see the wolves and bears of Lamar Valley with breakfast and coffee served in the field by your guide. We will spend as much time as you want tracking bears, wolves and other wildlife before heading south through Yellowstone to enjoy other park attractions and wildlife that we didn’t see on Day 1. This might include the upper, middle and lower geyser basins and of course time to see the eruption of Old Faithful located in the upper geyser basin. We will then travel south over the continental divide three times on the return trip to Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole. We will return you to your Jackson Hole area hotel by early evening in time to check-in and get some dinner.
Safari Tour Gallery
All photography has been shot by our talented tour guides.
FAQs
What is the best time of year to visit Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park?
There’s not one season that is better than another in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Each season brings with it its own highlights. Springtime boasts vibrant greens and yellows across the landscape as the snows recede and temperatures warm. Grizzly bears and black bears emerge from hibernation, sometimes with small cubs in tow. Bison calves, (called red dogs due to their fur coloring), may be seen from March to May, followed by deer, moose, and elk, who usually give birth in late spring/early summer. As temperatures warm and the summer sun becomes intense, some wildlife restrict their activity to early mornings and late evenings, doing their best to avoid the heat of the day. For this reason, a multi-day wildlife safari offers the best viewing opportunities because we can arrange game drives in the early mornings and late evenings when wildlife will be most active. By September, the days are cooling and autumn has settled in and seasonal animal behaviors can become quite interesting. Bighorn sheep, moose and elk begin their mating season known as “rut”, while black bears and grizzly bears start packing on the pounds in anticipation of winter hibernation.
What is the best way to see wildlife in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone?
A multi-day offers the best opportunities at spotting wildlife in the wild. During the summer months, having the option to head out for early mornings and late evenings with a professional naturalist guide gives us the best chances to spot wildlife that may be active during those times. On a single day safari, we are limited by the return time, but on a multi-day safari, we can schedule our days around the wildlife activity and increase our chances of seeing animals in their natural habitat.
What do others say about this tour?
5 Stars
Our family of 4 (kids 7 and 9) loved the 3 day Yellowstone safari. Our guide was incredible – we felt like we were being shown around by a family friend – she adjusted the pace to suit us, was well informed and had the most incredible ability to spot animals. We saw elk, moose, wolves, bison, a bear, and more.
Tom H.
5 Stars
We just returned from a 3 day wolf and wildlife safari and we couldn’t be happier. With the rest of the country on shut down due to Covid 19 this was a fantastic getaway. This was our 5th trip with Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris and each trip is better than the last. Our guide was outstanding. He worked hard to make sure we saw wildlife that I am sure we could not have seen on our own. He would pick us up at 5:00am and bring us back to our accommodations at 10:00pm. You can tell that he truly loves what he does and he never seems to get tired. The wolf sightings were off the charts. We also saw bear, moose, elk, bison, pronghorns and many others. He is a magician with a spotting scope and a cell phone. Because of him we now have some great videos of our wolf and bear sightings. Makes me wonder why we spent so much money on camera equipment. There are many guide services to choose from in the Teton and Yellowstone area but these guys are the best. We highly recommend Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris and we will definitely be back for trip number 6.
Gregory C.
5 Stars
We used Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris for our tour of Yellowstone during our visit to Jackson Hole. I can not begin to express how everything far exceeded my expectations. Our guide was incredibly (no, SUPER incredibly) knowledgeable about the area and his information could have been expressed in a book! We learned so much about where we visited in Yellowstone, and he made the experience of learning and exploring so much fun with his animated, funny, witty personality and very intelligent mind! He was so professional and treated my children and I with such kindness, along with always a step ahead in planning the whole experience.
I highly recommend Wildlife Safaris literally to everyone, and anyone visiting who wants an elite, informative, and fun experience.
Cynthia L.
Guides and Staff
Our Team
Local, experienced, and passionate guides and photographers.
Further Reading
Best Places to View Wildlife in Yellowstone: Lamar Valley
Apr 12, 2022
The 2.2 million acres of landscape that makes up Yellowstone National Park has been regarded as wondrous and unique since humankind first discovered it. Native Americans in the region were the first humans to traverse that wild landscape approximately 11,000 years ago, utilizing the ample resources of the region to survive. Learn more about the land of Lamar Valley here.
Best Places to View Wildlife in Yellowstone: Dunraven Pass
Apr 12, 2022
Visible from the Lamar Valley is one of the highest spots you can drive to in Yellowstone National Park, known as Dunraven Pass. The highest point along this drive is 8,859 feet above sea level, and if you are feeling adventurous there is a trail from the roadway that will take you up to the top of Mt. Washburn, and a whopping 10,243 feet in elevation.
