Half Day Wildlife Safari Tour

Currently, 310,000 acres of Jackson Hole are being preserved by the National Park Service.  This includes not only a picturesque slice of Wyoming’s wild country, but a spectrum of flora and fauna species that are specially adapted to survive in the variety of habitats that comprise the region.  The wildlife that can be found in Grand Teton National Park is an especially cosmic catalyst for visitation.  Many travel from all around the world in hopes of observing incredible megafauna like bison, moose, elk, grizzly bears and gray wolves in their natural element.  The experience of searching for wildlife is unlike any visit to a zoo.  Here the animals are not in exhibits that emulate their native habitat for the viewer’s convenience.  There is work and careful scrutiny required to sometimes spot even just a fleeting glimpse of an ear, antler or fur.  There are no bars, no glass panes to separate the observer from the animal, instead common sense and close attention is required to avoid incentivizing a potential attack.  This is what makes seeing wildlife in places like Grand Teton National Park such a once in a lifetime experience.  

Different seasons and different habitats hold the potential for different wildlife sightings.  During spring a greater variety of animals reside within the valley floor of Grand Teton National Park.  Due to the surrounding mountains being snow capped until July, species like elk will browse throughout lower grasslands until those higher elevations thaw out and more foraging becomes accessible.  Grizzly and black bears will emerge from their hibernation dens throughout late April and into May, they are typically lethargic and hungry those initial few weeks after being rousted.  The bears will amble around the valley, looking for early season food sources such as biscuitroot, spring beauties, grasses and clover.  The more predatory grizzly bear may also be hunting for easy prey, which could entail digging up still hibernating Uinta ground squirrels from their burrows, feeding on carrion of animals that passed during the brutal winter or perhaps hunting down elk or bison calves that are typically born throughout May and June.  Elk calves and carrion are also prime meals for other carnivores such as the gray wolf, which will move with the migrations of their prey throughout the seasons.  

As the heat of summer increases the snow lines recede and animals like the elk, wolf, bears and occasionally even bison begin to move into the hill country.  Viewing them may require scouring mountainsides with high powered optics like spotting scopes.  Moose, on the other hand, will settle in their summer homes near riverways and ponds, forging on aquatic vegetation along with the tender twigs of willow shrubs and cottonwood trees.  Other wildlife to potentially spot around aquatic habitats would be bald eagles, river otters, beavers, trout and a broad variety of waterfowl that migrate from the southern region of the continent.  Other migrators that show up in Jackson Hole for the summer season include sandhill cranes, osprey, western meadowlarks (the state bird of Wyoming!) and pronghorn- which is the fastest land mammal in North America.  The pronghorn, which are often dubbed “antelope” or “speed goat” even though they are genetically a separate species from both, spend their winters 150 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park.  They are not as well adapted as moose, bison or elk to survive the extreme winter that seasonally consumes Jackson Hole.  

Autumn eventually arrives, bringing a chill that relieves the parched landscape of dry heat.  Wildlife that trekked into the mountains for cooler temperatures and better foraging begin to return to the valley floor.  Many species enter the exciting phase known as the “rut”, the breeding season.  Bison kick it off in late summer, while bull elk and moose start courting females throughout September and October.  This is a period when wildlife is often most vocal and potentially most violent.  Males will be warding off competitors with bugles and bellows, with physical altercations following if two strong, stubborn suitors meet.  Black and grizzly bears on the other hand will be busy eagerly seeking out food sources in preparation for hibernation.  A variety of berries ripen in fall, providing perfect foraging to satiate these hyper-hungry bears.  

Regardless of the season and the wildlife, Grand Teton National Park has much to offer.  There are geographically striking views from nearly every vantage point in the valley, ranging from jagged, high alpine peaks to meandering, rushing rivers to deep crystalline lakes.  As well as a rich anthropological history that starts nearly 11,000 years ago with the seasonal presence of indigenous people, which eventually shifted to the expansion of human development from the east as homesteaders fought their way into the valley, and now exists as a unique natural space that tourists seek out to get a taste of a western world that still consists of more wild than civilization.  

A Half Day Wildlife Safari will try to give you a taste of it all in just 4 hours.  The route will vary depending on weather conditions and the season, as both influence the visibility of scenery and wildlife.  But trust our experienced guides will know the most fortuitous locations to make the most of the tour.