Yellowstone Wolf Watching

Below is the itinerary for our February winter Wolf Watching Vacation. The fall vacation will be similar but include hiking and more park highlights, since the park is more open in the fall.

DAY 1

Your guides will meet you around lunchtime in Bozeman, Montana, where we begin and end our adventure. We’ll transfer from there through the Paradise Valley to Wonderland Lodge, our basecamp in the small town of Gardiner for the week, about 75 minutes away. We’ll have a brief orientation, pack some energy food, and dress for the weather before heading toward the park’s northeast entrance and our first snowshoe hike at Mammoth Hot Springs (Yellowstone’s headquarters). After a short instructional snowshoeing clinic (probably the easiest sport in the world to learn!) we’ll set off to explore the groomed 1.5-mile loop around the upper terraces. 

The terraces are unique from other thermal areas of the park. As hot water rises through the limestone from below it interacts with hot gases and forms an acidic solution that dissolves the rock and ultimately deposits a white chalky material known as travertine, which forms beautiful terraces on the side of the hill that we can walk among. Because we are at a lower elevation than most of the Park, the snow depths here entice wintering elk and deer to stick around and you’ll probably see many of them at Mammoth.

If you want more snowshoeing, you can hike the old wagon trail from Mammoth all the way back to our hotel in Gardiner, giving you more chances to see the Park's wildlife. If not, you can spend time at the Wonderland unpacking your things and making your room homey. Tonight your guides will host a happy hour in their lodge room in front of a roaring fire before we wander downstairs to the Wonderland Café for an excellent dinner with our special guest -- wolf biologist Jon Trapp, who will be leading us on adventures and educating us about wolves for the next two days. We’ll get to bed early tonight as we’ll be out the door tomorrow before the crack of dawn!

Snowshoe Mileage: 1.5 miles (with the option for an extra 5 miles)

DAY 2

After a very early breakfast, we'll pack our trail lunches and be on the road while it’s still dark. Our destination? Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, arguably the best place in the world to see wolves, specifically in winter when they follow the ungulates (elk, deer, etc) down from higher terrain. As the pale morning light reaches the pristine valley, we’ll be on the hunt for glimpses of these ephemeral icons of the wilderness, armed with spotting scopes and binoculars. Our hope is to see a lone wolf, or a pack of wolves, as they awaken for the day and begin moving. As our van “Explorasaurus Rex” trundles along the road, we’ll likely experience a few “buffalo jams” (Yellowstone’s version of traffic jams), and we’ll stop frequently to get out and view the landscape and the animals around us, and to hear from Jon about these majestic canines, who are once again such an integral part of the Yellowstone ecosystem. 

At some point, we’ll get out to hike, starting at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch and following Rose Creek up to one of three wolf acclimation pens built for the controversial reintroduction of wolves in the park in 1995. Three wolves transported from Canada were housed in this historic pen until they would acclimatize and not run back north. The pen was opened after several months and the three wolves began their new life in Yellowstone.

You’ll be happy to relax with a glass of wine or hot chocolate next to the fire tonight and regale one another with stories from the day. We’ll have an early dinner at the Wonderland café again before lights out. Another exciting day awaits us tomorrow!

Snowshoe Mileage: 3 mile

DAY 3

Another early day awaits us today for our winter safari. We again steer the Explorasaurus toward Lamar Valley and it is “wolf jazz” all over - looking for tracks and other signs of wolves throughout our day. As we drive further into the Lamar Valley, we’ll keep our eyes open for bison, elk, deer, moose, coyote, fox, bighorn sheep, bald eagles and an occasional river otter. Wildlife in the valley is abundant in the winter and it is denning season for female wolves. Appropriately, our main hike will be to the old den of wolf #9 (one of the first wolves in the Park after the reintroduction). Along the way, Jon will talk about den site selection, trophic cascade (a side-effect when a trophic level (species) of the ecosystem is reduced or removed), and -- since it will be so close to pup season -- about wolf mate selection and biology.

We will also be on the lookout for Rick, the “alpha" wolf-watcher and Yellowstone’s biological technician for the Yellowstone Wolf Project. He uses telemetry equipment to track wolves, as most of the wolf packs include at least one wolf with a radio collar. He has been out in the Park observing wolves every day for the last 15 years! Typically, there are around 100 wolves in the Park at any given time. The Park is 2.2 million acres, so we’ll be lucky if and when we spot (or hear, which is almost as good!) any wolves.

Once again, dinner is at the Wonderland. Afterward, we’ll don our warm clothes and walk guided by starlight, moonlight (or headlamp) to the iconic Roosevelt Arch to toast the world’s first national park.

Snowshoe Mileage: approximately 3 miles

DAY 4

This morning a hearty breakfast is in order. We’ll tuck our lunches into our packs, check out of the Wonderland, and depart for our longest outing of the trip. Our hike today takes us on a wide trail to the end of the Yellowstone Canyon and the Tower Fall overlook, where Tower Creek drops 132-foot into the Yellowstone River. The steep, columnar basalt cliffs on the opposite side of the river from the overlook are remnants of an ancient lava flow and will wow even those who are not into geology.  

After our hike we head north to Chico Hot Springs Resort where we will spend our last night. Relaxing in the outdoor pools is the perfect way to end our trip together. We’ll enjoy a final dinner in the historic dining room before tucking into bed.

Snowshoe Mileage: 5 miles

DAY 5

Today is a relaxing morning. Feel free to soak in the pools, take a walk on one of the resort trails, and enjoy breakfast on your own time. You’ll have time to shower and pack up before we check out and return to Bozeman by noon, where you can choose to extend your vacation or return home.