Two-Day Yellowstone National Park Tour

Explore Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Loop

This private tour lets you see Yellowstone’s significant wildlife, geothermal, and cultural sites in approximately 36 hours. Day one covers Yellowstone’s Lower Loop and features several short hikes to the Mud Volcano, Haden Valley, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Obsidian Cliffs, and Mammoth Hot Springs. We will overnight at the historic Chico Hot Springs Resort, subject to availability, located in Paradise Valley, Montana. If lodging at Chico Hot Springs is not available at booking, we will arrange comparable accommodations elsewhere.

Day two covers Yellowstone’s Upper Loop and includes visits to the Albright Visitor Center, Tower Falls, Lamar Valley, Grand Prismatic Hot Spring, the largest hot spring globally, and an obligatory stop at the world-famous Old Faithful Geyser before returning to Jackson, Wyoming. Wildlife encountered may include black and grizzly bears, bison, bighorn sheep, eagles, osprey, wolves, pronghorn, and coyotes.

Itinerary

DAY ONE: YELLOWSTONE LOWER LOOP: 12-13 hours – Lower Loop

Discover Yellowstone National Park’s stark beauty, incredible geology, and abundant wildlife during this 2-day, 1-night, 400-mile tour that follows Yellowstone’s Grand Loop, a figure-8 shaped road designed initially for horse-drawn wagons and built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1883.

DAY TWO: YELLOWSTONE UPPER LOOP: 12-13 hours – Upper Loop

After departing Chico Hot Springs Resort at 7 AM, we will enter the Park through the North Entrance at Gardiner, MT, and the famed Roosevelt Arch designed by Robert Reamer, the architect who designed Old Faithful Inn.

Driving south from the North Entrance, we will keep a keen eye out for bighorn sheep vaulting along the cliffs before making a short stop at the Albright Visitor Center. We will then continue driving east to explore Tower Falls, the Lamar Valley, the so-called American Serengeti.

From Lamar Valley, we will continue south to Canyon Village, then to Madison Junction for a lunch break, before taking a short walkabout to explore Grand Excelsior Geyser Crater, Grand Prismatic Hot Spring, and eventually Old Faithful herself. (It’s common to address geysers in the feminine tense, like a ship). The return drive to Jackson from Old Faithful is approximately 2.5-3 hours.

Additional Info

• Tour Length: 12-13 hours
• Start Time: 6:30 AM or 7:00 AM (start times adjusted seasonally)
• Price: $3495 (for up to four (4) guests. $650 for each additional guest)
• Size: Maximum of 8 people per vehicle. Call to discuss options for larger groups.

What’s Included

• Professional guide (2 days)
• 2-day tour of Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Loop
• National Park entry fee
• One-night accommodations at Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa
• PPE (Cloth face mask, hand sanitizer, water bottle, and sunscreen)
• Meals
  • Day 1 (breakfast, lunch, snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, and dinner)
  • Day 2 (breakfast, lunch, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages)
• Use of professional spotting scopes and binoculars to see wildlife from a safe distance
• Transportation in a spacious Chevy Suburban or Ford Transit Van (cell and Wi-Fi service limited)

Exclusions

Optional guide gratuity (10-15% recommended)

Weather

It can be cool in the morning in Yellowstone, if not downright cold. Daytime temperatures can soar to a high of 80°F/30°C. Nights are usually crisp, and temperatures often drop below freezing at higher elevations. Thunderstorms are common in the afternoons. It can snow during any month of the year, so be prepared to dress in layers.

What to Bring

We encourage you to bring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), personal snacks, a good sense of adventure and awe, a camera (with charger or extra batteries), sunglasses, sun hat, sunscreen, bathing suits, appropriate clothing (long pants, both short- and long-sleeved shirts, and a waterproof and windproof outer layer), binoculars, athletic walking shoes, any prescription medications, and a day pack with enough capacity to carry all the above. We also encourage our guests to bring reusable water bottles to help reduce our environmental impact in the Park.