- May - October Availability May - October
- Full Day Duration Full Day
Get the best wildlife watching activity in the early morning hours, then hit the trail for a hike through Yellowstone’s stunning mountains and valleys.
Quick Details
Duration: 1 – 7 days
Ages: Ages 8+
Further information: Fully customizable
If you’re looking for a break from the everyday grind or wanting to connect with Nature, there is nothing better for the soul than a good hike through Yellowstone’s wild country, followed by an evening around the campfire and a good night’s sleep alongside a mountain stream.
Yellowstone National Park contains more than 2.2 million acres of beautiful, pristine wilderness with nearly 1,000 miles of excellent hiking trails to explore. We custom-design small, single-party backpacking trips around your schedule, your physical abilities, and your personal interests.
Hiking with our naturalist guides is an interpretative natural history lesson, literally walking through the core of Yellowstone’s wilderness. You will experience wildlife, geology and breathtaking landscapes and you will learn how interconnected this ecosystem is. Additionally, you will learn about wilderness navigation, setting up a primitive camp, safe cooking and cleaning practices in bear country and “leave no trace” wilderness ethics. Our backpacking trips are often somewhat physically challenging, and overcoming those challenges in a place like Yellowstone is extremely rewarding.
Please call so we can discuss what the ideal backpacking trip for you looks like.
Please note: Our backpacking trips are custom-designed around your specific desires, level of difficulty, and schedule; therefore, rates can vary somewhat.
Gratuity is NOT included in the price of the tour. Tipping your guide is a common practice in North America, and tips are an important part of their income.
It is important to remember that the wild animals we seek to observe are exactly that, WILD free-ranging animals that can roam across all of Yellowstone’s vast and rugged 2.2 million acres. The probability of locating and observing them is greatly elevated due to your guide’s intimate personal familiarity with the landscape and the animals themselves. We do not guarantee any wildlife sightings on our tours; however, we will guarantee that your guide will use their knowledge, skills, and network of other guides, wildlife watchers and photographers to do everything we can to find you the animals you’d like to see. We are in the park nearly every day searching for and watching wildlife, and that consistent experience pays off in finding the animals you’ve traveled to see.
Clothing:
Note: “cotton kills” please avoid cotton clothing. Wool Socks and wool or synthetic layering are absolutely crucial. If you don’t have several pairs of good wool socks upon arrival, your trip may be canceled on the spot before we hit the trail.
Personal Gear:
General Gear
Yellowstone National Park is a very large place divided by mountain ranges, deep valleys and a massive lake. The weather within the 2.2 million acres can vary widely, so checking the weather in the park can be a difficult task. We recommend checking several different NOAA weather stations around the park, and working an average of those if you’re planning to travel around the entirety of the park.
In general, during the summer months you can expect daytime highs in the 60s-80s (Fahrenheit) and nighttime lows in the 20s-40s. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, and we can get snow and freezing temperatures any month of the year.
As a licensed Commercial Use Permit holder with Yellowstone National Park, we must follow all park rules and regulations. Additionally, as life-long proponents of wildlife and wild places, we will also follow our own ethical wildlife viewing practices. We will take this opportunity to teach you about how we can have the very best backcountry experience while leaving as little impact as possible.
While on tour with Yellowstone Wild LLC, we will observe the following park rules (subject to law enforcement):
Additionally, we will follow (and teach) all Leave No Trace ethics: