Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley is the park’s prime wildlife viewing location, with the best chance of seeing a wolf.  Leaving from West Yellowstone we will travel north towards Bozeman, through a small section of Yellowstone which is separated from the rest of the park by a small mountain range. This area is the best part of Yellowstone possibly to see a moose.

If you’re on an overnight tour, we’ll now spend the night in either Bozeman or Livingston, a short distance down the road, and carry on with the Lamar Valley part of the tour tomorrow. If you’re on a day tour, we’ll continue now with the rest of the itinerary.

Leaving Livingston, we’ll travel south towards the Roosevelt Arch and Yellowstone’s north entrance. You can expect to see wildlife even outside the park, with herds of elk and pronghorn in the area. We’ll stop for pictures at the historic Roosevelt Arch, before continuing past the 45^th Parallel (halfway between the equator and the North Pole) and the Boiling River, to Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs is Yellowstone’s headquarters, and one of the reasons that the north entrance is open to cars all year round.  The other reason is that access needs to be provided to the northeast entrance, and the tiny towns of Cooke City-Silver Gate. The road on the east side of Cooke City is closed from late fall through mid-spring, and the only way for residents to get supplies and services is to travel out of Yellowstone’s north entrance.

We’ll pause at Mammoth Hot Springs to enable you to check out the ever changing terraces, as well as a herd of elk that is always in the area, before continuing more or less east towards the Lamar Valley, which is known for its wildlife. Although you won’t see bears in the winter, this is where the keen wolf watchers are to be found, as they know their chances of spotting a wolf here are higher than anywhere else in Yellowstone. There is also a wide variety of other animals to be found in the Lamar Valley.

Depending on how much time and daylight we have, we may continue on to Cooke City, or we may turn around before we get there. The scenery in this part of Yellowstone is really spectacular, with towering mountains and sprawling valleys.

We will now retrace our steps back to West Yellowstone.