The southwestern region of Yellowstone is home to most of Yellowstone’s geothermal areas while still providing great wildlife viewing opportunities. Starting at your Bozeman hotel or Bozeman airport hotel, we will head south through Big Sky and into West Yellowstone. From there we enter the park, and the tour follows the Madison and then the Firehole Rivers to the Lower, Midway, and Upper Geyser Basins. It then returns to Madison Junction before continuing on to follow the Gibbon River north to Norris Geyser Basin, and then on to Mammoth Hot Springs, out the north entrance and back to Bozeman. A skilled driver/guide accompanies you all the way, offering insights on the latest park updates and ecological studies. A sack lunch is provided today.

The areas along the rivers are home to some of the park’s most iconic animals. With any luck and depending on the season, you may find yourself within feet of elk, bison, bears, trumpeter swans, osprey and maybe even otters or wolves! Red bison calves (also referred to as red dogs) and migrating sandhill cranes are a springtime treat not to be missed!

The first major stop on our adventure is the Lower Geyser Basin and Fountain Paint Pots. We will get up close to all four geothermal features in the park, (hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots, and geysers) from the safety of an easy to navigate boardwalk.

Moving on we will stop and see Grand Prismatic Spring and the now dormant Excelsior Geyser at the Midway Geyser Basin.

From here we make the short drive to the home of Old Faithful, the Upper Geyser Basin. While Old Faithful is the most well-known feature, this area is a cornucopia of springs, geysers, and historical buildings. We will stay long enough to see Old Faithful erupt, explore Old Faithful Inn and, time allowing, wander the boardwalks to view some of the other features.

Leaving Old Faithful behind, we return up the Firehole River to Madison Junction where we continue north following the Gibbon River, stopping briefly at Gibbon Falls. We then take the short drive to Norris Geyser Basin where we will walk a portion of the most geothermally active part of the park before heading on to the park headquarters, Mammoth Hot Springs.

After wandering the terraces around the ever-changing travertine formations and hot springs, we will move on to the parks north entrance, past Boiling River and crossing the 45^th Parallel. This area is often frequented by bighorn sheep and elk, and with a little luck we may see both!