The sun hadn't yet risen, but our passionate wildlife guide, Doug Hilborn, was over the moon with excitement. He'd just gotten a text from a friend that a grizzly bear mother and cub had been spotted just minutes from our location at Lake Yellowstone Hotel. We were on the move.
Our small tour group of six clamored into our 1937 Model 706 Yellowstone Park touring bus, a bright yellow vintage thing of beauty that is still used today for certain tours. Our Wake up to Wildlife tour had officially begun and we were soon on a guided sunrise safari through Yellowstone, the world's oldest national park.
Many park visitors stick to its busy boardwalks and famous geysers, like Old Faithful and Steamboat — and while Yellowstone's completely unique geothermal hot spots are undoubtedly a park highlight, just as special is the park's diverse wildlife, from the mighty bison to the tiny mouse-like pika.
After passing around muffins and juice, Doug excitedly told us about the park's grizzlies, thought to number around 150-200. Although bears are not formally named by park rangers, local photography enthusiasts often give nicknames to individuals and it's the affectionately named Raspberry who's been spotted this morning by Doug's friend. We arrived at a pull-off point just minutes past Lake Village and saw the long lenses of a group of avid photographers before spotting Raspberry and her cub.
She was foraging for breakfast among downed trees, her small cub close behind. The adrenaline rush of seeing not just one, but two grizzlies is an iconic moment that would stay with me long after the trip was over. However, the best viewing was through my camera's zoom lens, with park tourists required to stay at least 100 yards away at all times, both for the protection of the tourist and for the animal.
Wildlife like bears (both grizzly and black inhabit the park) and the even rarer gray wolf aren't always easy to find, so we were lucky that morning. Travis Manchester, former park wildlife guide and current Transportation Dispatcher for Xanterra, who manages the park's tours, explained, "Be in the right place at the right time, and be vigilant in looking for color and movement".
Today we were traveling in Yellowstone south, famed for the stunning Yellowstone Lake and much of the park's geyser activity, but the "Northern range of the park is often referred to as the 'Serengeti of the West' and is home to 60% of the wolves in Yellowstone," Manchester told me.
Why See Yellowstone With a Guide?
Yellowstone isn't just the oldest national park, it's also America's 8th largest, spanning 3,472 square miles. This is why guided excursions, like the Wake up to Wildlife tour, are essential. Our guide had decades of experience working within the park and knew the landscapes and their inhabitants inside and out, from which season is best to spot bighorn sheep to exactly where and when various wolf packs were last spotted. On my own, knowing where to look for wildlife would have been like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Visiting Yellowstone with a guide also provided insider tips and knowledge that enhanced our trip so much, with a range of options including focusing on wildlife, photography, and even a Wild West-themed stagecoach and sunset barbecue excursion.
With a guide, explains Manchester, "You don't have to drive what can be very busy roads, you get incredible information about all things Yellowstone, and you will make incredible lifetime memories with like-minded individuals".
Spotting Yellowstone's "Big Five"
As in Africa, famous for its "Big Five," you can also say Yellowstone has its own, uniquely American Big Five: bear, wolf, bison, moose, and elk. Home to the Lamar Valley, the park's northern landscapes are one of the top places to spot them.
To have the best chances of observing wildlife, we've brought along binoculars, but it also helps to use a spotting scope. These are small, portable telescopes that can magnify your field of vision many times over — while they're expensive to purchase, our guide had brought one along and used it to help us look for wolves in the distance.
While seeing grizzlies in the wild was no doubt a highlight for me, perhaps the most iconic animals of Yellowstone are the bison. They roam freely throughout the park, as they have since prehistoric times and are now thriving here after being almost hunted to extinction in the 1800s.
Spotting a herd grazing in a valley or expansive grassland is such an iconic moment, a beautiful example of the National Park Service's conservation successes. Bison are also a sacred animal to the Native American nations of the Great Plains, who revere them as a source of food, warmth, shelter, and ceremonial importance.
Viewing Other Wildlife
The park's diverse ecosystem isn't just megafauna, so also make time to seek out some of the park's tiniest inhabitants. The pika, a small mammal closely related to the rabbit, isn't just a pretty face; they are considered an indicator species of climate change. In recent years, scientists have noticed their movements from lower to higher elevations, where temperatures aren't as warm.
Pika are also masters at camouflage and blend in well against the rocks and stones they call home. It was a thrill to spot them as we drove.
As the day continued, the sun high in the sky, we carried on meandering through the park, not just in search of wildlife but also to take photos of iconic viewpoints like Mirror Lake and the majestic Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Hilborn, an avid photographer himself, had timed our arrival at the Grand Canyon to maximize our chances of seeing a rainbow refracted in the waterfalls. He nailed it, of course, and even had polarizing filters for our cameras at the ready so we could best capture the vivid colors in our photos.
It was now around lunchtime and the morning was coming to an end. In Yellowstone, the early bird gets not only the best wildlife viewing in the park, but a renewed appreciation for this fragile and biodiverse environment, unlike any other.
More Things to Do in Yellowstone
Old Faithful: This iconic geyser is the most visited attraction in Yellowstone, with reliable eruptions every 65 to 95 minutes — it's not called Old Faithful for nothing! Grab a front-row seat on the boardwalk bleachers and wait for it to go off.
Grand Prismatic Spring: A dizzying array of steam and vibrant color, the park's largest hot spring is best viewed from above, via the short Fairy Falls Trailhead.
When to Go
The Wake Up to Wildlife tour season runs from May to October, but be prepared for unpredictable weather. Sunshine is likely, but rain or even snow is always a possibility. Early to mid-June, before the peak summer crowds have arrived, can be an ideal time to visit, with pleasant weather and lots of wildlife viewing.
Where to Stay
Tours depart from several hotels within the park. We stayed in the Lake Lodge Cabins, with rustic vibes and picture-postcard views of Yellowstone Lake. Grab a huckleberry mule cocktail from the lobby bar and pull up a rocking chair on the porch for a sunset like no other — elk and coyotes are often seen at dusk.
Or, bunk up in the Old Faithful Inn, a gorgeous example of "Parkitecture" and a stunning historical hotel built from local lodgepole pine logs, opened in 1904.
How to Get There
Yellowstone National Park is vast, so there are several entry points. Most visitors fly into Bozeman, Idaho Falls, West Yellowstone, or Jackson Hole airports, then rent a car — your own transport is essential within Yellowstone.
Combine With
While you can easily spend several days in Yellowstone alone, just south is its smaller but just as beautiful neighbor, Grand Teton National Park, 55 miles from Yellowstone's South Entrance. Visit for jagged mountain ranges, the sparkling Jenny Lake, and the beautifully photogenic Mormon Row Historic District.