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Montana

Winter Ventures in Yellowstone Country

Program No. 16839RJ

Learn how to snowmobile, snowshoe and ski, discover unique wildlife and visit Old Faithful, fumaroles and bubbling hot springs as you explore the wonders of Yellowstone in winter.

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Protecting the Environment

We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more

6 days

5 nights

14 meals

5B 4L 5D

Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner

West Yellowstone, MT

Yellowstone Ecosystem, Volcano, & Snowshoe Walk

West Yellowstone, MT

Snow Coach Journey into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

West Yellowstone, MT

Wildlife of Yellowstone and Cross-Country Skiing

West Yellowstone, MT

Snowmobile Venture to Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park

West Yellowstone, MT

Program Concludes

West Yellowstone, MT

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At a Glance

Venture into Yellowstone Country for winter's sparkling whiteness, steaming thermals and ice-rimmed rivers. Ride a snowcoach to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and encounter eons of geologic processes. Learn to ride a snowmobile on park roads, view diverse habitats and observe bison, waterfowl, bald eagles and coyotes. Experience churning geothermal activity at Old Faithful and Fountain Paint Pots, discover animal tracks and analyze sign and learn winter sports and skills on informative, naturalist-led adventures.

Activity Level

Outdoor: Spirited

Snow shoeing and X-Country Skiing up to 4 miles (3-4 hours) on primarily maintained snow packed trails. Snowmobiling on snow packed park roads. One day travel 8 hours by Snow Coach with frequent stops. Elevations of 6,666–7,800 feet.

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Take a snowmobile excursion into sulfur-scented geyser basins showcasing Old Faithful's steaming glory, plopping mudpots, fumaroles and sizzling hot springs.
Ride a snowcoach to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where you’re met with sheer, painted walls and the ice-columned majesty of Lower Falls.
Try over-the-snow ventures on cross-country skis and snowshoes, revealing a landscape locked in winter's frozen embrace.

General Notes

Small group size; max of 14 participants.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Zack Baker

Zack Baker attended high school in Livingston, Montana, 52 miles north of Yellowstone. His love for the park started while snowshoeing and observing wildlife. At Montana State University in Bozeman, he earned a B.S. in plant science, but it was Yellowstone’s mammals that grabbed his interest. He led private wildlife watching, hiking, and photography trips, and drove snowcoaches in the winter. He joined up with Road Scholar in 2017 and is now the Program Director for Road Scholar at the University of Montana Western.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Zack Baker View biography

Suggested Reading List (8 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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Winter Ventures in Yellowstone Country

Program Number: 16839

Yellowstone Place Names, 2nd edition

by Lee Whittlesey

Yellowstone National Park Historian's well-researched and entertaining reference source for information on many of Yellowstone's place names and their origins.

Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country

by William Fritz & Robert Thomas

Updated, classic roadside geology book for the Yellowstone Region explains current geological theories.

Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness

by Paul Schullery

Eloquent, elegant, truthful and practical - an environmental history of America's best idea, Yellowstone.

Rough Trip Through Yellowstone, The Epic Winter Expedition of Emerson Hough, F. Jay Haynes and Billy Hofer

by Emerson Hough (Author) and Scott Herring (Eeditor)

Forest and Stream magazine sent one of its most talented writers, Emerson Hough, to Yellowstone in 1894 to document the decline in bison numbers. Hough, legendary guide Billy Hofer, pioneering photographer F. Jay Haynes and other incredibly tough individuals set out on a 200-mile expedition into Yellowstone's frigid, snow-blanketed landscape. Aboard cumbersome, 12-foot-long wooden skies, these tough men scoured Yellowstone's winter terrain to put together a thorough census of the park's bison and elk. Hough wrote up the expedition in a series of 14 articles which resulted in Congress ultimately passing the anti-poaching Lacey Act and helped turn public opinion against a proposed railroad through the park. His witty and entertaining articles are a wonderful description of winter travel in the park in 1894, immensely entertaining and historically significant. Includes nine historic Yellowstone National Park photos by F. Jay Haynes

To Save the Wild Bison: Life on the Edge in Yellowstone

by Mary Ann Franke

The author brings clarity and revelation to one of Yellowstone's most complex struggles by tracing the history of bison and humans into the 19th century and further into the national parks era. Here's discussion of bison management and park policy - the battle over brucellosis, snowmobiles and groomed winter roads, desires of Native Americans, bison and predators.

Decade of the Wolf, revised and updated edition: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone

by Douglas W. Smith and Gary Ferguson

Research and storytelling meld to document wolf recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Wolf biologist, Smith, and nature writer, Ferguson, provide an inside look at the Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Project ten years after the controversial decision was made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to reintroduce wolves into the park. Smith, wolf project leader who has worked with the Yellowstone Wolf Project since its inception, has studied wolves for 25 years. Ferguson, whose writing largely arises from intimate experiences, followed through the seasons, the first 14 wolves released into Yellowstone National Park. Their collaboration offers hard facts and 'impressionistic portraits of individual wolves that reveal their epic lives full of struggle and conquest.' Here is the history of the return of the top predator to Yellowstone.

Restoring a Presence: American Indians and Yellowstone National Park

by Peter Nabokov and Lawrence Loendorf

This first comprehensive account of Indians in and around Yellowstone corrects more than a century of ignorance. Detailed here is Yellowstone's native peoples and their story of a long engagement with a remarkable landscape.

Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers: Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail

by Paul Schullery

The book chronicles historic army winter ski patrols, wildlife stories and other ski adventures as protagonists tell their own stories. The author interprets the social climate and attitudes of the times to present Yellowstone in the 1870s and 80s when the nearest town was several days travel away and summer tourists were rare. Poachers were the area's primary winter visitors during an era when wildlife destruction was occurring throughout the American West. The book places the role of present-day park management in perspective. It interprets our history and explains how and why park policies have evolved and provides insight into wildlife conservation and policy and winter travel in Yellowstone.

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Winter Ventures in Yellowstone Country

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At a Glance

Best of all, you’ll…

General Notes

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