Best of Yellowstone Lower Loop Tour
4x4 Suburban or Mercedes Sprinter Van
Open to all age/ Family Friendly
May- October
6-10 hours flexible to your group needs
Groups of 2-11. 12+ people by booking an extra SUV or Van
Best of Yellowstone Tour
Highlights
- All the ICONIC sites in the park
- We start every tour attempting to see as much wildlife as possible
- In May–Sept of 2025, 95% of our tours on this itinerary saw bears & wolves with an early start
- Up-close Bison sightings
- Grand Prismatic Spring (on request)
- Old Faithful Geyser
- World Famous Old Faithful Inn
- Travel to the best place in Yellowstone to view wildlife
- Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls
- Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
- Includes a picnic lunch from a local bakery, snacks, drinks, coffee, tea, sodas, a variety of sparkling waters, and bottled water
- Several hidden gem off-the-beaten-path hikes/easy walks to geysers, hot springs, and waterfalls
- Open to all ages and ability ranges
- Includes binoculars for every guest
- Includes 2 high-resolution spotting scopes per tour
- Includes take-home videos of wildlife
Itinerary / Tour Summary
If you have never been to Yellowstone—or even if you have—this is a great option for your family! This is by far our most popular tour, as it combines lots of wildlife sightings (including bear, bison, and wolf) with several of Yellowstone's most famous geological sites, such as Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Lower Yellowstone Falls, Hayden Valley, Yellowstone Lake, and plenty of hidden gems. Plus, we include the highest quality bathrooms that exist in Yellowstone along the way!
This tour will put your family in the best position to view abundant wildlife, Yellowstone’s most famous sites, and get your family off the beaten path—away from the crowds—to see hidden hot springs, geysers, and some of the largest waterfalls you have ever seen, all in a single day!
We will seek out multiple bear, bison, and wolf sightings in the morning, explore Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls, take multiple family-friendly hikes to get off the beaten path, and enjoy a beautiful and secluded lunch on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. We'll also stop at clean restrooms, visit historic hotels like The Old Faithful Inn (1903) and The Lake Hotel (1891), and most importantly, move around the park in a calculated and efficient way to make it all possible in a single day.
Do not worry—we are not on a strict time limit that feels rushed. We will take our time enjoying wildlife sightings or any stop. After years of touring Yellowstone, we’ve developed the perfect formula to cover all this in a single day while avoiding crowds—so it will feel like we have the park to ourselves.
We guarantee the most wildlife sightings possible of grizzly bear, wolves, bison, black bear, moose, and other species on the day of your tour. Wildlife activity and movements change throughout the year. Your wildlife biologist guide is in the park almost every day and will have intimate knowledge of when and where to be to maximize your sightings. Your guide will put your family in the best position for wildlife viewing before we check off the other sites.
Additionally, throughout the day we will take multiple off-the-beaten-path hikes or easy walks to hidden gems in lesser-known areas of Yellowstone, so your family can experience the quieter side of the park that few tourists ever get to see.
General Flow of the Day
- Early morning game drive to view as much wildlife as possible in Hayden Valley & Yellowstone Lake
- Lower Yellowstone Falls
- Hike/walk North Rim of Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
- Upper Falls (if time permits)
- Lake Hotel
- Lunch at secret secluded area along the shores of Yellowstone Lake
- Old Faithful Geyser
- Old Faithful Inn
- Secret geyser/hot spring or Grand Prismatic Spring
- Fountain Paint Pots
- Drop-off at pick-up point around 3:30 PM-ish
- This very basic/loose itinerary varies greatly based on pick-up point, time of year, weather, desire of group, and ability range
- Animals roam the park freely; we cannot guarantee all wildlife sightings, but we will try our best.
Pricing
Add $1350 for Luxury SUV to bring 2-6 extra guests beyond the capacity of the van
Pick Up Info
West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Big Sky, Old Faithful, in park pick ups, Bozeman, Livingston,
Paradise Valley, & Mammoth
5:00am -7:00 am
Our pick up times vary from location to location to allow best wildlife watching in the park while ensuring safety on the road. There is fluctuation from month to month on our pick up time based on time of year, weather forecast, and most recent wildlife sightings.
Start dreaming about your adventure...
Why Yellowstone Adventure Tours?
We have successfully led over 1300 trips on a high end level. All our guides have scientific degrees, years of experience in the park and background in wildlife and environmental work.
All of our tours are 100% private. We will get you off the beaten path and away from the touristy sites as much as possible while still seeing the iconic sites. We do not follow a script or strict time constraints. We provide high end Vortex Binoculars and spotting scopes for every passenger on our tours. Your tour will be fully customized to your groups desires, hiking abilities, and goals for the day. We give science based tours that focus on the parks ecology, geology, and history. We are constantly reading and updating so we can provide the most up to date information on the parks wildlife populations, volcano, geysers, etc. Unlike other tour companies that stick to strict time schedules/ constraints and take you only to boardwalks we will take several hikes/ walks through out the day that get you to hidden geysers, hot springs, waterfalls, and mud pots that are not easily found. If your group still has energy by the end of the day let your guide know because we will keep touring the park until your group is ready to go home! If you have something specific in mind that is not offered on other tours or on our website we will do our best to make it happen.
1300+ trips
5 Star Rating on Tripadvisor
Local business
Ethical Wildlife viewing
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
We cannot guarantee wildlife sightings. While it is likely we will see bears, wolves, and other species. These animals freely roam the park. We cannot guarantee sightings bit we will try our best to get you the most sightings possible based on recent activity and seasonality of wildlife movements in Yellowstone.
Yes, our tours are 100% private and customized to your desires. It will be just your family and friends for the entire day.
Each tour comes with a provided deli style lunch from a local bakery that makes all of their breads from scratch. You will get to choose from turkey, roast beef, ham, or vegetarian sandwich with mustard and mayo on the side. All sandwiches come with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Your lunch will come with a large selection of chips, an organic apple, and a fresh baked cookie.
Park Entrance Fee is not included in the price of the tour. However, if you have an annual park pass, it will get up 4 adult members of your group into the park. Otherwise, adults are $20/day. Children 15 and under are free. If you have a Senior Pass, are active Military, purchased a National Parks Pass, or are in the 4th Grade you will get yourself and part of the tour group in for free.
Come prepared and expect anything from cold and wet to extremely hot.