Private, Yellowstone Photo Safaris - Winter

Yellowstone in January and February is like nowhere else on earth.
The Northern Range stays open to wheeled vehicles year-round, via The National Park Highway, which runs 77 miles from Gardiner to Cooke City, Montana. The road climbs through Yellowstone with steady curves and elevation between 5,000 and 8,000 feet (1,524 to 2,438 meters) above sea level. It’s the lifeline to the communities of Silver Gate and Cooke City when the high mountain passes bury other roads under deep and drifted snow — and it’s the corridor that leads to some of the most iconic and dramatic winter photography opportunities in North America.
At the western end, the travertine terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs breathe great clouds of steam into air that can drop to thirty below zero. The contrast between the frozen landscape and the active thermal water creates images you simply cannot make anywhere else. Moving east through Tower-Roosevelt and into Lamar Valley, the landscape opens into the sagebrush steppe of the northern range — open country, wind-scoured and wide, where the bison herds concentrate and wolf packs are most visible. The Lamar Canyon and Junction Butte packs work this valley regularly, and the open terrain means you can actually watch them hunt, travel, and interact — behavior that’s nearly impossible to observe in forested country. Continue east past Pebble Creek and the landscape shifts again, climbing into mixed conifer along Soda Butte Creek toward Cooke City — moose country, red fox country, a completely different world in the space of a few miles.
We don’t offer canned tours with fixed routes and set schedules. Every safari is completely private and custom-built around you — no two are alike.
Half-day safaris run 5–6 hours.
Full-day safaris run 8–12 hours and include a picnic lunch. Both run in all weather — winter conditions in Yellowstone are part of the experience, not an obstacle to it.
Winter temperatures on the northern range can drop to –30°F and below. We’ll send detailed cold-weather packing guidance when you book your Yellowstone Winter Photo Safari.