Private tour, run by Sky's the Limit Tours
Yellowstone Lower Loop Tour: Wildlife & Hot Springs, PRIVATE
From $449.99 per adult Dates and prices
Starts in West Yellowstone: Front-door pickup within 2 miles of the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center; from further out, meet the guide in West Yellowstone.
The operator, Sky's the Limit Tours, provides these 6 photographs. Swipe or scroll right to see more.
Price and dates
From $449.99 per adult
Checked 21 October 2026 for Friday 23 October
Daily until 31 October. Days it does not run cannot be selected.
This is the cost for the date and group size picked above. Choose others to recheck.
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At a glance
- Length
- 8 hours, starts 6 a.m.
- Runs
- Daily until 31 October
- Later dates
- Some dates on sale between 21 October 2027 and 2 November 2027
- Group
- Private: only your group
- Guide
- In English
- Park entry
- Park entry not included
Before you book
Non-US residents should budget $100 each for the park's nonresident fee if they are 16 or older. It applies on tours too, though not to anyone entering with an annual or America the Beautiful pass. Tours driving in from West Yellowstone stop at the end of 31 October 2026, when the road closes to cars.
Where it starts
Front-door pickup within 2 miles of the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center; from further out, meet the guide in West Yellowstone. Both work: a pickup, or meeting up at the start.
The 48 West Yellowstone lodgings on the pickup list
- 1872 Inn
- Al's Westward Ho Motel
- Alpine Motel
- Arrowhead Lodge by Arrowhead Properties
- Best Western Desert Inn
- Best Western Weston Inn
- Big Western Pines Motel
- Brandin' Iron Inn
- City Center Motel
- ClubHouse Inn West Yellowstone
- Crosswinds Inn
- Dude/Round Up Motel
- Elkhorn Cabins and Inn
- Evergreen Motel
- Explorer Cabins At Yellowstone
- Faithful Street Inn
- Golden Stone Inn
- Golden West Motel
- Gray Wolf Inn and Suites
- Hibernation Station
- Ho Hum Motel
- Holiday Inn West Yellowstone By IHG
- Kelly Inn West Yellowstone
- Lazy Duck Inn
- Moose Creek Inn
- One Horse Motel
- Pine Shadows Motel
- Pioneer Motel
- Pony Express Motel
- Sleepy Hollow Lodge
- Stage Coach Inn
- Starlite Yellowstone, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
- Tao's Inn
- The Historic Madison Hotel, Motel and Hostel
- Three Bear Lodge
- Traveler's Lodge
- Wagon Wheel Hotel
- Wagon Wheel RV Campground and Cabins
- West Yellowstone Bed and Breakfast
- Westwood Motel
- White Buffalo Hotel
- Yellowstone Country Inn
- Yellowstone Inn
- Yellowstone Lodge
- Yellowstone Park Hotel
- Yellowstone Townhouses
- Yellowstone West Gate Hotel
- Yellowstone Wildlife Cabins
Pickup details
If your lodging is no more than 2 miles from the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center, the guide picks you up at your door. Staying outside town, for example at Under Canvas or in Island Park, Big Sky, Bozeman or Jackson? Then you meet the guide in West Yellowstone instead. The meeting spot has safe, free parking for the whole day.
If you are staying inside Yellowstone or in Gardiner, you can meet the guide at a central spot inside the park. Call the company to arrange it.
Your guide will contact you by 7 p.m. the evening before to confirm where and when to meet. If you have not heard by then, contact the company.
Dress in layers, and eat breakfast first or bring it with you. Breakfast is not provided, but there are drinks and healthy snacks to keep you going until lunch.
About this tour
This full-day private tour covers Yellowstone’s Lower Loop with a naturalist guide from Sky’s the Limit Tours. You see Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, roaring waterfalls and bubbling hot ground, and hear the stories behind this unusual land.
The tour gives real time to watching wildlife in Hayden Valley. It is home to the Wapiti pack, the park’s largest wolf pack, and is one of the best places in Yellowstone to see grizzly bears. Your guide also explores the shores of Yellowstone Lake, where animals are common. They use what they know about the seasons to raise your odds of seeing wildlife all day.
You ride in comfort while your guide explains what you see. A picnic lunch, snacks and drinks are included, and so are good photos of your day, at no extra cost. The tour can be changed to suit you, and mixes the park’s famous sights with its wildest places.
The route
The order of stops follows the operator's listing. Wildlife and traffic can change the times, which are the operator's.
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Old Faithful
Old Faithful is the world’s most famous geyser. It erupts many times a day, sending boiling water up to about 180 feet into the air, and each eruption lasts 1.5 to 5 minutes. People come from all over the world to see it. While you wait, you can walk the boardwalks through the geyser basin or visit the historic Old Faithful Inn, a fine example of rustic building.
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Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring is the most photographed hot feature in the park. It is bigger than a football field, with bright rings of orange, yellow and blue made by tiny living things that love heat. Steam drifts across the water, and the deep blue middle is close to boiling. You can see it up close from the boardwalk, or hike up to the Grand Prismatic overlook to look down on its colors and the white stone around it.
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Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Here the Yellowstone River pours over two huge waterfalls into a gorge about a thousand feet deep. The golden canyon walls are streaked with pink, red and white from old heat activity. The 308-foot Lower Falls is the most powerful sight. Viewpoints on both rims give great views, and Artist Point and Lookout Point are the most striking.
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Yellowstone Geysers: Mud Volcano Area
This is one of the park’s strangest groups of hot features. Mud pots bubble and churn like a witch’s pot, and steam vents and acid hot springs show how restless the ground is. A short boardwalk loop takes you past Dragon’s Mouth Spring, which roars as steam rolls out, and the always-boiling Mud Cauldron. The smell of sulfur is everywhere.
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Firehole Canyon Drive
This two-mile, one-way road follows the Firehole River through a steep canyon. Ospreys like to nest here, and you may see them dive for fish in the fast water below. There are pullouts for watching wildlife, and the road leads to the Firehole Swimming Area, where warm springs mix with the cool river.
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Hayden Valley
Bison, elk and other hoofed animals move through Hayden Valley and live here.
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West Thumb Geyser Basin
At West Thumb, hot features sit beside the deep blue water of Yellowstone Lake, with the Absaroka Mountains in the distance. You see clear pools, bubbling hot springs and small geysers. An easy boardwalk passes the Fishing Cone, where early visitors cooked fish they had just caught in the hot water, and the bright blue Abyss Pool. In winter, people sometimes see otters playing in the steam.
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Continental Divide Trail
Isa Lake sits on Craig Pass, right on the Continental Divide. This small lake is covered in lily pads. People say no other natural lake on Earth drains to two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, and it even does so the “wrong” way round. When the snow melts, its west side flows to the Atlantic by the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Its east side flows to the Pacific by the Snake and Columbia Rivers.
What is included
Included
- Pickup from and return to your West Yellowstone hotel
- A naturalist guide
- A bag lunch
- A spotting scope and binoculars to use
- Snacks and drinks
- An enclosed, air-conditioned vehicle
Not included
- Your national park entry fee
- Tips (15 to 20% is welcome)
Cancellation and good to know
Up to 24 hours before the start time you can cancel and receive a full refund; inside that window there is none.
Good to know
- Young children can ride along in a stroller or pram.
- This Lower Loop day suits travellers of every fitness level.
Reviews
5.0 out of 5 from 145 reviews.
Questions about this tour
Where does Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour start?
For Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour, the start is in West Yellowstone. The details: front-door pickup within 2 miles of the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center; from further out, meet the guide in West Yellowstone.
Does Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour include the Yellowstone entrance fee?
No. You pay the Yellowstone entrance fee yourself on Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour.
How long is Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour?
Starting at 6 a.m., Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour goes on for 8 hours.
Can I cancel Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour for a refund?
Yes. For a full refund on Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour, cancel with at least 24 hours to spare before the tour; after that there is none.
Can children go on Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour?
Yes. Sky's the Limit Tours' private Lower Loop tour welcomes travellers of every age.