Yellowstone in Winter: Snowcoach Tours to Old Faithful & Wolf Watching in Lamar Valley

Less than 3 percent of Yellowstone's annual visitors see the park between 15 December and 15 March, yet seasoned wildlife photographers and naturalists consider winter the single most atmospheric season in the park. When temperatures drop to -15°C (5°F), the 93°C geothermal vents billow towering plumes of steam into the crystal-clear blue air, frost-bearded bison use the warm geyser basins to survive, and black and grey wolves stand out starkly against the snow.

1. Two Ways to Visit Yellowstone in Winter (Mid-December to Mid-March)

1. Way 1 (With Your Own Rental Car), The Northern Road from Gardiner → Mammoth → Lamar Valley to Cooke City (Open 365 Days a Year): the 85-kilometre road entering at the North Entrance (Gardiner, MT) and running past Mammoth Hot Springs and through Lamar Valley to Silver Gate and Cooke City is ploughed and open to regular wheeled vehicles (AWD and winter tyres recommended) 365 days a year. Winter is the prime season on Earth for watching wild Grey Wolves in Lamar Valley, because elk and bison herds move down from the high mountains onto the snowy valley floor beside the road.
2. Way 2 (Into the Interior Geysers & Canyon), Book a Heated 'Snowcoach' or Guided Snowmobile Tour: from 1 November to mid-April, the West, South and East Entrances and the road to Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are closed to cars and buried under packed snow. From 15 December to 15 March, you board a heated, big-windowed Snowcoach fitted with giant low-pressure balloon tyres or snow tracks (departing daily from West Yellowstone, Mammoth Hot Springs or Flagg Ranch), riding across the snow to watch Old Faithful erupt in near-total solitude or stay overnight at the winter-open Old Faithful Snow Lodge.

2. Cross-Country Skiing, Snowshoeing & 'Fire and Ice' Photography

At both Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Bear Den Ski Shops hire out snowshoes and cross-country skis, and Snowcoaches offer convenient 'Skier Drop-Offs' at Lone Star Geyser or Canyon Rim so you can ski back through steaming thermal valleys where droplets of geyser spray freeze onto pine needles into glittering 'Ghost Trees'.