The Yellowstone Association Institute and Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates the lodges in many national parks, offer a variety of affordable ways to explore the world's first national park during its stunning winter season.
"Lodging & Learning" programs combine multiple-night stays in park lodges with a variety of in-park adventures led by park experts. The "Northern Yellowstone Adventure," is particularly good for adventurers on a budget.
You spend the day exploring the park's picturesque Northern Range, where wildlife such as wolves, bison and elk are abundant and active. So, you learn to spot wildlife while you learn about their behavior.
The trip also includes a guided snowshoe walk, ski tour to Tower Falls and a snowcoach trip to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. Groups are limited to 12 people.
I've been in Yellowstone both in winter and in summer. Anytime is magical.
My trip with the Yellowstone Association a few years ago had us out of our beds before dawn one morning so we could be set up in the Lamar Valley with our tripods, cameras and telescopes for sunrise viewing of wolves and bear searching for breakfast. Our guide recognized "her" wolves, identifying each one by name and its parents and siblings, too.
At a more humane hour, we were hiking to a small lake when we decided that the buffalo ambling toward us on the same path had the right of way. We stepped aside. No problem.
In winter, our group of snowmobiles stopped to watch a huge herd of buffalo cross that same Lamar Valley. Later, I was mesmerized watching other of these huge beasts nibbling on the grass exposed around one of Yellowstone's many hot springs.
Old Faithful? It's a toss-up whether it's more spectacular surrounded by the greenery of warm weather or the blazing white of winter.
The Northern Yellowstone Adventure is $565 per person based on double occupancy - about $141 per day -- and includes long list of great stuff:
Expert instruction by an Institute naturalist guide, four nights of lodging in a room at the historic Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel; all meals; in-park bus transportation; use of snowshoes, hot tubs, ice skates and the ice skating rink; optional evening programs; a welcome gift; and discounts on additional meals, gifts and activities.
The Northern Yellowstone Adventure is offered every Wednesday through Saturday during December and January. And if you can't go on this trip, there are others, year-round offered by this wonderful group. The Yellowstone Association was founded in 1933 to foster the public's understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding ecosystem. www.YellowstoneAssociation.org.
The nearest city to Yellowstone is Jackson Hole, which has its own adventures. But that's another story for another time.
