yellowstone institute

After many years of exploring Yellowstone with family, friends and on my own I finally signed up for a Yellowstone Association Institute group program.It was well-organized, full of great options for daily activities and great fun to meet a very wide variety of people. The evening programs were great and the food was very tasty.I can understand why many attendees were back for their second or third Rendezvous.

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Use their services if you have never been to Yellowstone and want to avoid the crowds but see the area. Book a tour and it will include rooms inside the Park, van pickup each morning, and various hikes/observation stops. We saw everything but a bear.

This visitor center is a perfect place to begin your visit to Yellowstone. In addition to valuable information about the Park, it has quality souvenirs for all ages and my favorite to purchase Yellowstone related gifts.

I hope this review is helpful to future travelers. I know that I didn't find very much information about the winter lodging and learning trips beforehand.Introduction: Our family of 5 took a week long winter package that included lodging (mammoth/old faithful), all breakfasts, lunches and one group dinner. It also included transportation, drivers, and an amazing guide. Our guide during our trip was Danielle. She is a native from Montana who had a huge depth of knowledge about the park, animals, trees, hot springs and history. She made the trip absolutely worth it!First night: we met for a quick introduction at 7pm. Danielle went over the logistics and told us what time to meet in the morning. She also gave us thermos', which we used the entire trip for hot beverages. There were 10 people on our tour. First full day: our adventure included wildlife watching on a bus. There was plenty of space and easy viewing. We went snowshoeing in the afternoon. Lots of fun , but quite a bit of time driving around. We saw bison, huge elk, and two moose. We also got to watch the park rangers doing a wellness checkup on a bison female. Danielle sets up long range spotting scopes to get better views, if needed. She is great about helping visitors to get a photo through the scope. She even narrates video!!Second full day: our favorite day. We spotted a fox, coyotes, bison and elk before heading out to cross country ski. After skiing to a waterfall, we headed out to find the wolves....and success! We watched a pair of wolves, a female and male. We also spotted more bison, elk and a mother moose with her baby.Third day: We boarded a snow coach and headed to Old Faithful. Try not to get stuck in the back. The windows get fogged/icy and it is a tight fit with gear/clothing. It was a long day of driving. We did see a fox sleeping, took a walk around hot springs, stopped to check out views, watch two coyotes eating an elk carcass and more. Fourth day: It was a cold windy morning and a few members of the group weren't up for cross country skiing. Only 3 of us ended up skiing 5 miles out to a geyser. We patiently waited and saw a moderate size eruption without a single person around. Very peaceful! Since we finished our ski quickly, we skied over to " thumper". You can feel the gas bubbles bursting below the water in the hot springs and it makes a shuddering sound/feel below your feet. It was a highlight!!Danielle leaves plenty of time to watch Old Faithful go off and explore the area surrounding the hotel. The visitor center has lots of animal furs to check out! We also had our group dinner this night.Fifth day: Another long snow coach day. We were able to sit in the front, so that was nice. Danielle helps the time pass quickly with stories and we tried to keep our eyes out for wildlife! The views were amazing over waterfalls, canyons and valleys! It was a long ride back and a 10 hour day, but we got to see a ton of the park!The luggage moves separately during transfer days, but it is nice to just leave the hotel room with luggage inside and arrive in your new hotel room with luggage present. No shlepping luggage! Yay! Lunches: They were all cold, bagged lunches. Not the favorite part of the trip, but they kept our bellies full and happy. You have a variety of choices: club croissant, roast beef, Italian, gluten free and vegetarian. The food comes with a raisins, chips, sandwich, mustard/mayo, sometimes a cookie, Oreos, fruit and a granola bar. You must bring your own water and hot beverages. We typically ate our lunches in warming huts, which was nice. We did eat lunch outside during our ski days. It was cold and we had to keep our gloves on. Brr!Bathrooms: I was happy to find out there are bathrooms all along the drive. There were bathrooms at all the major stops and warm bathrooms at the warming huts. Most bathrooms were cold with a typical outdoor outhouse. When skiing, you will have to use the bathroom outside. It was doable, but not the favorite part of the trip. ;)So... Take this trip if you enjoy being in the great outdoors, you can manage cold winters, you have a love for learning and you have a positive nature. Tips: book early. We booked in September and had trouble finding a tour to accommodate us.Fill your thermos' in the morning during breakfast. The hot chocolate is delicious!Bring lots of warm clothes and toe warmers! We had multiple layers on and used all the outerwear.Ask lots of questions! Feel free to message me with any questions that I didn't answer! I love to help future travelers.

I am an ongoing member of this wonderful institution. It is all about educating visitors to all of the natural aspects of Yellowstone National Park. A wealth of books and brochures are available at their many park locations. They have guided tours in both winter and summer. I have visited the park for over 25 times, never tire of the beauty, and the institute is one of the best things to happen to the park in my lifetime. So...if you are not a member, become one.

The Yellowstone Association sponsors an amazing range of classes and leaders. We six booked a guide (and small bus) for the day. Splitting the cost, it was a good value and a wonderful way to discover special spots.

This organization was recommended by a family member and it certainly paid off for our party of four. Ted was our guide and he did an amazing job of spotting and setting up the spotting scope so we felt up close and personal to the animals. We were able to see long horn sheep, coyotes, mountain goats, a momma moose and baby, a grizzly (grizz), a badger, a yellow bellied marmot and buffalo galore! This is a great organization that gives everything back to Yellowstone! I would use this organization again and I would ask for Ted.

My husband and I booked for a hiking trip in Yellowstone based on the description at the institute's website. The institute offers a variety of classes and trips. The group we hiked together consisted of 10 adults and 3 teenagers including the guide and us. Our young guide, Carolyn was enthusiastic and yet prudent making my first visit to Yellowstone memorable and safe in the wilderness. Carolyn drove us between our lodges and the trailheads. She then led us during our hikes providing relevant and intriguing information about the park and its wilderness throughout. All of the participants in our group were delightful to hike with. For me this trip provided just the right combination of hiking in the wilderness by day and relaxing in the modern amenities by night.

I went to Yellowstone in June. I happened to come across the Yellowstone Association before my departure to Yellowstone. I was interested in the 2.5 day birding class offered. I called but the class was full. The person I spoke with was extremely friendly and offered to put me on the wait list. She did inform me that several others were ahead of me and it was unusual to have that many drop outs. Lucky for me, I got a call that there was a single opening. The only caveat was that there was not space to stay in their cabins. This was fine with me....I had already paid to stay in the campground in Canyon.I have always liked birds and became even more interested in them after a safari trip in 2011. But, I did not have any birding experience.The class was fantastic. The first evening was a meet and greet and an orientation. The next day we got started early. We all loaded up into the shuttle bus. The YA provided nice viewing scopes. Plus several other classmates brought their own. The class size was perfect. Enough to facilitate good conversation and participation,...but small enough that we got needed attention.We stopped at a lot of spots. Many I would have not even thought about. Over the two days we spotted 71 different species of birds. Plus, the instructor was very knowledgeable and very enthusiastic about birding. At each stop, he helped identify birds. As we drove he had a lot of stories about different birds...the history of birding....very compelling speaker.We went to quite a few areas of the park. We did a small amount of hiking.This was a great experience. The value was great. Everyone that I dealt with that worked / volunteered for YA was extremely nice. It was abundantly clear that they care very much about the park and about conservation. I cannot think of a single negative note from the experience. I would take another class with them in a heartbeat. Great organization and a great class!

We live in washington where we have many active volcanoes. It is intereting to see how this area was made. The Tetons near by in the south are worth exiting the south end of the park. The newest exposed of the oldest rocks are in these 2 parks. Interactive hands on learning and videos.

Well worth the stop. Anything you buy there will go to fund improvement and education in the park. Get all your cool Yellowstone gear there.

We hired a private tour (lakes and canyon). This tour was a great value. Our guide was EXTREMELY knowledgable, friendly and passionate about what he was doing. Since he drove and knew where everything was, we saw much more in a day than we could have seen on our own. We learned about geology, biology, ecology and park history. I highly recommend taking a tour with these folks!

Back in summers of 1995 and 1996 we built the sleeping cabins, store, director's cabin and generator cabin for the Yellowstone Institute at Bufflalo Ranch. We loved our opprortunity to live and work in Lamar Valley. The wolves released to Rose creek, the six griz at one time viewed through the spotting scope, the huge elk and bison herds, the badger interupting our work day are just some of the little memories that were sprinkled through the days. Yellowstone is an amazing place and the Yellowstone Association is great for the hands on learning experience. We are fortunate to live in the Yellowstone area and visit every chance we get. Thanks, from Gonebeaver Co., Bozeman, Montana.

We went on the Yellowstone Association Institute "Old Times on the Grand Tour" for the last week of May, 2012. One of their "lodge and learn" programs, we had five full days of touring on one of the restored 1930's era yellow buses, and stayed in 3 different hotels in the part for six nights. It really was the trip of a lifetime, and was a wonderful way to see this amazing park - no driving, reserving rooms, or wondering what to do/see. Both our guide and driver were extremely knowledgeable, and kept us engaged with interesting stories of the history, geology and wildlife of the park. The group was small (8 in all), warm and collegial - even though we'd never met prior to the tour. We also hiked about 1-3 miles a day, so one needs to be in moderately good shape given the altitude, although nothing arduous. We saw amazing wildlife (grizzlies, black bears, bison, pronghorn, ospreys, bald eagles, deer, coyotes, elk - and the young of many of these) - our guide had 2 high-powered scopes they set up for distance viewing, and she knew the "good" places to go to see wildlife. Also all the beautiful scenery (Grand Canyon, Lamar Valley) and geological features (geysers, boiling mudpots) you could wish for.For those put off by the idea of a "tour" - these small, interactive groups are as far away from those giant bus tours as you can imagine. It's all about enjoying this wonderful park with NONE of the hassles and ALL the advantages of a great guide. And despite the length of the tour, every day brought something new (Yellowstone is huge and diverse). One final note, the nice thing about going in late spring is lack of crowds and lots of wildlife and their young - but the weather can be iffy (from 80's to 5 inches of snow in one week!). YAI sends you a list of clothing to bring - yes, we needed the long underwear in late May! Correctly equipped, we stayed warm and dry.