"Your knowledge of the park was incredible and I very much appreciated learning about the park from you. Your photography instruction was top notch, a 5+++. I throughly enjoyed our time together and I cannot wait for another opportunity. " ~ W.Bradley May, 2019
Below you will find helpful links for planning your trip! Everything from weather forecasts and live webcams to lodging, park road information, bear spray rentals and more!
What about the photography tour and my camera?? Yes...first things first. Let's be sure to have camera batteries charged and removed from the charger and put back into your camera (we've all done it before!) In addition, let's not forget to check our memory cards and make sure those have plenty of room, and are also put back into the camera! If it's early or late season, hand warmers may not be a bad idea to keep your fingers from going numb. If wildlife is of interest to you, a telephoto zoom lens is recommended, for instance a 70-300mm to start off with. Bring along those phones fully charged as well, they have lots of fun tricks including the ability to digiscope through a spotting scope! Keep in mind on our photography tour, that I will provide beverages, a small morning snack, as well as a box lunch...but please bring along any of your own snacks to keep you going for our day in the field!
Go Green! Bring a Reusable Water Bottle or Buy a Souvenir one here! Please note: In efforts to reduce our single use plastic, the park does offer plenty of water filling stations. Filtered water is available at most all lodging, visitor centers, restroom facilities such as Madison Jctn and Canyon, among other places. To be honest, the tap water is even pretty tasty here in the mountains! Perhaps the perfect souvenir is a reusable water bottle to take home and remember your fond memories! While on tour with TouringWonderland, we always have filtered drinking water available and hot water to provide coffee or tea. Reusable coffee mugs will be provided during the tour.
The park also offers recycling of aluminum, cardboard, plastic bottles, mixed paper, etc.
Please click on above links to see when lodging, campgrounds, visitor centers, etc are actually Opening and Closing in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park this 2025/2026 season!
Curious what the park looks like right now? Hoping to see Old Faithful erupt today? Check out this website for Live Webcams of Old Faithful, Mt Washburn, North Entrance, West Entrance, Yellowstone Lake!
Your guide will have Bear Spray available for the day of our tours, should we venture away from the roads...but if you are interested in exploring the trails on your own, I highly recommend carrying bear spray and knowing how to use it. Bear spray can be rented in Bozeman, Gardiner, Canyon Village, West Yellowstone, Cody, Jackson and Grand Tetons. Additional Drop off locations are available as well.
Remember, mountain Weather can be finicky and unpredictable! While most days are very pleasant, we can see rain, hail or snow ANY day of the year! Be prepared with closed-toe shoes, rain jackets, hat, gloves, layered clothing, light or heavy jacket and you will me a much happier photographer!
Yellowstone's roads are covered in several feet of snow during the winter months, and the spring snow plowing is a long and tedious process. Road sections open seasonally, dependent on current weather conditions. In addition, during the fall months, they also close seasonally. All this weather takes a beating on the pavement, so be prepared for minor construction delays.
It's a real treat to wake up inside the World's First National Park, and not have to worry about driving into and out of the park everyday. However, the lodges do fill up fast! LodgingReservations open up May 1st for the following year, so plan ahead! However, many people are able to find last minute reservations due to cancellations through patience and persistence. Some campgrounds do take reservations and others are first come, first serve.