Shortly after Yellowstone Park closes to oversnow traffic (March 15th) to the 3rd Thursday in April, some of the roads open for “Cycle-Only Days”. Bikes (no public vehicles) are allowed on roads (fee free admission) from the West Yellowstone entrance to Mammoth as conditions allow. Don’t miss the annual Old Faithful Cycle Tour in September.

Outside the Park, a 64-mile loop called “the block” is a popular ride. The TransAmerica Trail goes right through West Yellowstone. The Rendezvous Ski Trails provide the  most popular and easy access for mountain biking. The Riverside Trail is also accessible from town with a relatively flat trail and offers a great picnic spot perfect for families. Tepee Creek to Red Canyon, Coffin Lake, Lion’s Head and Mile Creek are all rides that are located on US Forest Service land, challenging both aerobically and technically.

Hebgen Lake is Montana’s premiere still water fishing lake with rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout averaging 15-20". Ice moves off in April, and by July the water warms for swimming.  July-September is the best time for water sports. Hebgen accommodates both large and small boats, personal watercraft, kayaks, canoes, paddleboats and sailboats.

At six miles long, 180+ feet deep, with submerged trees, Quake Lake offers great fishing for brown and good-sized rainbow trout. A boat ramp offer access for small motorboats, canoes or kayaks. Kayak rentals, tours and lessons are available. Marinas sell gas and supplies; motorboat, canoe, and kayak rentals. 

Imagine gliding through snow-covered forests, smelling the pungent pines and crisp clean mountain air, warmly snuggled in blankets, with only the sound of paws hitting the soft snow! Dog sledding is the most unusual way to experience winter in Yellowstone County.

You don’t have to go to Alaska to experience the thrill of the Iditarod. Visit a kennel and meet a real team of racing Alaskan Huskies from Iditarod bloodlines and then take a tour. Sled dog tours are available daily with sleds that can handle up to a family of four. It’s one experience no child (or adult) will ever forget.

Don't miss the annual "Rodeo Run" sled dog races in West Yellowstone. Meet and greet the mushers during the Holiday Stroll. Visit our Calendar of Events for the dates.

Surrounding the western boundaries of Yellowstone National Park are some of the country’s top trout streams: the Madison River, Gallatin River, Yellowstone River, and the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. The Gallatin River, one of Montana's most magnificent, offers blue-ribbon rainbow, Yellowstone cutthroat, and brown trout streams.

West Yellowstone earned the title of America’s “Top Ten Fishing Towns” (Forbes Magazine) for unparalleled year-round fishing. Top blue-ribbon trout streams surround West Yellowstone: the Madison, Gallatin, Yellowstone and the Henrys Fork of the Snake. The upper Madison, the Firehole, and the Gibbon Rivers are just minutes away in Yellowstone. Unbeatable float and deep-water fishing abound on Hebgen Lake and Earthquake Lake, Henrys Lake and Island Park Reservoir.  In winter, Hebgen Lake features ice fishing including NAIFC and regional ice fishing tournaments and events.

In winter, Hebgen Lake features ice fishing including a North American Ice Fishing Circuit (NAIFC) qualifier and regional ice fishing tournaments and events. The annual NAIFC tournament is held the first weekend in February is winter's equivalent of summer's big time bass and walleye tournaments, is filled with seminars, a kid's free ice fishing clinic (with free rod & reel for every child),  and the fishing competition itself. More information is available at www.westyellowstoneicefishing.com

Don’t miss the fly-tying action, news, equipment and guide service available in our fly-fishing shops. And don't miss the September fishing phenomenon of "gulper fishing!" Read more!

At these elevations golfers get longer drives, spectacular views and wildlife spectators. Tee-up at two nearby courses to get in a round.

There’s a beautiful, casual nine-hole course located only 20 miles from West Yellowstone at Island Park, ID. During some of the season, a pause to gather Morrell mushrooms can be an added bonus to a par score.

Slightly more distant, golfers can combine classic links-style golf under the watchful eye of Lone Peak Mountain at Big Sky of Montana only 50 miles north of West Yellowstone. This Arnold Palmer eighteen-hole course nestled among the mountains of a ski community make the brief drive worth the experience.

After a long day in the park, relax with a round of miniature golf at family friendly Fun Land, in the pines on Grizzly Avenue.

Guided Tours Summer Yellowstone

Experience Yellowstone Park with a local guide - one who is passionate about the park and knows the latest wildlife sightings, geyser updates and unique photographic locations. Guided van and bus tours are available from early May to mid-October. Choose from private tours, custom tours, or daily public tours at affordable prices. Or, choose your own GPS or self-driving narrative audio tour.

Guided Tours Winter Yellowstone

In the winter, there are two ways to enjoy Yellowstones wintry interior.  Choose a guided snowmobile tour OR snowcoach tour  while traveling over snow into the wonderland of Yellowstone National Park. Winter tours stop often for wildlife and photo opportunities, as well as a chance to explore paths around picturesque hot pools and steaming geysers.

The Oregon Shortline Terminus Historic District consists of the land and buildings that remain from the Union Pacific’s railroad facilities in West Yellowstone. The UP built these facilities early in the 1900s to service tourists traveling to Yellowstone by way of West Yellowstone, know then as “Yellowstone.” The Yellowstone Historic Center’s Museum, located in the 1909 Union Pacific Depot, offers a glimpse into the rich travel history of Yellowstone National Park and into the elegance of train travel in the first half of the 1900s. 

The Yellowstone Historic Center offers many exhibits in the spring, summer and fall including the rich history about some of the back country outposts, Wings into the west and much more. 

The West Yellowstone Historic Walking Tour leads visitors on a trip through the past from the 1909 Depot, Forest Service Cabins from the 1920s, to the magnificent Union Pacific Dining Lodge. In addition to the self-guided brochure, the tour uses interpretive signs posted along the “trail” throughout town that give visitors a glimpse of bygone days and the development of this unique gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Don’t miss the fully restored executive train car housed inside the Holiday Inn.

Traveling to other locations in Montana? The Montana's Cultural Treasures website contains a full listing of art galleries, museums, historical sites, s well as literary treasures, festivals, and performing arts events.  Wondering what cultural opportunities a particular Montana community has to offer?  There is a map guide to help you find them!
"We invite you to celebrate the vast and diverse talent that spans from our mountains to our plains." 

Yellowstone’s hot springs are abundant but too dangerous for humans. “Water of the Gods” hot springs in Norris, MT (88 miles NW on HWY 84) is the closest hot spring location.

About two miles north of Mammoth is a “Welcome to Montana” sign. To the right is a large parking lot and trail heading back south along the river. This is the trail to “Boiling River,” one of the few locations in the park where you can swim in hot spring run-off. Boiling Spring feeds into the Yellowstone River here. Note that this area is only open during daylight hours and could be closed during periods of high water.

Other swimming options: Rainbow Point or Lonesomehurst Campgrounds, and pullouts on the north shore on Hebgen Lake; Island Park Reservoir.

Among the most perfect ways to start a West Yellowstone vacation day may be kayaking or trying out the new Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUP's) out in the early morning light with the mist still rising from the waters of Hebgen or Quake Lake.

An afternoon of exploring brings an awesome awareness of the dynamic forces that formed the Madison River Canyon. On a hot day, can anything bring more family fun and challenge than a kayak flotilla water fight?

And yet there’s more. What about kayaking or taking a SUP out on the lakes within Yellowstone? Full and multiple-day adventures are available.

Whether inclination runs to solitude or multitude, a kayak adventure underscores magical memories of a Yellowstone vacation.

Contrary to popular belief, encouraged for many years by the federal government, Yellowstone has felt the footsteps of Indian peoples for hundreds of centuries.

Based on their own oral histories, many tribes who now make their homes across the vast acres of nearby states have long-standing connections to Yellowstone. The map is based on interpretation of white researchers, artifacts discovered and the subsequent publications. Within Yellowstone, Sheepeater Cliffs and the Nez Perce interpretive signage underscore Indian presence within the Park. 

To learn more about Montana tribes, opportunities to visit reservations, experience reenactments and PowWows go to sevenlodges.dirxion.com

Capturing Yellowstone with your camer.  Anyone can take a photo in Yellowstone. But, to take a truly great shot, takes something more. It requires a personal interaction, a willingness to become part naturalist as well as photographer. Finding the right location, exploring the surroundings within that spot, observing the interaction of weather and light, and patiently waiting for just that right moment when everything melds into place. The result will be not just a beautiful photo, but also one that will always hold an underlying reflection of that special experienceYellowstone’s landscapes create the perfect canvas for spotting wildlife of any shape and size. Photographers, both professional and amateur, have often traveled into Yellowstone to capture the Wintry Wonderland the park offers. Use these tips to take the perfect image.

Known as the "Treasure State", Montana offers a treasure trove rock collectors and gold prospectors. Gold, fossils, garnets, sapphires and quartz crystals are but a few of the many rocks, minerals and gemstones to be found throughout the state.

Virginia City's "Alder Gulch" gold rush produced the largest amount of placer gold in the Northwest; an estimated $120 million. Alder Gulch yielded an estimated $30 million in gold just in the three short years between 1863 and 1866. Gold and garnets can be found in the old tailing piles, while working the creek still yields good color. Calcite, opalite and garnets are found south of Alder in the area known as Ruby Reservoir. The public can also mine for sapphires in the Philipsburg area (Sapphire Gallery).

Make West Yellowstone your home base for scenic drives into Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks or to explore southwestern Montana and Yellowstone Country. Our trip planning section offers suggested day trips, complete with driving directions and suggested places of interest.

Need transportation? West Yellowstone has local car rental offices. Or let someone else do the driving with one of our daily Yellowstone or Grand Teton Park tours. Take a LINX shuttle into different drop-off locations within Yellowstone Park.

Free maps, information, and more suggestions available at the West Yellowstone Visitor Center (open 7 days/wk in the summer).

Click on the links below to view day trip itineraries from West Yellowstone.

Upper Loop
Lower Loop
Madison River Canyon
Virginia and Nevada Cities
Mesa Falls Scenic Byway
Cave Falls/ Bechler Area
Teton Scenic Byway

The earliest snows and groomed trails in the U.S. make West Yellowstone a Nordic skier's paradise. Ski and biathlon teams arrive in early November for a season that lasts through April’s spring crust cruising.

Ski from where ever you're staying to 3 groomed trails. The Rendezvous Trail System is a 35km groomed trail with an additional 5K biathlon course/range.  Bring your dog and ski the Boundary Trail, an easy groomed trail that parallels the western border of Yellowstone National Park through the Gallatin National Forest. Or choose The Riverside Ski Trail and ski right into Yellowstone National Park, along the Madison River where you could catch a glimpse of bald eagles soaring, frosty bison grazing or a beautiful pair of trumpeter swans swimming by. The Riverside Ski Trail crosses very easy terrain. New skiers can try out the sport and ski to impressive views inside Yellowstone National Park. Locals send families and photographers on this trail, which glides along the Montana portion of the Madison River just inside Yellowstone’s boundary. Views include the 10,336-foot Mt. Holmes and the Gallatin Mountain Range. Bison, elk, and moose frequent the river area and sometimes use the packed trail.

If you want an adventure back country skiing Yellowstone has something for you as well. Just outside of West Yellowstone, Montana lies some of the best back country skiing in the West. Trailheads provide easy access by automobile where you can find incredible scenery, petrified trees, and winter wildlife.

Ride a snowcoach into Yellowstone National Park and ski along side rivers, geisers, or explore Yellowstones back country only seen by snowshoers and skiers in the winter.

Less than an hour north is the “Biggest Skiing in America” with 5,500 acres of unforgettable alpine ski terrain, 400” of annual snowfall, panoramic mountain views, no lift lines, one ski pass.

Ski equipment, clothing, lessons and rentals available.

For additional information and current conditions, please check these web pages:

Webcam at the Rendezvous Ski Trailhead Building
Daily Ski Trail Grooming Report
Rendezvous Ski Trail Conditions
Yellowstone Ski Trail Report
Backcountry Avalanche Forecast
Rendezvous Ski Trail Web Cam

Snow coaches  are oversnow vehicles that travel into Yellowstone’s wintry interior. Snowcoach tours leave daily from West Yellowstone starting December 15th, weather permitting. Snowcoaches offer expert local guides and a warm comfortable setting. Daily tour options travel to Old Faithful or the Grand Canyon waterfall area. Also available are specialty tours (photography) or combination snowcoach & ski or snowcoach & snowshoe tour with time to explore trails to thermal features and backcountry areas within Yellowstone Park.

Reservations are required. Purchase a single seat or reserve a private snow coach for your family or group. See the section "Guided Tours-Yellowstone Park (Winter)" for a list of snowcoach businesses.

The western corridor of Yellowstone Park and adjoining national forests offer incredible snowshoeing. The Rendezvous Ski Trail, Boundary Trail (pet-friendly) and Riverside Trail in West Yellowstone, along 40 miles of trails in the Old Faithful area, provide great trails and scenery for snowshoers of all abilities.

Free ranger-guided interpretive snowshoe hikes are offered throughout the winter into Yellowstone National Park and the National Forests. Pick up the free all-seasons area trail map from the Visitor Center. Snowshoe rentals, lessons and guided tours are also available.

Yellowstone Park and our surrounding National Forests offer wildlife watching in every season. Stop by the Visitor Center for free maps and latest wildlife sightings. Local’s secret: After an early dinner in August or September, re-enter Yellowstone through the west gate. Drive along the Madison River, stop at 7-mile bridge (seven miles in from the west entrance) and watch for battling bull elk and listen for the eerie sound of bulls bugling and cows chirping.

We are also home to The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. This bear and wolf sanctuary has wild animals in natural habitats, interactive exhibits, naturalist talks and the famous “Keeper Kids” program. Open 365 days a year (these grizzlies don’t hibernate). Or, Yellowstone Bear World, just down the road in Idaho for a drive-through wildlife experience.