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Montana/Wyoming

The Best of Yellowstone: From Colter's Hell to America's Hot Spot

Program No. 18556RJ

Gain an insider’s perspective on Yellowstone National Park as you join local experts to explore regional geology, natural monuments and the issues facing Yellowstone today.

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Protecting the Environment

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7 days

6 nights

17 meals

6B 5L 6D

Check-in, Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation

Bozeman, Montana

Yellowstone Geology, Gallatin Canyon, Old Faithful

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Geyser Country

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Yellowstone Lake, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Canyon Village, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Mammoth Hot Springs

Gardiner, MT

Tower Falls, Lamar Valley, Closing Program

Bozeman, Montana

Program Concludes

Bozeman, Montana

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At a Glance

Yellowstone National Park’s past and present volcanic and tectonic activity is the foundation of its unique ecosystem and the ecological connections that make it so alluring. Join a park naturalist for a field study showcasing this UNESCO Heritage Site where landforms, together with climate, elevation and time, have resulted in a grand diversity of flora and fauna. Interpretive walks and field trips reveal wildlife, geology, forest, wildflowers and thermal features, as well as the park’s human history and current issues.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to three miles; varied terrain. Getting on and off coach. Some stairs. Elevations up to 8,000 feet.

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Discover the geological reasons why Quake Lake was formed in less than a minute and why Yellowstone Lake is tilting.
Investigate effects of the volcanic and chemical phenomena that created the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Explore hot springs, geysers, mudpots, fumaroles and their surrounding hydrothermal life zone within the geyser basins.

General Notes

Please note that accommodations vary by date. Accommodations in Yellowstone National Park are typically assigned by the park concessionaire in July for the next calendar year. Please check the Dates & Prices, Itinerary & Map, and Lodging & Meals Tabs to determine which accommodations have been assigned for your departure. NOTE FOR UPCOMING SEASON (2025 DEPARTURES): We are aware of some disruptions within the Park Service and believe our programs in Yellowstone National Park can operate normally with minimal impact. Although the full effects of layoffs and hiring freezes for seasonal workers is unknown at this time, we have minimized our dependence on Park Service for lectures, clean-up and other services. We utilize lodging operated by both the park concessionaire and private hotels outside of the park. Neither are operated by the Park Service and shouldn’t be impacted by layoffs or hiring freezes. Our restaurants are also operated by residents of the gateway communities or employees of the park concessionaire. In accordance with the Leave No Trace Seven Principles, our groups pack out what they pack in and do not rely on Park Service for cleaning up after our visit. Finally, we don’t foresee Visitor Centers or sites in Yellowstone National Park to be closed due to staffing issues. We will of course be monitoring the situation through our partners within the gateway communities, National Park Service and the CUA office.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Cathy Raven

Catherine Raven, a Road Scholar instructor since 1999, has a botany/zoology degree from The University of Montana and a PhD in biology from Montana State University. She is the author of “Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship” that was a New York Times bestseller, winner of the PEN/EO Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing and the Nautilus Gold Award for animals/nature writing. A former park ranger at Glacier, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, Voyageurs, and North Cascades National Parks, Cathy currently teaches undergraduates at South University.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Leslie Stoltz View biography

Raised and educated in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Leslie Stoltz now lives in Big Sky, Montana, surrounded by the wild places that she loves. Her decade of work for the National Park Service in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks in the areas of research and education provided a wonderful foundation for her career as a teacher and park expert. Since the early 1990s, Leslie has worked for a variety of companies and non-profit organizations, teaching classes and leading trips in national parks and wild areas throughout the American West. Farther afield, she has led educational trips to Nepal, Bhutan, Tanzania, Botswana, Ecuador, and Mexico. Leslie also runs a non-profit with a mission to keep kids connected to the outdoors though scholarship opportunities for outdoor learning experiences.

Cathy Raven View biography

Patty Bates View biography

Patty Bates, with a bachelor's in wildlife management and a master's in range ecology, enjoyed a 35-year career with the U.S. Forest Service, including 20 years working in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. In retirement, she continues her work in wildland fire, and volunteers for Yellowstone Nature Connection, animal rescue transports, and Madison County Search and Rescue. Besides helping on Road Scholar trips, she keeps busy hosting guests to her sheep wagon and enjoying travel, camping, pets, quilting, and genealogy.

Rick Bush View biography

Rick was raised in Wyoming and moved to Montana after college to work for the Bozeman Chronicle. His career includes working as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, web developer and IT Manager. He has a degree in Journalism from the University of Wyoming and a Master’s degree in photography. He lives in Helena with his wife and is an avid bicycle rider and enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, camping, and travel. When he is not Group Leading, Rick enjoys adventuring with Road Scholar as a participant.

Ellen Bush View biography

Ellen Bush has enjoyed traveling through Montana and around the world during her career as a reporter, journalism professor, and non-profit director. She graduated from Northwestern University with a master’s degree in journalism and a minor in history, then worked as a reporter in Helena, Montana, and Syracuse, New York, before teaching journalism at the University of Florida. She served as Executive Director of CASA of Montana and retired as Executive Director of WorldMontana in 2016. She has also planned Montana explorations for international visitors.

Zack Baker View biography

Zack Baker attended high school in Livingston, Montana, 52 miles north of Yellowstone. His love for the park started while snowshoeing and observing wildlife. At Montana State University in Bozeman, he earned a B.S. in plant science, but it was Yellowstone’s mammals that grabbed his interest. He led private wildlife watching, hiking, and photography trips, and drove snowcoaches in the winter. He joined up with Road Scholar in 2017 and is now the Program Director for Road Scholar at the University of Montana Western.

Shauna Baron View biography

Shauna Baron holds a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Science Education. She has more than 25 years of experience as an outdoor educator, studying large and small carnivores throughout the U.S., including wolves, bears, fishers, and bobcats. Shauna saw her first wild wolf while volunteering for the Yellowstone Wolf Project in 1996 and has since worked as a naturalist in Yellowstone National Park, developing outdoor educational classes for the Yellowstone Institute. She specializes in programs for disabled veterans, inner-city youth, and autistic groups.

Suggested Reading List (10 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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The Best of Yellowstone: From Colter's Hell to America's Hot Spot

Program Number: 18556

Wolf Land

by Carter Niemeyer (author) Jenny Niemeyer (Editor)

Carter Niemeyer has followed wolves – and captured many – since he helped reintroduce them in the Northern Rockies in the mid-1990s. In his second memoir, Wolf Land, he takes us across the rugged West as he tracks wolves, shares in their lives, and seeks middle ground for these iconic animals, both on the land and in our hearts. Carter Niemeyer is an Iowa native and a recognized expert on wolves, livestock depredation, and trapping. He is the retired Idaho wolf manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Niemeyer wrote his first memoir, Wolfer, in 2010.

Interpreting the Landscape: Recent and Ongoing Geology of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

by John M. Good and Kenneth L. Pierce

Text, photography and graphics explain how both parks were formed - the product of volcanic eruptions, profound glaciation and earth movements. The authors describe 'how processes originating half way to the earth's center seem to be the primary force which created volcanic fires, glacial ice and the mountain ranges of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.'

Restoring a Presence: American Indians and Yellowstone National Park

by Peter Nabokov and Lawrence Loendorf

This first comprehensive account of Indians in and around Yellowstone corrects more than a century of ignorance. Detailed here is Yellowstone's native peoples and their story of a long engagement with a remarkable landscape.

The Sibley Guide to Birds

by David Allen Sibley

Sibley, a talented painter, offers this wonderful, data-packed color guide with range maps and detailed descriptions of songs and calls. This book is perfect for field trips with short walks and may be too heavy for some to take to the field in which case it can await back in the car.

Windows into the Earth: The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

by Robert B. Smith and Lee J. Siegel

Find out about the forces that shaped and continue to shape the Greater Yellowstone-Teton region. Illustrations and driving tours of both parks help visitors enjoy and understand the Earth's creative forces in this wondrous region.

Decade of the Wolf, revised and updated edition: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone

by Douglas W. Smith and Gary Ferguson

Research and storytelling meld to document wolf recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Wolf biologist, Smith, and nature writer, Ferguson, provide an inside look at the Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Project ten years after the controversial decision was made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to reintroduce wolves into the park. Smith, wolf project leader who has worked with the Yellowstone Wolf Project since its inception, has studied wolves for 25 years. Ferguson, whose writing largely arises from intimate experiences, followed through the seasons, the first 14 wolves released into Yellowstone National Park. Their collaboration offers hard facts and 'impressionistic portraits of individual wolves that reveal their epic lives full of struggle and conquest.' Here is the history of the return of the top predator to Yellowstone.

Roadside Geology of Yellowstone Country

by William Fritz & Robert Thomas

Updated, classic roadside geology book for the Yellowstone Region explains current geological theories.

After the Fires: The Ecology of Change in Yellowstone National Park

by Linda Wallace, Editor

The ravaging fires of 1988 caused many scientists to predict long-term devastation which did not come to pass. This scientific summary by wildlife biologists, ecosystem and forest scientists and landscape ecologists discusses the many things that changed and did not change in the Yellowstone area. Realize the role of fire in the ecosystem and the resiliency of nature.

Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America

by Rocky Barker

The Yellowstone fires brought to the forefront longstanding conflict over whether federal land management should go with immediate fire suppression procedures or the ‘let it burn’ philosophy. The author, who experienced the Yellowstone fires of 1988 as an environmental reporter there, reviews US wildlands fire history by highlighting wildlands fire management. Discussion of this history and the history of federal lands management considers how these policies shaped the protection of public lands in the US today. Further explained are the details behind the creation of Yellowstone National Park and the role the US Army played in ‘protecting Yellowstone and shaping public lands in the West.’

Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness

by Paul Schullery

Eloquent, elegant, truthful and practical - an environmental history of America's best idea, Yellowstone.

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The Best of Yellowstone: From Colter's Hell to America's Hot Spot

Enroll with Confidence

Protecting the Environment

At a Glance

Best of all, you’ll…

General Notes

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