A new geyser erupted while we were in the park! Coincidence? - We took Yellowstone tours with Tied to Nature this week, a day on the lower loop with stops at Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with spectacular waterfall views from both close and far away vistas. The large, new van had plenty of room for us, from 8 to 68 and from 4 ft to 6’8”. Our guide for both days, John Bybee, was knowledgeable and a great driver navigating crowds and stopping at so many sites we had to write them down. Never telling us where we were going he would ask if we wanted to go here or there. Tied to Nature are the guides on the side not the sage on the stage. From his early arrival at 6:15 the first day for a 6:30 pickup, no waiting, to our secluded lunches where we ate at picnic benches with sweeping views, Tied to Nature made us feel like we were the only people in the park. Not 20 minutes into our first day our guide spotted a bald eagle flying low over the river next to the road, the bird watcher’s holy grail. Several Black Bears were eating wildflowers on the side of the road where we stopped and watched from across the street. We sounded the same when we saw a bear as we would riding a rollercoaster. Day 2, the day a new geyser feature emerged in Biscuit Basin, we toured the upper loop where we spotted many animals from the van and stopped to view vast herds of buffalo with our Tied to Nature binoculars and John’s Zeiss scope with a large screen attached, giving us amazing views of an Osprey couple feeding their babies in a huge nest and wolves chasing Bison then the Bison herd chasing the wolves. He later sent videos he recorded from the Zeiss of the encounters to go with our 300+ pics and videos. We have lasting memories of our trip. There were hundreds of barn swallows in mud nests under the eaves of a 140 year old barn and corrals used to house the original Bison brought to Yellowstone in the Lamar Valley, don’t stand under the eaves. The Sandhill crane was a rare sighting and a yellow striped Marmot posed for us on a nearby rock. Elk, Mule deer, a Black Wolf and 2 pups from the Junction Butte pack and an American antelope shared their meadows with us. Canadian Geese flew over as a badger scooted by our van. 8 year old Stella had her eyes closed in the van riding between stops I assumed she was sleeping. She told me later she was actually listening to John’s calm descriptions of the animals, thermal features and history. She didn’t miss a story. When John brought out the Zeiss spotting scope with the large screen attached to the viewfinder we had clear views of wolves and buffalos over a mile away and of Osprey feeding chicks in the nest. Other park visitors gravitated to the Zeiss even though they had their own scopes also because of John’s calm, friendly descriptions even as you could hear other guides shouting to their groups some with mic amplifiers, as they spotted animals. John would simply step back from his screen and quietly describe animals and history, still attracting curious visitors. I thought at first, “Hey, that’s our guide” but soon realized the beauty of Yellowstone is a shared experience for all. I felt a sense of pride when a women and her young daughter approached John and asked how to get to Gibbon Falls. When we arrived there and saw them I was glad they found it because of our friendly group. We booked our tour over a year ago, giving us plenty of time to watch Adam Brubaker’s Podcasts and Ken Burn’s Yellowstone documentaries giving us a perspective on the importance of the area for the Shoshone, Blackfoot and Sioux people, the first citizens of Yellowstone. Thanks to our friend and nature photographer Seth Brandes for recommending Tied to Nature, we won’t forget our special days in America’s Serengeti!

Great day on the lower loop. - Brian Barton was our guide. Brian was very knowledgeable of the sights we visited and of the park in general. Because of his expertise in wildlife behavior we were able to get spectacular video of a black bear. He timed our arrival to Old Faithful perfectly. Brian made the tour very enjoyable.

Excellent tour! - John was a fantastic tour guide! We had an amazing day spotting elk, bison, a bald eagle, a grizzly and even two moose from far away. It was a really unique way to explore the park and learn more.

Highly Recommend "Tied to Nature" - Before booking with "Tied to Nature" for a long planned and highly anticipated family trip to Yellowstone NP for my family of 9, I did extensive research and received many referrals for a knowledgable and trustworthy guide service. "Tied to Nature" did not disappoint. Our guide, Brian went above and beyond to make sure our 2 days of tour included exactly what we wanted to see...especially the wildlife. His extensive knowledge of the park gave us the opportunity to visit and learn about the most interesting park highlights while he navigated to the best wildlife viewing locations. My grandchildren were thrilled to see Bison, Pronghorn, Coyote, Black Bear, Grizzly and so much more. We could not ask more of a park guide...Brian was terrific. Even the picnic lunch which "Tied to Nature" provided exceeded our expectations! I highly recommend!

Great Experience! - I booked this tour in hopes that our two teenage grandsons would be able to experience Yellowstone at its best - and it certainly delivered! Jared tailored our experience to what we wanted to see and knew exactly where to take us to see wildlife. 9 bears, elk, prong-horns, bison, marmots, and a wolf were the highlights! He knew so much about the park as a local and knew how to engage the grandsons in the experience - despite starting out at 5:30am! The bag lunch was exceptionally good and scored an A+ from the boys! He also provided us all the photos taken with his spotting scope during our tour. We were very happy with our experience and would book with Tied to Nature again on a trip to Yellowstone.

Beary Terrific Tour - With Brian as our guide we had an amazing and delightful day touring Yellowstone. His knowledge, personality, patience and perseverance made for a memorable experience. The sights are breathtaking, the waterfalls magical and the animals wildly entertaining. We were 6 seniors, ages 67 - 80 sharing a "bucket list" trip to Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park and The Badlands. Hands down, the best tour of our 3 week trip Out West! Perfect ending...as we were leaving the park we saw a bear. No need for binoculars, just that close. Ambling along, minding his business and scouting the tree line on the other side of the field.

Go to Yellowstone!....and make sure you have a great guide like ours - Scott was amazing - This was a fantastic tour and a large part of the awesomeness was our guide Scott. Yellowstone is a must do but you need to do it with a guide like Scott. We learned so much more because we didn't know all the questions we should ask but he filled in facts along the way that allowed us to ask and learn so much more than we ever imagined. We saw so many unbelievable views and we walked away with such a bigger appreciation for this park with Scott's help. Can't say enough nice things about this park and our guide.

A Great Day - We had the best time! Brian was an amazing guide, super knowledgeable and funny! We saw so many things we never thought we would have! A great day!

Five Star Review! - This was our first time visiting Yellowstone. Searching online, we decided to book a private tour with “Tied to Nature” on Thursday. Brian picked us up early in the morning at our hotel for the southern loop tour. On our drive up from Jackson Hole to our hotel in Island Park on Wednesday, we had already stopped at “Old Faithful”. Upon hearing this and knowing we would also be spending Friday in the park, Brian asked if we would like to pivot our tour from the full southern loop tour. It was so cool how flexible Brian was with our tour and how enthusiastic he was in helping us see everything we wanted to see! Brian had professional binoculars available and a scope with the iPhone attachment which allowed the wildlife video he had taken on our tour to be easily airdropped to our phone. We were able to see a great grey owl perched in a tree, bison meandering across the road, young swans gliding across the water, to name a few. Brian was very knowledgeable and hospitable, providing snacks and a delicious bag lunch from a local restaurant with selections made prior to the tour. Brian was helpful in planning the stops we would make on our own on Friday. Brian gave us very specific directions on where and when to go for the best opportunity to see some wolves! We followed his advice and were able to see the wolves in the Lamar Valley! Amazing! Brian was the perfect guide! We give this tour our highest recommendation!

Levi is the best guide - Levi was amazingly knowledgeable and passionate about nature. He knows so much about Yellowstones ecosystem and explains it so well. We were impressed beyond our expectation.