Wildlife Travel: Wolves

The last remaining wolves native to Yellowstone National Park were killed in 1926 in the park’s Lamar Valley. In recent years a climate of compassion and tolerance has allowed for reintroduction of the wolves into the park where they once again roam the expansive acreage. Those hiking the park trails thrill at the thought of glimpsing one of these magnificent creatures.

A significant portion of the Yellowstone National Park is bordered by vast, protected forest Wilderness Areas. As a result anyone trekking in the backcountry will experience some of the most remote wilderness outside of Alaska – increasing the likelihood of a wolf encounter.

Wolf Wildlife Tours

Environmental Adventure Company was founded 10 years ago by Michael Sanders and is a great fit for any adventure seeker, especially those interested in limiting their impact on the habitats that they visit.

The Environmental Adventure Company offers a Wolves of Yellowstone 6 day/5 night tour for $1,795. The guests on this wildlife tour are lead into the Lamar Valley each day by way of the Gardner and Yellowstone rivers. The valley is an area where not only the wolves, but also grizzly bears, elk and bison are most visible.

Big Wild Adventures provides completely outfitted hiking and trekking tours in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. Their trips are planned to include plenty of opportunity to explore the wild in a leisurely manner.

Big Wild Adventures offers a Northeast Yellowstone’s Wolf Country 5 day backpacking adventure for $1300. They too take their guests into the Lamar River valley where the wolves were reintroduced into the park. The stunning wilderness combined with the opportunity to view the abundant wildlife in the valley make for an unforgettable experience.

Wolf Sanctuaries

Another option for experiencing wolves in a natural setting is to visit a wolf sanctuary.

Mission:Wolf , based in the mountains of Colorado, is a peaceful wolf sanctuary far removed from civilization. The sanctuary is a fence-enclosed refuge and this, coupled with its remote location, provides the more than 40 wolf residents a safe place to call home.

Education is a top priority for Mission:Wolf. They meet this goal by providing visitors and volunteers with a center where they can learn about wolves through hands-on working experience. In addition, they offer group field trips and campouts. They also tour various states with socialized wolves in order to educate the public and stimulate care and respect for nature.

International Wolf Center , located in Minnesota, is another wolf sanctuary focused on education. Visitors to the center can stay for a day or up to one week. Such a trip might include dogsledding in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness or an over-night in front of the wolf viewing windows.

They strive to make education fun for everyone and host a great kid-centered web page where kids can learn fun wolf facts, print wolf color sheets or print directions for making a wolf mask.

If traveling any distance is too much, the International Wolf Center also features live webcams.