Montana
Great Plains and Yellowstone

Sunday 3 June - Saturday 16 June 2012 (14 days)

Saddle up for a fabulous trip to the real American West! We travel to the Montana Plains and Yellowstone National Park at the best time of year, when their wonderful variety of resident birds will be in full song, , their amazing range of mammals have young of the year in abundance, and the prairie will be ablaze with flowers. In the words of one of Yellowstone's most famous residents, this is a tour that's "smarter than the average"!



In early June few places in the world match Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley for viewing the dynamics of large predators and their prey. Snow in the high country keeps herds of elk and deer in the valleys. Predators - particularly bears and wolves -- take advantage of this, often in numbers that create real pressure between species. At the same time, their prey species are raising young, which are abundant and a joy to see.

But we start amidst the serene beauty of eastern Montana's expansive prairies, which offer a lovely contrast to the drama of Yellowstone National Park. We visit this little-visited, beautiful part of Montana during early June, when the prairie is often ablaze with wildflowers and the air filled with birdsong. We are eager to share the fascinating ecological studies emerging from prairie research, and to cap it all, we spend two nights right out on the plains, in yurts!

The camp is ultimately private, stars jump out of the sky overhead, and we share life as if on safari - in Montana. The camp has yurts (two per yurt) with wooden floors, twin beds, dresser and lighting. We have a larger yurt set up as our kitchen and another for a meeting room where we hope to mingle with researchers and conservation staff. The bathrooms are 'porta pottys' and the showers are solar. We know that is a bit of an adventure, but the chance to wake up to a meadowlark symphony is well worth it. We'll have great catered meals, time around the campfire, and wildlife sightings to remember.

In addition to birding, the possibility of prairie wildflowers, and seeing the region's mammals, and for those hard to see species, learning more habits and habitats of the rare ones such as Black-footed Ferrets and Swift Foxes.



Price: £ 3,995
Single supp**.: £ 395
Deposit: £ 400 per person

The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of flights London - Billings and Bozeman - London*, accommodation, meals on the tour except for one dinner, transport, tips, and the services of the leaders.

The price excludes travel insurance, the cost of one dinner (allow $30), drinks and other personal expenses.

*For an ex-international flight cost (Billings/Billings) please deduct £695 from the tour cost.

**Please note that singles are not available for the two nights spent in yurts.

This trip will be operated in conjunction with Naturalist Journeys of the USA

Please note that we require full payment 18 weeks before departure on all USA tours.

Montana map

The tour is again devised by Peg Abbott, and will be run in conjunction with her company, Naturalist Journeys, and the group could include some of her US clients. Peg has always had a weakness for wide open spaces of the prairie; please join her, along with local experts, for a Montana Prairie Spring!

Accommodation:
Montana Plains: Hotels in Billings and Malta, a 'mom-and-pop' motel in Glasgow (all with rooms en suite) and we spend two extraordinary nights at a remote yurt camp set up by staff of the American Prairie Foundation.

Yellowstone: Hotels and lodges with all rooms en suite.

Meals: Most included, except for two dinners at Cooke City and one breakfast

Pace of the tour: Moderate with some field days, with possible walks of up to 2-3 miles over undulating terrain.

Principal Leader: Peg Abbott

Numbers: Max. 12 clients

Outline Itinerary
Day 1We take a scheduled flight from London to Billings, Montana. Overnight, Billings (D)
Day 2We head north towards the Canadian border to witness the legendary open spaces of 'Big Sky Country'. Overnight Glasgow (B,L,D)
Day 3We visit shrub-dominated steppe communities, important to Sage Thrashers and Greater Sage-grouse. Plant enthusiasts will be in their prime; this habitat type is a wonderland for wildflowers. Overnight Glasgow (B,L,D)
Day 4Exploring North Valley County brings us in range of many of the signature prairie birds we hope to see. This is our chance to watch behaviour at some of the large 'towns' of Black-tailed Prairie Dog, which has been described as the keystone species of the region. Overnight Malta (B,L,D)
Day 5After a picnic lunch in Malta's city park, we drive south to the turn off to our safari camp on lands of the American Prairie Foundation. The night skies, remote settings, proximity to Bison, Pronghorn, Coyotes and prairie birds is well worth the adventure of two nights of catered and outfitted camping. Overnight in yurts, 'Tented Camping Safari Style' on the Prairie (B,L,D)
Day 6 Overnight in yurts, 'Tented Camping Safari Style' on the Prairie (B,L,D)
Day 7Tonight, after time to clean up after our camping adventure, we enjoy a fine dinner at one of Billing's famous steakhouses. Overnight Billings (B,L,D)
Day 8After lunch we drive some way west along the Yellowstone River, then turn south towards the Beartooth Mountains. Overnight Red Lodge. (D)
Day 9We head off for an extraordinary drive, arguably the most scenic in North America! Overnight Cooke City (B,L,D)
Days 10-12We have three full days to survey wildlife of the Lamar Valley in search of wolves, Black and Grizzly Bears, and all of the hoofed mammal species upon which they prey.

One afternoon we travel over to the Upper Geyser Basin, home of famous Old Faithful Geyser. Three nights Cooke City (B,L each day, D on the last evening)
Day 13Today we have breakfast, pack up and then drive over Beartooth Pass, with its vistas and wildflowers, back to Billings, Montana for our afternoon flight to London, arriving on Day 14.

Click here for a full, printable itinerary