Embark on a Wildlife Tour & Stargazing Adventure
Experience the Parks from Daylight to Dark
Discover a side of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that few get to experience. Begin your adventure searching for wildlife and exploring the landscapes of the region before watching the sun set and the stars take over.
After all, half the park is after dark!
Adventure Highlights
- Combine a guided wildlife tour with an unforgettable stargazing experience
- Explore the landscapes and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
- Learn from both an expert WIldlife Guide and Stargazing Leader
- Experience some of the darkest night skies in the Lower 48
- Choose from multiple wildlife and stargazing experiences
Your Wildlife & Stargazing Experience
Follow the landscape from daylight into darkness on an adventure that brings together wildlife, geology, history, and astronomy.
Begin with an expert Wildlife Guide as you search for wildlife and discover the natural and cultural stories that have shaped the region. As daylight fades, enjoy dinner before transitioning from wildlife watching to exploring the night sky.
Your Stargazing Leader will be waiting with powerful telescopes ready for an evening beneath the stars.
- Search for wildlife and learn about the landscapes they call home.
- Discover the geology, ecology, and history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
- View planets, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and other celestial wonders.
- Explore the universe through powerful telescopes beneath exceptionally dark skies.
From wildlife on the ground to galaxies overhead, experience the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from an entirely new perspective.
Options and Prices
Sit down dinner at Dornan’s or Signal Mountain Lodge Included!
Grand Teton Wildlife & Stargazing Sunset Tour
$1,350 for 1-2 guests
$150 for each additional guest
Grand Teton Wildlife & Stargazing Full-Day Tour
$1,850 for 1-2 people
$200 for each additional guest
Yellowstone Wildlife & Stargazing Full-Day Tour
$1,950 for 1-2 people
$250 for each additional guest
Duration
Sunset: 8 – 9hrs
Full-day: 12-14hrs
Availability
Grand Teton: All Year
Yellowstone: May – Sept.
Maximum Group Size
9 People
Bring the Kids
Ages 6 and younger are FREE!
Private Tours Only
Tailored to your interests!
Prefer a 1/2 half day Sunrise Wildlife Tour with a Stargazing Program at the price listed below? No problem, just give us a call!
Feel free to give us a call at 1-844-WYO-STAR (1-844-996-7827) to book your program and avoid the 6% online booking fee.
What’s Included
- Knowledgeable guide
- Pickup to/from your lodging
- Sit-down Dinner at Dornan’s or Signal Mountain Lodge
- Snacks and water for everyone
- Use of high-powered binoculars
- Use of large telescope for celestial objects
What’s Not Included
- Park entrance fees
- Guide gratuity
Dark Sky Initiatives
Jackson Hole, the valley where the town of Jackson resides, is mostly protected, undeveloped public land. That means there is relatively little light pollution. Combine that with our high elevation and arid climate and have a great recipe for seeing thousands of stars on moonless nights, the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy and so much more.
Wyoming Stargazing is proud to have put in the time and effort to make Teton County the world’s first International Dark Sky Community. Wyoming Stargazing is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The proceeds from our stargazing programs are used to increase access to STEM education and to promote dark night sky conservation.
Stargazing Tour Tips & Considerations
Big Telescopes
We’ll have a telescope with a big mirror for your stargazing program. That means you’ll get to have the light from galaxies millions of light years away actually hit your eye! Some newer, fancier telescopes can show you colored pictures of deep space objects, but they don’t allow light to actually hit your eye.
Avoiding “Hubble Envy”
“Hubble Envy” is the expectation of seeing exquisite, colorful images through our telescopes like those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Only with 100s of hours of exposure time with sophisticated cameras can astronomers produce the amazing colorful pictures that you see in magazines. One of our Board Members produces those images with his personal observatory. There are also some new telescopes with build in cameras that project colored pictures. Our telescope DON’T do that.
What our telescopes can do is capture enough light from objects thousands to millions of light years away so that you can see those objects. However, because of the immense distances from those objects, they will appear as little white fuzzy spots through the telescope. We think it’s pretty cool to have photons (light particles) from distant galaxies actually hit your eye through the eyepiece of the telescope. Then, after traveling for millions of years, those photos are converted into electrical signals and become part of your brain!
We want to give you that experience while stargazing in Jackson Hole. We have made a conscious choice to use telescopes that provide the best views for a wide array of objects including planets, stars, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and more. Some other telescopes are better for some of those objects, but our telescopes tow the line on being good at providing views of all of them. You are always welcome to call us 844-996-7827 and chat about the program before signing up online.
Please Trust Us with the Weather
The weather in Jackson during the summer time is more predictable than during the winter. During the summer, we typically get afternoon thunderstorms and cloudy afternoon weather. As the sky begins to get dark and the temperature begins to drop the clouds almost always dissipate, leaving incredibly clear skies for stargazing. Even if it’s still cloudy at 9pm there is a very good chance that by 10pm the skies will be perfectly clear. In the winter, the weather is less predictable. We get about 70% of our annual precipitation in the form of snow. The storms will come in when they will.
Despite a certain level of predictability, there is really no way to know what the weather will be more than a few hours before the start time of your program. We make all weather decisions at 7pm. We’ll make the best determination on whether we should run your program or not based on as much data as possible. We want you to have a great time stargazing in Jackson Hole with us so we won’t send you out there unless we think it’s going to be worth your time and money.
Should the weather forecast appear to interfere with the stargazing segment of the tour, you’ll have the option to reschedule the entire tour, switch your tour to a full wildlife sunset safari, or cancel the stargazing portion of the tour for a 50% refund. Please note you will need to communicate your choice with a notice of at least 48 hours of the scheduled start time.
How the Phases of the Moon Effect Your Tour
Please also keep in mind that the phase of the Moon changes the overall brightness of the night sky. During the week preceding the Full Moon some of the more distant objects that we look at get washed out by the brightness of the Moon. The Moon is amazing to see through the telescope and it’s an amazing experience stargazing in Jackson Hole under the Full Moon, but you won’t get to see the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy or much detail in deep space objects if your stargazing program occurs five days before the Full Moon and two days after it.
Prepare for Your Program
The heat of the summer days we have here in Jackson can be deceiving – the temperature can drop down to below 40°F at night. Please remember to dress warmly! In the summer you should wear long pants, a warm jacket, closed toed shoes with thick socks, and a hat. In the winter you should dress like you’re going skiing.
Our large telescopes require the use of a ladder to observe. Please contact us if you or anyone in your party cannot use a ladder so that we may accommodate your specific needs.
If you have any special needs, such as ending the program early, we strongly recommend that you book a private stargazing program so that we can accommodate you to the best of our ability.
When to Schedule Your Tour
We encourage you to book your stargazing program at the beginning of your trip. That way, if we need to reschedule because of bad weather, we have a better opportunity to do so.
Cancellation and Rebooking Policy
The satisfaction of our customers is Wyoming Stargazing’s primary concern. We strive to offer engaging, inspiring, and educational stargazing programs. Wyoming Stargazing will use our telescopes to help our customers see the Cosmos whenever possible. However, sometimes the weather only allows us to engage our customers with the stories about the night sky without getting to see much through the telescopes.
In the event of inclement weather, we do our best to re-book stargazing programs for another night. Please consider booking programs early during a trip so that in the event of a weather issue we have the chance to stargaze another night.
At the time of booking we collect payment in full which includes a 10% nonrefundable deposit for any program that we run regardless of the outcome of the weather on the night of the program. There is no charge if Wyoming Stargazing cancels the program because of weather before the program begins. In the event that the weather prevents us from showing you some or all of the typical objects we show during a program a partial refund of up to 90% of the total cost of the program will be issued. No refunds are issued for the 6% nonrefundable online booking fee if customers booked themselves online. You can avoid this 6% booking fee by booking the program over the phone by calling us at 1-844-WYO-STAR (1-844-996-7827).
If the program is canceled by the customer within 48 hours of the scheduled start time of the program there is no refund. However, we understand that life happens so we’ll always do our best to be reasonable and work with each customer on an individual basis to try to make things right.
If the program is rebooked at the request of the customer Wyoming Stargazing will charge a 5% administration fee in addition to the 10% nonrefundable deposit.
The Astronomy Experts in Jackson Hole
Ready to see Jackson Hole after dark? Join a guided stargazing tour and experience Wyoming’s legendary night sky with expert insight, powerful telescopes, and carefully chosen viewing locations. Perfect for visitors who want more than just a quick glance upward.
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