Yellowstone Alpen Guides Co

West Yellowstone, United States

4.3

Open now

12 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 406-646-9591
Website:
www.yellowstoneguides.com
Address:
537 Yellowstone Ave, West Yellowstone, MT, 59758
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Today

Today 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Open now
Local time (West Yellowstone) 18:42 Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Tuesday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Thursday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Since 1984, Yellowstone Alpen Guides has been the premier touring company in Yellowstone both winter and summer. Operating from West Yellowstone, they provide daily snowcoach tours to Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon and all places in Yellowstone. They specialize in cross country ski, snowshoe and photography tours plus regular scenic tours. Charter the entire snowcoach or two or 8, that hold up to 10 people each.

Private summer tours are our summer specialty. Join your own private guide for a day touring in Yellowstone either in your vehicle our ours. We tailor each adventure to your desires with an emphasis to get you off the beaten path to experience things most tourists never dream of. Our summer daily van tours have a maximum group size of 10 giving you a great guest to guide ratio. Perhaps you want to do a full day hike into the back-​country with the safety and expertise of one of our great guides. Outside the Park we offer kayak tours and rentals.

History

Established in 1984.

Yellowstone Alpen Guides began operating snowcoach tours in Yellowstone in 1984. We added summer tours to our repertoire in 1991. As a small company we pay close attention to detail and quality and strive to be the premier touring operation in Yellowstone and the surrounding area.

Join us as we explore this delicate ecosystem that is home to Old Faithful and two-​thirds of the world’s geysers; where grizzly bears, wolves and other abundant wildlife roam freely. We cater to individuals, families with children and groups of all sizes. We have lodging and tour packages available; one call will take care of your Yellowstone vacation planning needs.

Summer tours are private and customized to meet your desires. Whether you are a first time Yellowstone visitor or are returning for your next adventure, we can help plan your itinerary. Our guides are experts in all things Yellowstone, and will show you the extraordinary things the Park has to offer. Your trip can include things like wildlife

Meet the Business Owner

Scott C.

Business Owner

After graduating from the University of Montana in 1977, Scott moved to West Yellowstone as a science teacher. After a stint of teaching on the Yukon River in bush Alaska, Scott returned to West Yellowstone in 1984 and with friend David founded Yellowstone Alpen Guides. He has been operating tours ever since. He spent three summers as an Interpretive Ranger in Yellowstone and also taught Elder Hostel during the early years of Alpen Guides.

Scott has strived through the years to operate the premier tour company in Yellowstone. He believes great customer service coupled with happy knowledgeable employees are the keys to tremendous customer satisfaction.

Nearby

Near this location:
20
ft
Yellowstone Automotive
555 Yellowstone Ave
880
ft
Rendezvous Snowmobile Rentals
415 Yellowstone Ave
880
ft
Randy’s Auto Repair
415 Yellowstone Ave
1
mi
Rudd & Company, CPA - West Yellowstone
515 Highway Ave
1
mi
Three Bear Lodge
217 Yellowstone Ave
1
mi
Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park and Cabins
210 S. Electric Street

12 reviews of Yellowstone Alpen Guides Co

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Place rating: 5
Fort Worth, TX
As soon as I saw Mike B walking across the parking lot of our hotel, I looked over at my Dad and said «Not sure if this is our guide or not, but it sure looks like someone who should be.» After quickly loading up in into «Kitty», the 1956 Bombardier Snow Coach, we were on our way.
Mike was an excellent guide, driving the surprisingly quite coach through Yellowstone, and to our ultimate destination, Old Faithfull. Mike is part experienced guide, part story teller, part historian, part Botanist, part Geologist, part Ornithologist, part Wildlife Biologist, but 100% committed to making sure your tour of Yellowstone leaves you full of knowledge and great memories.
We chose to take the 2.5 mile hiking option for the last part of the trip from Biscuit Basin to Old Faithfull. We were very fortunate as the weather was great, and the snow on the trail was packed. We navigated the trail with ease and with plenty of time to spare when we arrived at Old Faithfull.
I would recommend Yellowstone Alpen Guides emphatically to anyone wanting to take a tour of Yellowstone during the winter.
Place rating: 1
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA
We book the Canyon tour with Alpen Guides at a cost of $ 375.00 for our Christmas vacation in Yellowstone. We have used Alpen Guides last year and the previous year and they have been very good and reliable. However, this trip was completely wrong! We were instructed to be at the hotel pick-​up before 8 am — we were picked up after 9am, over an hour late! The other group members were driving into West and were late. We were returned us to the hotel early before 4 pm. The guide was simply a coach driver who didn’t use a headset for communication (coaches are exceptionally NOISY!) he constantly was ahead of the group on outings. He consistently gave out the wrong information or inaccurate information. We have been going to Yellowstone for over 50 years and are quite knowledgeable of the park so, to be told something that we know is wrong that he is passing on to others is upsetting. I doubt we will use Alpen Guides again unless it is the only option into the park.
This trip was booked with Alpen guides. I give them 1 star for a nice coach.
We booked a private photo tour of Yellowstone with Alpen guides and they sent «See Yellowstone» tours at a cost of $ 1075.00 as our holiday family gift. Therefore, Alpen guides is responsible. When making the reservation, I told the tour coordinator that it was a must that we go to Hayden Valley and weather permitting we wanted to go by Yellowstone Lake. The guide was courtesy, prompt and picked us in a very nice coach with ample windows for photographing everything. Our driver made a stop at the «office at the Three Bears», once we were inside the park our guide informed us that his management indicated that the coach could only take us as far as to Old Faithful, we weren’t even allowed to go to the Norris geyser basin. We did verified with others at Old Faithful that they had made the journey from those locations and there were no weather restrictions. Not what we had paid for, the same Old Faithful tour by others cost not more $ 375.00. See Yellowstone was a totally misleading and were ripped off by. Reserve using a credit card where you can dispute charges, make certain your confirmation includes what will be included so you have it in writing do rely on verbal communications. Everyone should be aware of their practices and misleading information. We will not use them again and will make certain friends and colleagues are aware as there are several other reputable companies in West Yellowstone, Montana that provide great tours.
Place rating: 4
Triangle, VA
This was an amazing experience — I highly recommend it. Yellowstone in winter is breathtakingly beautiful. Seeing the park via snow coach was a lot of fun, and it felt like a private tour, given that there were only four other people in the coach besides my family of four. Les was our guide for the day, and he was the perfect person to show us around the park as he had just recently retired from working as a park ranger in Yellowstone for 28 years! We saw bald eagles, male and female elk (the buck had a HUGE rack of antlers), trumpeter swans, and hundreds of bison. Les pointed out otter tracks in the snow and shared all kinds of other natural and historical facts about the park. He timed the stops just right so that we got a front-​row seat to watch Old Faithful erupt, along with several other geysers throughout the area.
The snow coach was a 1950s Bombardier that had seen better days (doors kept sticking, duct tape around part of a window) but was in pretty good shape overall. It also had two rooftop hatches that you could stand up and look through while stopped or while driving, which was really fun and convenient for taking pictures. There were plenty of opportunities to get out and walk around as well. We did several hikes around the thermal features of the park and pulled over regularly to get out and see animals.
The reason I gave it 4 stars: the company offered boxed lunches for sale, and I placed the order a week in advance (booked the trip 3 months in advance and added the lunches later). However, when we arrived to check in, the clerk didn’t have the lunches on our invoice. She added them at that moment and said our driver would have them and hand them out on the coach. However, when we stopped for lunch at Old Faithful, Les said they never gave him the lunches. We then had to wait in line for 20 minutes at the crowded lunch counter at the Old Faithful grill and order fast food. Rather than have a picnic lunch outside by the geyser, we had to eat inside and missed the eruption we had showed up for. Fortunately, Les was able to take us a little further into the park to see some other features and then back to Old Faithful in plenty of time to get good seats to see it erupt at the next interval. It was worth the wait!
The company refunded our money for the lunches right away, and we all still had a really awesome day. It was an all-​day trip we will remember forever.
Place rating: 5
Arcadia, CA
Just returned from a Lower Loop day trip with our awesome guide Melanie. She knew how to navigate through every nook and cranny of the Lower Loop — bypassing a lot of the heavily congested and less interesting areas. Melanie has incredible knowledge of the Park and is incredible! We were able to see a large majority of the animals in this area thanks to her know-​how and she even spotted a Grizzly with 2 cubs laying still from about ½ mile out at least & put us front and center. I definitely recommend any trail — upper or lower — with Melanie!
Place rating: 5
Cerritos, CA
We went on a private day tour with Yellowstone Alpen Guides. Our guide David was exceptional! He had so much knowledge not just about the park but the geological significance of the area. It was a very enriching 8 hours and we covered a lot of ground. He was also very flexible and offered us options throughout the day. I would definitely recommend booking a tour with this company and asking for David.
Place rating: 5
Los Angeles, CA
Just finished a tour with Alpen. Professional operation, great service and fantastic guide. Had an all-​day tour with Dave A. and he was exceptional. We toured sites he’s seen hundreds of times yet his enthusiasm and love for the park and his job make it seem like it was his first time. His knowledge brought so much more depth, insight and enjoyment than we could have ever experienced alone. Highly recommend!
Place rating: 5
Bozeman, MT
I had the opportunity to do a guided Snow Coach tour last week with Alpen Guides. Even though I live in Bozeman and frequent Yellowstone regularly, I learned and experienced more with in our one day with Alpen Guides than I have on all of my other visits combined.
Our Guide, Alice, was incredibly knowledgable of everything in the Park– from the geology, history, to the animals, and even down to the bacteria. Being a big nerd myself, I couldn’t find a single question to ask that stumped her.
I cannot recommend Alpen Guides enough. If you are visiting Yellowstone, and have any interest in the natural world, do yourself a favor and book a trip.
Place rating: 3
Tracy, CA
During our trip to Yellowstone we booked snowcoach and snowmobile tours to visit all the points of interest in the part. We booked a snowcoach tour with Aplen Guides. We enjoyed our tour but it wasn’t fantastic. To start the coaches are pretty and very cool looking; but they are also extremely noisy. I mean we weren’t able to talk to each other inside without screaming! Think about what that does to the nature and the wild life in the park (one star off). Also our tour guide (a young lady bless her heart) was more interested in giving a lecture and pointing to the paper map than actually driving in the park. We stopped several times to hear her long speeches (or lectures) about the rivers and history etc. I love to know about these things but can you please drive and talk? (one star off) I came here to see the amazing Yellowstone in winter before it’s gone; I came to see the nature… oh well we didn’t see much wild animals except a coyote; I seriously believe it was the noise of the coach that made animals ran away; I think this company is organized and the prices are reasonable and the staff are nice.
Place rating: 4
Valencia, CA
Had an amazing tour of the northern loop. We saw almost every animal that we wanted to see. Grizzly bear, black bear, moose, buffalo, bald eagles, etc. Our guide was amazing– super friendly and extremely knowledgable. The tour was a little long to be in the car but it was beautiful. Would recommend this company for Yelliwstone tours!
Place rating: 5
New Plymouth, New Zealand
OK, we were due to visit Yellowstone National park in our rented RV, and decided that before we drive the big bus around the park looking for places to go and animals to see we would book a guide for the day to make sure we got the most of our visit. We looked at a couple of companies, however decided that these guys were the ones to go with, they were more expensive, however seemed to be more organised and could cater for 2 adults and 2 kids (boys with lots of energy). We have just finished a fantastic day with Brenda, who picked us up from our campsite (Madison Arm Resort) and showed us the park for a full day (and I mean full day). She listened to what we where after and we saw Bison, Grizzly Bears, Eagles, Marmot, Chipmunks and Ospreys. Additionally she showed us some places that we would not have ventured into and gave us great advice on where to go the next day with our RV. Overall I recommend this company as a pick in West Yellowstone.
Place rating: 4
Huntington Beach, CA
We spent three days with this outfit and highly recommend their service to everyone who visits Yellowstone. Door to door service and a great knowledge of the park. So much better than driving around yourself and seeing all the beauty but having no idea, other than name, what you are looking at. We had great experiences with both guides, and especially liked David, who has been living in the area for more than 30 years.
Place rating: 5
Philadelphia, PA
It surprises me that nobody had reviewed these guys yet. I had an amazing experience with this tour group earlier this week during a solo 2 day trip to yellowstone. Having never been there, and only being in town for one full day, I can’t imagine a better way to have seen everything I was hoping to see. It seems there are a few options for winter tour groups in West Yellowstone, and I ended up choosing these guys because it seemed like a more personal, less corporate tour and they would allow me to do some xc skiing in the park. The snowmobile option didn’t seem better because a) It was really cold b) they can’t talk to you while you’re driving and c) the snowmobiles don’t get to go anywhere the snowcoach can’t. Our tour guide, Jake, was a great guide and helped our group see the park in a very personal way. Getting the chance to xc ski through the gysers without anyone else around was likely the most incredible natural experience I’ve ever had. The bombadier snow coachs are probably a bit less comfortable than those huge tour buses or vans on treads, but I found the vehicle to be perfect for what I was looking for. They’re not drafty and you have the advantage of you being able to take pictures out of the opening in the roof. Anyway, I hope this rating helps indecisive travelers in a similar situation to me.