On-site today. No longer Best Western. No Pat Mackey around for snowmobile tours. Sad. Their tours were so good and he knew so much about Yellowstone.

My wife and I signed up with Yellowstone Year Round Safaris (YYRS) for an all-day snowmobile tour of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone....What could go wrong? Our guide, Pat gave us a 5-minute lesson on the operation of the snowmobile although we had no prior experience. I've operated wave runners and thought how hard can it be. We chose a double snowmobile and the other couple on the tour went with single snowmobiles. Pat told us we'd be required to maintain a speed of 30 mph in order to cover about 100 miles for the trip. We were also told to expect bison encounters and to maintain five feet or less space between the snowmobiles to prevent the bison from darting between them which would be unsafe and possibly cause injury of worse. We were traveling about 20 mph trying to get used to the snowmobile handling, grade of the slopes and the sensation the snowmobile was going to tip over. We quickly fell behind and out of sight from the group. Without any snowmobiles in front of us to follow their sled tracks we ended up out of the groove and flipped over into a snowbank. I was able to pull my legs from underneath the snowmobile, but my wife's legs were penned. Eventually, I was able to lift the snowmobile enough so my wife could pull her legs free. I attempted to turn the snowmobile upright on my own so we could catch up with the others, but it was too heavy. After several minutes, Pat realized we weren't behind him and turned around. I was surprised that he didn't even ask if we were okay. The two of us lifted the snowmobile upright and Pat restarted it. Pat emphasized that 20 mph wasn't a fast enough speed and that we needed to go faster in order to 1) stay with the group and 2) stabilize the snowmobile. We caught up with the other couple, but were told the terrain was going to get more difficult. At that point, we felt unsafe traveling at that speed and those conditions so decided to turn around. Pat led us back to the starting point and left us with two of his workers that were waiting on an unguided group that were going to use YYRS's snowmobiles. For some reason this group didn't show up for over an hour so we had to wait to be shuttled back to our hotel. I emailed the owner of YYRS on 2/8/2019 to tell him about our experience and requested a partial refund, but haven't received any response. My suggestion is don't try this unless you have experience operating a snowmobile and don't expect the owner to respond if you have any issues.

I am a physical therapy student living in Montana for a few months, and I took my parents out to Yellowstone for this snowmobile experience on January 16, 2019. We had 1 single rider and 1 double, and we were the only 3 people on this trip. We met Pat at 7 am, got fitted for all of our attire (boots, gloves, helmet, snowsuit), and headed to Mammoth Hot Springs. From there we headed to Old Faithful and stopped at a lot of places on the way. This trip was the most amazing, beautiful, and unforgettable trip we have ever taken. We had a coyote walk up behind us at Gibbon Falls, saw a few eagles, rode past Bison that were on the road, and encountered some fresh bear tracks. We would 100% take this trip again, because even without the wildlife encounters the views were spectacular. The snowmobiles were a great time. They have hand warmers on them, and with the other gear they give you, you won’t be cold on this trip. The instructions on how to ride were pretty brief but straightforward, and as long as you follow the snowmobile in front of you you should be fine, even at faster speeds. Pat Is extremely knowledgable, and wants to seek out all the wildlife possible for the best experience. If you have any doubts, just do it!!!

My wife and I took the snow coach tour on 4 January 2019. Ron was our tour guide and he was an absolute delight. He was pleasant, personable, and very insightful. Request him, if possible. There were only 4 other adults in our group, no kids. The snow coach was entirely comfortable. The windows stayed remarkably clear. We left the hotel about 7am and returned about 5pm. The snack lunch was perfectly simple and the stops were just right. We had an absolute blast touring Yellowstone in the solitude season with Ron.

From the very beginning our guide Mark supported us in feeling excited for our first snowcoach journey. The views in the interiors of the park were amazing and the peacefulness was wonderful. We saw a few other snowmobiles and snowcoaches throughout the day but felt like we had the whole park to ourselves. We stopped as long as all needed to view interesting sites and wildlife along the way and when we asked Mark if there was a place we could see otters, he said he had seen them in a place not too far away. He jumped out to see if they were in the spot and came running back to tell us they were indeed there. Mark treated us all as if it was the first time we were there.