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Yellowstone Kayak Tour: Explore Pristine Alpine Waters
4.9
74 Ratings
Yellowstone National Park
Escape Yellowstone’s crowds with a serene kayak tour on Yellowstone Lake. Enjoy intimate, family-friendly adventures on North America’s largest High Alpine Lake.
Escape Yellowstone’s crowds with a serene kayak tour on Yellowstone Lake. Enjoy intimate, family-friendly adventures on North America’s largest High Alpine Lake.
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- West Thumb Geyser Basin - Our Twilight Tour is a 4 to 5 mile journey and usually takes about 3 hours. After a brief orientation with your guide, the group will paddle along the shore of Yellowstone Lake, North America’s Largest High Alpine Lake! Depending on weather conditions and the group ability, our guides will safely escort the group to West…
- West Thumb Geyser Basin - Our Twilight Tour is a 4 to 5 mile journey and usually takes about 3 hours. After a brief orientation with your guide, the group will paddle along the shore of Yellowstone Lake, North America’s Largest High Alpine Lake! Depending on weather conditions and the group ability, our guides will safely escort the group to West Thumb Geyser Basin. After touring the Geyser Basin, where dozens of geothermal features are visible above and below the water’s surface, we will return along the same route, stopping for refreshment and a chance to explore along the shore of the lake, arriving back at our Launch Point in Grant Marina before the sun sets. Return time may vary depending on group size, weather, fitness, and of course the time the sunsets.
- Yellowstone National Park - Takes place in Yellowstone Park
- Old Faithful - The West Thumb Geyser Basin is a short drive from the Iconic Old Faithful Inn and Geyser. The 1/2 mile elevated boardwalk twists and turns through the Geyser Basin providing views of some of the most beautiful Hot Springs, pools, and geysers in the park.
- Bridge Bay Marina - Bridge Bay is a short drive from the West Thumb Geyser Basin along the shores of Yellowstone Lake.
- Hayden Valley - Hayden Valley is just 27 Miles from the West Thumb Geyser Basin. A great point of interest to visit before or after your Kayak experience on Yellowstone Lake.
- Lewis Lake Picnic area - Lewis Lake is just 10 minutes South of the West Thumb Geyser Basin and Grant Village. A wonderful place to dip your toes in the Lake or hike along the North shore towards Shoshone Lake.
- John D Rockefeller Jr Memorial Parkway - John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway is a scenic road and protected area that connects Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Just South of Yellowstone Lake.
What's Included
- All kayak gear included
- Kayak, paddle, life vest, splash gear and safety equipment
- All kayak gear included
- Kayak, paddle, life vest, splash gear and safety equipment
What's Not Included
- Transportation to the activity
- Gratuity not included - never expected but always appreciated!
- Transportation to the activity
- Gratuity not included - never expected but always appreciated!
Additional Information
Escape the crowds in Yellowstone and come kayak on the crystal clear water of North America’s largest High Alpine Lake! Yellowstone is extremely busy, and for good reason, it is an amazing place. However, the crowds can take away from the enjoyment of the place. By booking with Prismatic, you will be the first group on the water and it will feel like…
Escape the crowds in Yellowstone and come kayak on the crystal clear water of North America’s largest High Alpine Lake! Yellowstone is extremely busy, and for good reason, it is an amazing place. However, the crowds can take away from the enjoyment of the place. By booking with Prismatic, you will be the first group on the water and it will feel like you have the park to yourself. We specialize in small groups, keeping the experience intimate and personal. Come discover the wild side of Yellowstone today! Family friendly!
Location
Grant Marina Road
Grant Marina Parking
Shortly after turning onto Grant Village Rd, look for Grant Marina Rd. Turn Right here, the Yellowstone General Store will now be on your Left. Proceed 1/2 Mile down to the beach.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(74 Ratings)
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Mandee_c
Jul 31, 2025
A must do! - It’s was quite the adventure! It was over cast and the lake was choppy. We went out any way. We ended up pulling off at a beach because of lighting. It never passed so we hike out and got ride back to our cars. Our guide was amazing. Even though we didn’t get to,see the geysers it was still amazing.
Review provided by Viator
278carleer
Jul 23, 2025
- Amazing amazing amazing. Our tour guide Dylan was incredibly knowledgeable about the entire park. My super inquisitive budding scientist son asked a million questions (at least!) and I don’t thing there was one Dylan didn’t have a scientifically based answer for. The paddle is gorgeous (of course) and you get to be super close to some hydrothermal features. But, the real plus is the guide. Thank you Dylan for the best end cap to our Yellowstone time we could have ever hoped for! You’ve helped to nurture a kid (Hudson) that will continue to care about nature and national parks for the rest of his life. 10/10 for sure take this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
235genevievet
Jul 23, 2025
Amazing time— Dylan is awesome! - Absolutely amazing. Dylan is a wealth of local and scientific information, incredibly kind, understanding, and patient, and tells excellent stories about the area and his personal wildlife experiences. This kayak trip was doable for me (with a rheumatoid disease), my 8 year old, and 70 year old mother in law. Not gonna lie— it’s a lot of kayaking! It’s not for the faint of heart. But it’s doable. For regular kayakers, this will be a peaceful and easy trek. My husband and I researched for several hours and thankfully we decided to go with this tour. We wanted something doable for our 8 year old. We did the twilight tour. We saw elk and ducks. Even had one female elk wander onto the beach we had pit stopped at. Make sure to wear Non-cotton pants and water shoes.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Katie_k
Jul 13, 2025
Awesome experience w Dillon - We had a great experience w Dillon! He obviously loves his job- we had a great morning kayak and he gave us a mix of local storytelling, geological facts, historical tidbits and fun! He also gave us recommendations for the rest of our day that did not disappoint! Five star recommend-thanks Dillon!
Review provided by Viator
Compass450525
Jun 30, 2025
Unusual way to tour part of Yellowstone & tour guide a hoot! - Dillon was our tour guide. He was friendly, prepared, an excellent guide with lots of information & humorous stories. We saw sandpipers, mergansers & sever other kinds of birds. Very active, interesting & entertaining time on Yellowstone Lake.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Caroline
Jun 30, 2025
Captivating stories, captivating scenery - My 11-y-o daughters and I did the three-hour morning tour with Dylan. We were in the super cool “prismatic” 3-person kayak - I actually didn’t realize how pretty the kayak was until I saw some pictures Dylan snapped of us during the trek - and we had a great time. This was probably an ambitious trip for us, and I was a little concerned at first that we’d all be miserable by the end, but Dylan is so incredibly knowledgeable on so many aspects of Yellowstone and told so many fantastic stories that we absolutely loved our time on the water.
At this point in our vacation we’ve had five other really awesome guides on various tours and adventures, and Dylan was definitely the most interesting. He has a quieter, easy-going vibe, and wow he taught me things about the fish (invasive lake trout and their impact on the ecosystem) and about forest fires/trees (seeds that actually need fire-level heat to warm them out of dormancy) and other topics that I won’t ever forget. Most of all, though, Dylan will be remembered by our family for sharing some of the darker stories of Yellowstone, which we loooved (my daughters have aged out of scaring easily and were here for all of it, ha). I won’t spoil any of them but we were enthralled and horrified (in the best way) by the wildest stories and mysteries about park visitors and I even ended up buying the book “Death on Yellowstone” from a park gift shop as a result.
I’d say the highlights of the trip were (1.) storytime with Dylan (ask for the one about the worst mom ever to visit the park), (2.) educational time with Dylan, (3.) seeing geysers from the water and fumaroles (sooo weird to see the lake bubbling in spots near us), (4.) the overall beauty of the lake and the mountains, and (5.) the kayaking itself.
So glad we did this!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kristin_s
Jun 27, 2025
Beautiful lake, fun kayaking - Dillon and Tiffany were great… and entertaining. They were organized and provided information about the lake formation, the area thermal
features and the birds and fish. We did not see any large mammals along the shore.
There is storage space on the kayak for a water bottle and a dry bag (bag was provided by the tour group). My hiking shoes stayed dry in front of the tandem, my husband’s feet got wet- u may consider bringing different shoes.
They also have 3 single kayaks.
Review provided by Viator
Jeff_a
Jun 22, 2025
Perfect Experience - Yellowstone Lake was at its absolute best with an almost glassy surface and beautiful warm weather, so it's a little difficult to say everyone will have as good of an experience as we had. My son and I had a great time and we were taken alongside the West Thumb thermal features. We felt the warmth of the water coming off the thermal features in the lake and saw the steam rising from onshore. The guides were nice and fun to talk to. They were professional and smart. The kayaking was at a pace we enjoyed.
Review provided by Viator
Aashish_g
Jun 20, 2025
Awesome Experience - Best Experience!! Experienced and knowledgeable guide with friendly nature !! He was the best guide we have ever had !!
Review provided by Viator
Kitty_d
Aug 7, 2025
Great tour guide, pretty scenery but be careful of weather changes - We enjoyed the kayaking to a point, but the weather was not favorable. We had in mind a nice evening easy kayak. Realize it's not the tour guide's fault, and Dylan was very helpful and knowledgeable. Enjoyed his company. But we were a bit disappointed that we did call a few hours before the trip voicing concerns about the weather. Jason expressed understanding but they did push ahead with the trip and the water was very rough and choppy. Things did not improve and we actually ended up hiking out for the last part of the trip and leaving the boats. Again we realize there is no control over the weather, but we do feel it would be nice to have some compensation for the trip which was technically aborted before completion. Otherwise everyone was very nice with a lot of info about the park and "fun facts."
Review provided by Viator
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