The Premier Wildlife Tours in Rocky Mountain National Park
Description
Early Bird: This half day tour is just how it sounds, early! This morning tour is a great choice if you are limited for time but would like to see some of Colorado's wildlife. This is a great tour for avid birders as we will be getting into the park at the perfect time to catch some of natures greatest songs. The "Dawn Chorus" Golden Eagle: This is the tour that has made us so famous here in RMNP. This is our full day private wildlife tour. For the avid wildlife enthusiast we cannot recommend a better tour. On this full day tour we will travel throughout the entirety of the park and all the different habitats, to give us the best chance at seeing the most animals. Night Owl: Our newest tour, this is a once in a lifetime tour for many. We start the afternoon off with a bang. Spending the evening hours in search of wildlife. Capping off the experience with a sunset and stargaze from over 12,000 feet high! You have never seen a sunset or this many stars in your life, I guarantee it!
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will enter the park on the east side and travel down all roadways on the east side looking for wildlife. During full day summer tours, we will visit the whole park via Trail Ridge Road. Full day tours last anywhere from 8-12 hours. Half day tours last 3-4 hours.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Reviews(108)
We got to see lots of animals on our half day tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and pointed out great spots for short walks and beautiful photo ops we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. The van was comfortable, and it was nice to have only our family on the tour.
The tour was great! It was nice for my husband not to drive. He took us around where animals are known to frequent so that we had better chances of seeing them. Of course you’re never guaranteed, everything Depends on the animals behavior. We went back to a few spaces more than once to keep checking. He was knowledgeable about the area and animals in the park.
Hey Kristie! Thank you so much for leaving me a review. I am very happy you enjoyed your tour and were happy with your experience! I am glad we were able to see the wildlife that we did and that you mentioned traveling back to locations more than once. Often we can miss an animal that is (in the moment) behind a bush, rock, tree, or is currently in transit to the location. By going back multiple times we definitely increase our likelihood of seeing them. I hope to see you on a future tour in either Colorado, or Arizona!
Chadd was a great guide showing us the wildlife of RMNP. He was a wealth of information about the park and wildlife. Big horned sheep, moose, pika, marmot, elk and deer along with numerous birds were all seen on our day together. Chadd was very friendly and great to converse with as we drove through the park. Highly, highly recommend spending a day with Chadd - you will learn a lot and have a fun time.
Hello Darren, thank you very much for taking the time to write me a review. I am very happy to hear you and your family enjoyed the tour. I am grateful we were able to see so much wildlife, including some of the harder species to find like big-horn sheep. I am thankful for all the kind words and thankful for the high recommendation. I hope to see you and your family on a future tour. Thank you again Darren! Best wishes, Chadd
Chadd was an amazing guide. We traversed the park from the East to West entrance and didn't need to use the Park's arcane timed entry system for Bear Lake. We saw all three species of deer: Elk, Moose, and Mule, many of them close up. We also saw two flocks of Big Horn Sheep. Chadd was entertaining and very knowledgeable. The trip advertised that snacks and water were supplied but we only had minimal water in the car but food and drinks were available at the visitor's center above the tree line.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write me a review and share your experience with the world. I am so happy we were able to see so much wildlife, it really felt nonstop from the start, till the end of the tour. Glad the babies were out and the sheep were definitely out in force! Thank you for the feedback on the snacks and water situation. Just to clarify for future journeys, because our guests have such a wide variety of dietary restrictions and severe food allergies, we actually ask everyone to bring along their own preferred snacks and water for the tour. We always want to ensure everyone stays safe and fueled exactly the way they need! We are glad you were able to grab some extra refreshments at the Alpine Visitor Center to keep you going. Thank you again for the wonderful feedback, and I hope to see you back for another adventure in the future! Best wishes, Chadd
Weather affected our tour instead of 4 hours. We got 3 hours for $400. Saw very few animals, and no alternative…Felt guide could have added information on park, fauna, birds something. He told us he has worked every day this season. He seemed burned out. We were two older ladies.. perhaps that was an issue in the lackluster information.
"Hello Marge, thank you for your feedback. I always strive for complete transparency, so it is important to clarify the context surrounding your booking. Knowing that the poor weather forecast would severely limit wildlife visibility, I reached out to cancel your tour multiple times that week and offered you a full refund. I explicitly advised that animal sightings would be highly unlikely. However, you urgently requested via multiple calls and messages to proceed anyway, stating that this tour was the focal point of your trip and that you accepted the weather risks. I agreed to run the tour solely to accommodate your enthusiastic request. During the trip, poor weather kept the wildlife hidden as predicted, so I changed the focus of the tour from wildlife to the park's geological history, explaining native tree species and how ancient glaciers formed Rocky Mountain National Park. Unfortunately due to the rainfall and the socked-in cloud cover there was not much to see outside of the vehicle. Furthermore, the tour concluded at 3 hours instead of 4 because you and your companion requested to cut the trip short and return to your hotel due to the torrential downpour. I take immense pride in my dedication to my guests, my inclusivity for all ages, and my honesty regarding park conditions. I am sorry that the weather-impacted experience left you feeling disappointed, despite my upfront warnings. Best regards, Chadd
This was one of the best tours we’ve ever been on. The guide, Chadd, was amazing. He has so much knowledge of the park and the animals. He took his time and didn’t make us feel rushed when he made the stops for us to see the wildlife or just to walk around Bear Lake. We spent so much time just enjoying the beauty of Rocky Mountain Park. He was very personable and made our personal tour feel like we were going with a knowledgeable friend. I highly recommend this tour and guide. You won’t be sorry if you book this tour.
One of the best tours you have ever been on? WOW thank you for the kind words. I am very humbled by your review. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to write me a review, I greatly appreciate it! Thank you for the high recommendation, I would love to have you out for another tour in the future! Please comeback to RMNP or come check out Saguaro National Park down in Arizona! Best wishes to you and your family!
Chadd was an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable about wildlife generally, and the wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park specifically. Personable, too, and a good driver. A highlight experience to see RMNP wildlife.
I love hearing when my tour was a highlight for guests during their vacation! I am thankful you enjoyed the tour and grateful to hear you found benefits to the information I provided. Thank you again for the review and look forward to guiding for you again sometime. Please take care!
Chad is very knowledgeable about wildlife and all the interesting things to do and see on his tour! Chad is very compassionate about nature and wildlife. While we were stopped to let some elk and their little babies across the road, some guy started honking his horn, and Chad asked him nicely not to scare the wildlife. The honking persisted, so Chad said, nicely, that if the harassment didn’t stop he would contact an official, and they stopped. I see they also wrote a 1 star review, but they were not with us, so I wouldn’t give it much credit. All in all, you will not be disappointed!
Thank you so much for writing me a review and for including the incident that happened. Unfortunately, I think that is the trending way of the future with people being called out for poor etiquette. I am happy to hear you enjoyed the rest of the tour and all the wildlife! The baby elk were definitely the best part of the tour to me. If you wouldn't mind and if it wouldn't be too much of a bother, would you mind copying and posting this review to Google as that is where the person left their review. Thank you. I hope you had a great ending to your vacation and please come take a tour with me sometime in Arizona!
Highly recommend Chad.. friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and informative. Very much enjoyed the tour!!!!!!
I really appreciate the recommendation! Thank you for taking the time to write me a review. I hope to host you and your family again for a future tour whether in Rocky Mountain National Park or Saguaro National Park in the coming years! Please don't forget about our private wildlife tour options in Yellowstone/Tetons National Park, and also in Glacier National Park!
We had an absolutely amazing experience with Chad’s wildlife tour! I cannot recommend this enough for families, couples, or groups of any kind. I went for my birthday on this tour with my husband 7/26/25 and we had a blast! Chad made sure we saw all kinds of wildlife and was very transparent about siting animals not being a guarantee. Chad was extremely personable and SO knowledgeable about the mountains, trails, animals, and any other questions we had throughout the tour! I ended up getting altitude sickness during our trip and Chad was a total lifesaver and still ended our experience on a high note! We will definitely do this tour again!
Hey thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to write me such a wonderful review! I am happy to hear that you loved your tour and how I was able to present it to you! Thankful so much wildlife was out even with the higher temperatures. That really saved our trip. I really appreciate you opening up and being vulnerable with the severe case of altitude sickness you got. It is no joke and can hit suddenly and rapidly. I don't get to point this out to future guests often, but I used to be a firefighter and have lots of medical training in my background. So luckily for the trip we were able to stave off the illness with some tried and true methods. I think my medical background really plays a pivotal roll in allowing me to do what I love back in no mans lands sometimes. I like to think it gives my guests a bit of piece of mind knowing they are in good hands! Thank you again for opening up about the altitude sickness. I am humbled to hear you had a great birthday day with me! Best wishes and happy birthday, Chadd
