Getting up voluntarily at 3:30 in the morning does not happen in our world. Left to our own devices, we would have slept right through seeing the wolf pups playing in the pasture. We would have missed the cub rolling on a distant rise. Instead, we chose a small group tour when we visited Yellowstone National Park. Our tour guide, Kyle, from Intrepid Travel, told us once the sun rises, it gets too warm for the wolf packs, so they stay hidden. We also wouldn’t have seen the herds of dreadlocked buffalo meandering along the rivers and fields, mouths moving from side to side as they worked on their breakfasts. And rather than using the high-powered Swarovski crystal binoculars Kyle brought, we would have lined up with the other tourists squinting on the side of the road, asking what our group was looking at as the sun poked its sleepy head over the hills.

As a largely DIY family, we like to plan and execute our vacations on our own timelines. Most national parks offer self-guided trails with QR codes affixed to significant spots for deeper insight, plaques with pictures and narrative, or GPS drives along popular roads. We’ve done it this way, too, chasing kids across Petrified Forest National Park, posing for selfies with saucers at White Sands National Park, and hoping we’d see our kids again after losing them in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We’ve also done a snowshoe tour in winter and an open-air bus tour in summer inside Yosemite National Park, arranged by our hotel, Tenaya Lodge.

Yellowstone National Park © Stevehymon | Dreamstime.com

DIYers and complete hand-holders can choose from the variety of options available through reputable tour companies such as EXP Journeys, which plans bespoke tours that can include helicopters and glamping inside national parks; G Adventures; and Intrepid Travel.

“Intrepid Travel offers nearly 250 different trips across 18 U.S. national parks, giving travelers a wide range of ways to experience these incredible landscapes,” Leigh Barnes, president of the Americas, Intrepid Travel, said in an email. “From lodge-based tours to fully supported backcountry camping adventures — with all the gear included — travelers can choose experiences that match their pace and passion. Whether you’re hiking Zion’s slot canyons, tracking wolves in Yellowstone or stargazing in Denali, our national park-based trips combine must-do hikes with unexpected experiences you won’t find in any guidebook.”