Best birthday present ever! My sister and I did one of the sunrise tours. I've been on wildlife tours all over the country and this one was my favorite. Jared is a very knowledgeable naturalist and he has a great entertaining, conversational manner. Not only did he find tons of wildlife for us to watch, he talked all about the animal behaviors we were seeing (that's not common in my experience - a lot of guides I've toured with end the conversation at "hey look! An elk.") Even in between seeing animals, Jared was unstumpable. I had questions about the trees in RMNP and the geology and he has so many interesting facts to share. Thanks for a great morning, Jared! read more

Yellow Wood Guiding - Coyote about to pounce on prey (photographed using a phone through a scope) - Tours Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

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My wife and I had an amazing time working with Jared on Monday for a sunrise and sunset photo excursion. Jared communicated well before the trip to make sure we were prepared for the day. He was punctual both times he picked us up and was a wealth of knowledge about the area. We are just getting into photography and Jared was patient in educating us on the different aspects of photography and what we should be taking into consideration when looking to take a photo. He made sure we were covering the topics we wanted to shoot and would give us different options as the day/weather provided. We traveled in for a wedding so we used Jared's equipment. While cautious, he was very trusting of his using and carrying his equipment. He knows great spots for different types of pictures. We're coming back from this trip with some great photos of the Rocky Mountains and the pika I was hoping to see. If you are into photography or just getting into it and want to have someone show you around RMNP, we highly recommend booking with Jared. read more

Jared was absolutely great. Did the Wildlife tour and the Best of Tour. He is super knowledgeable about the area as well as knowing the best times and places for photography. I have some amazing shots thanks to him. He was also very patient with me being slightly paranoid about walking on ice! (Floridan). If I get back to Estes I will be taking one of his tours again. read more

Jared was wonderful. He is very knowledgeable on the area and was able to point out lots of details we didn't know about the Rocky Mountain National Park. His photography knowledge is also wonderful. Will definitely book again the next time we come out to the area from Illinois read more

Incredible experience. Jared is practically a walking encyclopedia and expert photographer. Very knowledgable, having an answer to all our questions and more. He knew the best spots for views, animals, and more. Also, he caters the trip to your liking. We preferred views and sightseeing, and he made the most of the our tour. Super friendly! Highly recommend! Great, priceless camera equipment to use as well. Thanks, Jared! read more

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Jared never disappoints. Once again we toured Rocky with Jared introducing our adult children to the beauty of the nature in the area. Jared is thorough, entertaining, passionate, and incredibly knowledgeable. We will continue to connect with him when we are in the Estes Park area as well always learn something new. read more

Smartest money we ever spent during a trip! Jared is a master class in all things Rocky - geology, biology, botany, history, and culture. He is a nature nerd's nature nerd! We had basically one day in Rocky Mtn Nat'l Pk and he took us places you'd never see from the pullouts and hiked with us into the brilliant aspens at 9000 feet (take his advice about the water)!. He gave us tips to explore later in the day after our morning tour, and we knew what to look for. We can't rave enough. What a memorable trip! read more

Jared was very knowledgeable and gave us a great tour both in the morning and the evening. We felt like we had a comprehensive and informative tour and that we were able to use our short time at RMNP to its fullest. Jared is knowledgeable as a naturalist as well as a photographer. He picked great spots for photos and gave me lots of hints for a good picture. He was very clear about what to expect. We would highly recommend him as a tour guide. read more

Awesome experience with Jared G. of Yellow Wood Guiding. Jared knows all the prime spots for landscape photography. I learn so much in such a short period of time from Jarod. F stop to depth of field,composition and other factors to take prime photos.Could not say enough about the experience. It was the highlight of my trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Looking forward to seeing you again Jared next year for more new adventures and experiences. ED read more

Jared took my girlfriend and me on a guided wildlife tour this past Saturday, June 27, 2020, and it was fantastic. We saw 19 Moose, dozens of Elk, a herd of ewe sheep up close, and several lambs and ewes up on a tall hillside. Jared was very knowledgeable on RMNP, the wildlife, history, where we should go to see what we were wanting to see (Moose and Elk mostly), and so much more. He was very friendly, asked questions, and generally just very enjoyable to be with for four hours. Pictures of some of the wildlife we saw are attached. Thank you Jared. read more

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Fantastic! We took a four hour driving tour with Jared. Our goal was to see animals up close. We saw elk, moose, mule deer and Big horn rams. Some were far away but many were very close and amazing. We saw elk bugling and Jared explained the different reasons for elk behavior. Amazing! Jared's knowledge of the park and of history made the tour fly by. We are looking forward to our next trip to RMNP and another tour with Jared. read more

Stop reading this review and book your trip!!! Seriously, this is the best photography tour ever. Jared nailed it. The knowledge, experience, and customer service is just unmatched. There is no doubt that I'm a better photographer now because of this trip. The images I was able to shoot were top notch. His equipment is amazing too, which I guess you might expect for a pro. He really prepares you for the trip with some youtube videos and he was right on time. We had a morning tour focused on Wildlife. It was a great day, animals were out in the open and we went all over the place to get as much as we could in. His SUV was very clean and comfortable, it even had a large glass roof so you could see up the mountain! He really made sure you got to do what you wanted. We had tons of options for what we could do and he did not disappoint. He really explained the area, talked about animal behavior, and even helped us prepare for future trips on our own. He was very surprised we got to see a bull moose even! Jared- Thank you so much. We will be booking you again in the future and I will ensure any friends I have going up will also book a trip or two. We went back and got good shots of the Rams and a saw small pack of Coyote too. No cats but we did see a fox on the way home! We will be planning another trip this year no doubt! read more

Yellow Wood Guiding - One of many shots I was able to take... such a great time - Tours Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

Jared was a welcoming host, very knowledgeable about the area, the weather conditions, what to expect, professional style photography, and all things wildlife. We hired him for A 3.5 hour photo safari. Jared seems a jack of all trades without coming off all-knowing. He also has the unique ability to jump in and assist when needed and balance that with hands off letting the customer take the lead. He knows the park like the back of his hand and we put full confidence in his suggestions and expertise, which is what I would suggest. Safety and environmental footprinting is high on his list of concerns and he was equipped with everything we might need. It was a very enjoyable and informative experience and I would say even for seasoned photographers, you will be sure to learn a thing or two. Well worth the money and a good value overall! read more

Update: It is not acceptable to communicate entirely by email under such circumstances. A voice call was in order. If you cannot understand that it's on you. read more

My husband and i took the 3.5-hour Winter Wildlife Safari tour. I will admit, we were a little leery about meeting a random guy i had only emailed with a few times that gave no confirmation number/email and only accepted cash or check, but once we read the reviews and searched more on the website, we felt at ease. SO glad we did because the experience was amazing!! Jared was an incredible tour guide. He was ridiculously knowledgeable and was basically an open encyclopedia for 3.5 hours. He took us to different areas in and around Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park and Estes, leaving some of the choices up to us depending on what we wanted to see. We were able to catch horned sheep, mule deer, elk, turkeys, birds, and moose. He laid down the rules and highly encouraged questions and curiosity! He was so enthusiastic about what he was doing and oozed passion. Highly recommend! read more

Great tour! We would highly recommend this tour to anyone (over the recommended age). Jared should offer a free tour to anyone that can answer all of his questions or anyone that knows more than he does about RMNP and beyond. We saw everything we wanted to see and more. Looking forward to our next trip to the area for another tour. He was fantastic! We did the wildlife evening tour and saw a ton of animals big and small and were able to really enjoy the beauty of the park that we would not have been able to see without his guidance and expertise. We wouldn't know where to begin and he knew almost exactly where all of the animals were and at what time. read more

A must for every trip to Rocky! Jared is an incredibly knowledgeable naturalist making every person who tours with him a literal RMNP "addict." read more

Yellow Wood Guiding - Aspens at Bear Lake - Tours Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

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We went on the Winter Wildlife Photo Safari and Jared was excellent! Not only did he show us uncommon places to view wildlife in the city, he taught us how to truly operate our cameras and not rely on automatic. Jared was prompt, friendly, and enjoyable. His passion and knowledge for photography is evident but he has no problem "dumbing it down" in terms that are easily understandable. Make sure you bring a large enough memory card to hold all the photos you'll be taking and even a spare battery just in case. Be specific about what you want out of the trip - Jared can definitely make it happen! read more

Jared is so nice and smart!!! He had thorough answers to all of our questions and showed us the coolest things. read more

Yellow Wood Guiding - Tours Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

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Our family had a amazing time exploring the Rockies with our tour guide Jared. Even though we got up very early, it was well worth it to see the amount of wildlife that we got to experience. During our trip we saw moose, elks, mule deer, and a variety of other animals native to the Rocky Mountain region. Jared was incredibly knowledgeable from the animals in the region, to day to day activities that he recommended for our family to do while at the park. This experience was an outstanding way to begin our Rocky Mountain vacation! read more

I went on a sunrise tour with Jared and learned so much! He really focuses on your needs and wants. I learned how to shoot landscape, waterfalls, rivers, trees, flowers, etc. I am still amazed that I took such great photos. read more

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Amazing.Amazing.Amazing. We on a tour to see some wildlife and some mountains for some nice pictures. Got a history lesson on Estes Park, The Rockies, and the wildlife. The man is like your own personal Google! He knows anything about everything. Such a great tour and well worth the money. If anything, he couldve charged more and we still would wouldve paid. This is the only way to see the park. He never promised we would see any wildlife yet we ended up seeing deer, elk, magpies, big horn sheep and ducks. It just made it that much sweeter! He knew where to go, where to look. My husband and I were simply amazed and ready to come visit him in the spring/summer. read more

My husband and I were in Estes Park for only 2 days but wanted to see some of the local wildlife. We had taken a Jeep tour the day before, but they had a set route and had several people per trip. With Yellow Wood it was just the 2 of us and we were able to decide where we wanted to go and see. We were able to find wildlife we had not been able to find in the park. Totally worth the price to have a more customized journey. And Jarred gave us a lot of great information about the local history and the habits of the animals we were seeing. Highly recommend this tour. read more

The best way to see RMNP wildlife! We did a 4 hour morning wildlife tour with Jarad and could not have been happier. After picking us up from our hotel he drove us to the best spots to see and photograph the parks animals while answering any and all questions we had about the history of the area, the animals in the park and explaining what's going there on now. After a fantastic 4 hour tour and seeing moose, elk, ram, deer etc. Jarad even gave us great recommendations for what to do on our next day in the park which proved to be excellent. If you're thinking of using a guide to get the most out of the park Yellow Wood Guiding is the way to go! read more

Wow, what an incredible park tour. I don't know why Jared isn't running a particle accelerator or accepting a Nobel prize in physics because the man is an absolute genius. Somehow this guy who should be a MacArthur Fellow has wound up running RMNP tours. From the animals to the plant life to the geology to planetary biology he seems to know absolutely everything about the park. He was astonishing. It was like having an MIT professor as a tour guide. We had a 6-hour, head-spinningly detailed tour of the park where he took us to several lesser known areas, made sure we saw a few animals and plants you'd normally miss and kept the drive occupied with a blizzard of interesting facts and evolutionary theory. He even capped the trip by driving us to the beaver dam just outside of Estes Park--a seriously cool spot that few seem to know about. Jared charges about $45 an hour for his tours which you can book in different lengths. He's worth every penny. The whole operation appears to be just him and his SUV, which means very small, individual and personalized tours. Plus, as a BIG bonus, he also seems to be a whiz at photography too, as my wife learned a bunch of helpful tips about operating and improving the performance of her SLR digital camera. If you book with Yellow Wood, use and exploit this guy. He's a once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity. read more

My wife (semi-pro photographer) and I went on a photo safari with Jared of Yellow Wood Guiding this January. We did a sunrise half-day, which resulted in a DVD of tons of great shots of the mountains and the wildlife of Rocky Mountain National Park. As well as being a very knowledgeable and talented photographer, Jared is also an ecologist and was a great tour guide. There is no way we would have gotten the kind of photos we did without his inside knowledge of where to go and when (nor would we have any idea what kinds of animals those were or the interesting history of the place). He picked us up in his Jeep and let me use his (expensive) pro equipment, which included tripod, camera, filters, lenses, etc. We liked that he was a considerate guide (looking out for our frozen fingers and letting us get the extra kinds of shots we wanted), and that he was not pretentious. This allowed for critiques and improvement without damaging the budding artist inside me. :) Whether you are handy with a camera (like my wife) or think it would be fun to play photographer for the day (like me), we would definitely recommend Jared. We couldn't believe all we got for the price. read more

Jared was amazing! We are so glad we found him. He was unbelievably knowledgeable, prepared for anything and was very kind when I fell on my behind several times while snowshoeing for the first time. We hope to use his services again when we head back to Estes Park next year. You will not be disappointed! read more

This guy knows his stuff. He's basically a walking encyclopedia about everything RMNP and even more. He'll tell you everything about every weed, flower, tree, animal, the climate, etc. in the RMNP but ask him about nature things in general and he'll know too. My boyfriend and I planned a morning and an evening tour on 4th of July. He taught us how to avoid crowds and took us to the best spots with the time we had, which we really appreciate because the last thing we wanted to do on vacation was spend a lot of time stressfully planning it all out by ourselves. If it weren't for him, we would've been caught up with the heavy crowds and probably wouldn't have gotten to see all the most amazing things with the time we had. He is also really accommodating, he doesn't have a "one tour fits all" kind of tour- he will adjust the tour based on what you truly want. Want to see more moose and less landscapes? Want to see only landscapes? Want to hike or just drive? Want to go on a plant walk? Whatever you wanna see in RMNP, he's got you. Absolutely excellent, I wish I could give 6 out of 5 stars! read more

This review is long overdue. I enjoyed a tour with Yellow Wood back in April. Why would anyone want to go on a crowded tour someone has already planned when you can have a customized trip all your own? Jared ensured that we got exactly what we wanted form our tour. His knowledge and passion is infectious. We came away from our trip with a greater understanding of the area's history and ecology. What I appreciated most was Jared's instruction with my new camera. As a fellow photography hobbiest, Jared gave me great advice and help learning my new camera. There was a notable difference in the photos I took before our tour and after. He made me more confident in my camera skills and I was able to leave auto mode behind! Jared also gave a us great tips on places to hike and see wildlife. It was truly a personalized experience and one I will never forget. If you want something different than the run-of-the-mill pre-set tours, then book with Yellow Wood Guiding! read more

Our day with Jared Gricoski far exceeded our expectations with a fascinating tour of highlights of Rocky Mountain National Park. We booked an 8-hour tour and he suggested breaking it into two 4-hour sections, one beginning at 6:15am and the other beginning at 4pm. This way, we were able to see a lot more wildlife and avoid the heat of the day (early September 2012). Jared used his spotting scope and night vision equipment to help us see more wildlife. We saw elk, bighorn sheep, deer, rabbits, pika, wild turkey, numerous birds, beavers, and marmots, and learned lots from Jared about their habits. Jared is well educated in the park's geology, history, ecosystems, flora and animal behavior. He customized our tour to focus on the areas and subjects that we were most interested in. read more

I recently went on a 4 hours dusk photo safari that was a fabulous gift from my family who live in Estes Park. While we were entering Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, Jared presented several options for our photo shoot. In the time that it took for us to reach the top of Trail Ridge Road, Jared advised me about changing settings on my Nikon camera to make my photography more intuitive. I felt enriched by his advice before I opened the shutter. Jared is a very patient teacher and I truly enjoyed the one on one teaching opportunity. We were fortunate to have a cow and bull elk at the roadside as we drove to Bear Lake and I had a great photo opportunity just rolling down the window of the vehicle. At Bear Lake we were delighted to have the boulder field to ourselves as we captured the aspen colors framing the view across Bear Lake to view Longs Peak. It was just a wonderful setting. Jared is very knowledgeable about the Park and as important to me, he is great steward of this marvelous place. I cannot say enough superlatives about my experience and I will look forward to other photo safaris upon my return to Estes Park. Steve H. read more