The Big Wild MissionStaffWe are a “Green” BusinessWilderness Safety
Conservation of the Big WildsTestimonialsWhy Big Wild?
We are a family business and all trips have the personal touch of Big Wild owners Howie Wolke and Marilyn Olsen. This means that we can be responsive to the needs of individuals, and we can easily adapt to circumstances such as airline travel glitches and sudden changes in route conditions. Also, we are happy to accommodate student groups and folks with disabilities.
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Wilderness Trekking (Backpacking) is the most rewarding way to experience a bit of the original America. It’s simply walking through the wilds while carrying food, tent, sleeping bag and clothing in a modern, comfortable backpack. And because you do it on your own two feet, you’ll feel a dramatic sense of accomplishment. It’s also the camaraderie of small groups sharing wonders of nature that few others ever experience. Backpacking is suited to anybody who is healthy, reasonably fit, and open to new ways of experiencing the natural world.
Wilderness Canoeing is another rewarding way to experience wild America, silently paddling your craft with all essential items through magnificent wilderness, sharing the wonders of nature in a similar small group setting.
Wilderness Camping is the magic of a warm campfire on a cool night, of great camaraderie and campfire stories, of sleeping in a warm sleeping bag in a state of the art tent or under the stars, completely immersed in primeval nature. Whether you hike or canoe, wilderness camping in the big wilds will be a big part of your experience, something you’ll never forget!
We do not “mass produce” trips, with numerous departure dates for a given expedition. Instead, each trip is a unique entity, scheduled for what’s usually an optimal time slot for each area. For example, early season water levels and snowpack make travel in some mountain areas dangerous or unpleasant before mid-July. We time some trips for optimal wildlife viewing or wildflower displays. Some areas, such as the Wind Rivers, Beartooths and the southern half of Yellowstone are best enjoyed later in summer due to early season snow, wetness and mosquitoes. Our spring and fall Southwest trips avoid the intense summer heat. Southwest Yellowstone is very wet and buggy until late summer, and our September trip provides spectacular autumn colors. These are just a few examples of the careful planning that goes into each adventure. Don’t settle for anything less!
Big Wild Adventures is a licensed guide and outfitter with the U.S Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. Big Wild Adventures is an Equal Opportunity Service Provider. We have run nearly 1000 multi-day treks since our inception in 1978 and are widely regarded as the leading backpacking company in the United States!
Wildlife:Viewing wildlife – large and small – is an integral part of the wilderness experience. Our guides know how to spot critters, and they know where to look, depending upon the season and conditions. Although we cannot guarantee any particular level of sightings on any given trip, wildlife is important to us, and chances are great that a Big Wild Adventure will provide an opportunity to watch native animals in their unspoiled natural habitats.
Wilderness: All of our trips are in a wilderness environment with no roads, automobiles, houses, etc. We specialize in exploring truly remote country. Our guides know the secret wild places, off the beaten path, where few other humans are encountered. In other words, we don’t simply hike and camp along major trails; we explore and discover the magical hidden wonders of real wilderness!
Our Small Group Philosophy: Smaller groups minimize impact on fragile wilderness environments. They also provide our guests with the best possible wilderness experience. That’s why we sometimes run two concurrent groups on different routes in the same general area, rather than loading up one trip with a big group of 12 or 15 people. At Big Wild, we emphasize the “wild” in the wilderness, and quality rather than quantity. Depending upon regulations and other factors, our scheduled trips are limited to 4 to 8 clients plus our guide and sometimes an assistant.
Diversity: Nearly always, folks from diverse socioeconomic, cultural and geographic backgrounds get along exceedingly well, finding common ground in the face of the overwhelming natural beauty that they experience on our trips!
TO ARRANGE A TRIP with us, just print the Questionnaire and mail completed forms with deposit to:
Big Wild Adventures
222 Tom Miner Creek Road
Emigrant, Montana 59027
(406) 848-7000
We also provide Clothing/Personal Gear Lists (canoeing and backpacking) to help you prepare for the trip. For connecting and lodging information, click here.
Have a great time!
PLEASE NOTE: Big Wild Adventures is happy to again own Wild Horizons Expeditions, which was originally founded and run by Big Wild owners Howie Wolke and Marilyn Olsen. For those folks who’ve been on Wild Horizons trips in recent years, we invite you all to join us on a Big and Wild Adventure. And we now offer a greater variety of exciting wilderness treks to beautiful and remote places than anyone else in the business!
