Wolf tracking vacations travel guide

Tip your head up, cup your hands round your mouth and howl. Then wait. Hearing a wolf howl back through the wilderness is guaranteed to trigger a Mexican wave of goosebumps. This is the joy of a wolf tracking vacation! Yes, spotting these elusive creatures can be tricky, but tracking them is a blast. Yellowstone National Park and the far north of Canada are hotspots for sightings, but with wolves creeping back into Europe, there’s a chance to see them in Slovakia, Romania, Poland and even in the Alps, just an hour from Nice. This is great news for fans of this almost mythical predator, but they continue to polarise opinion, particularly in pastoral communities where they have been feared and hunted for centuries. It means this already shy creature is even more wary of man, making sightings a rare delight rather than a guaranteed event.

Read more in our wolf tracking vacations travel guide.

Wolf tracking vacations take you to the unspoiled forests of Europe, the tundra of northern Canada or the remote frozen valleys of Yellowstone National Park. Typically, you’ll be accompanied by a conservationist, wildlife researcher or local tracker, to gain an on-the-ground insight into the life of this often misunderstood animal, learning how to track it, spotting prints and even howling to communicate with the pack! If you want to go one step further, volunteer on a wolf research project, helping to record data, set camera traps and collect samples, too.

While the wolves may elude you, a wolf tracking vacation is hopping with wildlife, as you get to know the creatures that share the wolf’s world, and potentially end up as its dinner. In France, spot chamois, wild boar and deer. In Poland, come face-to-face with herds of bison, and in Sweden, encounter moose and beavers. In North America, elk and caribou are on the lupine menu and easy to spot.

Winter is the best time to see wolves. This is their main breeding season so they’re actively pursuing mates and establishing packs. Winter in Sweden or Eastern Europe’s wolf territories is snowy (helpful for spotting tracks), and averages 5°C to -10°C. In the USA it’s colder – think -5°C to -20°C – which keeps visitors away and improves wolf sighting rates. For milder temperatures of 10-18°C and long days, head to northern Canada in the Arctic summer (July). Tracking vacations run in summer in Sweden, France’s Southern Alps and Poland, too, but you’re more likely to see beavers and birds than a wolf then.