Jesse Thurgood is a year-round local Yellowstone guide based out of West Yellowstone, Montana. In the winter he is a full-time snowmobile guide and snowcoach operator. During the summer he spends most of his time inside Yellowstone either leading tours or just enjoying the park on his own. Finding and photographing wildlife is one of his all-time joys.
Originally from Utah, then later Tennessee, Jesse fell in love with Yellowstone as a child. His father was a musician in Yellowstone during the 1990s. Jesse spent countless hours wandering the geyser basins with his mother and little sister while his dad would sing and play guitar in the Old Faithful Inn. Those walks with his mother are what deepened Jesse’s love for the incredible geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone.
While studying music at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Jesse obtained his class A CDL and became an over-the-road truck driver. After a year and a half of life on the road, Jesse took an opportunity to drive charter tours which brought him back to Yellowstone. It was during this time when Jesse realized that he wanted to be a full-time guide.
Jesse loves the outdoors and spends every minute he can in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.