Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
25 through 28 March 2025
Yellowstone National Park
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
~ March 2025 ~
March 25th - Tuesday
I had a nice trip from Idaho Falls to Yellowstone that took about five hours. I had three trumpeter swans in Island Park, hundreds of elk, and some mule deer south of Ennis, a king fisher in Ennis, and quite a few pronghorn antelope in Paradise Valley. I entered the park about 1:00 p.m. I found friends at the North Butte Pullout on the Blacktail watching wolves. It was the Rescue Creek Pack and today we watched ten black, and one gray wolf bedded with only a little action. The usual count on the Rescue Creek pack is thirteen members, twelve black and one gray, so two blacks were missing today. Around 2:30 p.m. other friends were watching the Junction Butte wolf pack from Upper Hellroaring. They were on a bison carcass and the entire pack was there, eight blacks and three grays. About 4:00 p.m. I stopped to glass at Elk Creek. Luckily, on my first pass looking across the backside of Specimen Ridge I found a grizzly slowly moving down and right. In view on and off for about forty minutes. It was not in a hurry, but we lost him over a ridge on the meadow. I had my first blue bird in the park today. It warmed up to 50 degrees out in the park and low 60's in Gardiner today.
March 26th - Wednesday
38 degrees this morning in Gardiner warming up to 54 degrees out in the park this afternoon. With temperatures in the low 60's in Gardiner. I had a THREE DOG DAY TODAY, wolf, coyote, and fox. I watched my first red tailed hawk in the park today. The bald eagle is on the nest south across Lamar River from Coyote Overlook. I arrived about 6:30 a.m. at Hellroaring Overlook hoping for something on the bison carcass from yesterday. At first I had a few ravens near the carcass, then a grizzly got up apparently laying behind the carcass. It soon moved off and out of sight after a couple of minutes. Bob L found the Junction Butte pack on the skyline on Crystal Creek viewed from Slough Creek. They were heading east and others found them in Lamar Valley. I arrived as they were moving across the A-Z Meadow. They stalled out and bedded east of A-Z Meadow. Today only nine were seen, six blacks and three grays with two blacks missing today. They were in sight until midafternoon. A black bear was outside the den at Petrified Tree today when I passed by, but the two cubs were not in sight at the time.
March 27th - Thursday
40 degrees this morning in Gardiner warming up to 62 degrees out in the park, but it cooled off as the wind and clouds arrived in the afternoon. At 7:30 a.m. I pulled into the parking lot of Upper Hellroaring, where Rob H, Yellowstone Wild, had located two black wolves bothering a cow bison. They were the two Junction Butte wolves who did not follow the rest of the pack yesterday. They were slowly moving east. At 8:30 a.m. the wolf watchers found the main Junction Butte wolf pack in Crystal Drainage near a fresh carcass that remained out of sight. I only saw all three grays and three black wolves, but others had all nine of the main group of the Junctions. Later in the morning the two black wolves had made their way into Slough Creek, now howling from the north of the road. The nine main group started howling back from the south of the road. The main group attempted to come to the road and cross to the north but turned back and bedded. Later they all crossed the road from south to north uniting with the two others. Good news for the wolf watchers: The entire pack bedded around the old Slough Creek den. One black wolf checked out the natal den and after I left two female wolves checked out the sage den. Hopefully, the wolves will den at the Slough Creek den this year. At 3:15 p.m. I stopped to look at the black bear den at Petrified Tree Pullout. The sow was far back in the den today with no cubs in view. Lots of pronghorn antelope near the north entrance tonight on the way back to Gardiner.
March 28th - Friday
43 degrees in Gardiner but only 36 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 54 degrees. At 7:30 a.m. Quinn H, Wolf Tracker, had a grizzly in the aspen drainage east of the old Slough Creek den. The grizzly was close to the entire Junction Butt wolf pack, all eleven members traveling past the grizzly and up and out of sight. At 8:20 a.m. Bob L found the Mollies wolf pack in Lamar Valley. All nine members of the pack were present this morning traveling east. They were on the south side of the road moving slowly to the east. They were having trouble with the foot deep snow, post holing every second or third step. They moved only a half mile farther before bedding in the tree line for the rest of today. All nine were there, including six grays and three blacks. 1410F, the alpha female and the oldest wolf in the park also there.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Sandy K and Duffy P, Becky C, Wendy B, Ilona P, Jeff A, Krisztina G, Melba C and Taylor R. From Kansas: Calvin and Lynette J. From Wales: Sian J. From California: Kathie L. From Utah: Paul H. And from Idaho: Warren B. Bear Watchers: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Wyoming: Kevin M. From Montana: Chuck W and Debbie H, Alan C, Jeff and Val B, and Margaret L. And from Idaho: Blake M. Others seen this report: From Montana: Bob L, Kyle D, Nate U, Andrea B, Pete B, Shauna B, Cara M, Quinn H, Scott B, Evan S and Rob H.
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
| Yellowstone National Park Trip Reports | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2021 | 2016 | 2011 |
| 2025 | 2020 | 2015 | 2010 |
| 2024 | 2019 | 2014 | 2009 |
| 2023 | 2018 | 2013 | 2008 |
| 2022 | 2017 | 2012 | 2007 |
| Yellowstone National Park Trip Reports | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 2000 |
| 1996 | 2002 |
| 1997 | 2003 |
| 1998 | 2004 |
| 1999 | 2005 |
| Yellowstone Geyser and Thermal Videos | |
|---|---|
| Beehive Geyser Eruption | Old Faithful with Bison |
| Beehive Geyser Eruption Two | Pocket Basin |
| Fan and Mortar | Roaring Mountain |
| Grand Geyser | Rocket and Grotto |
| Old Faithful One | West Thumb |
| Yellowstone Waterfall Videos | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cave Falls | Mesa Falls | Undine Falls |
| Gibbon Falls | Rustic Falls | Upper Falls |
| Lower Falls | Tower Fall | Wraith Falls |
| Yellowstone National Park WebCams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Faithful Live | All Old Faithful | Old Faithful Static | Old Faithful VC |
| North Entrance | Mt Washburn | Mammoth | YVO WebCam |
| Entrance Cities and Gateway Towns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardiner, Montana | Silver Gate, Montana | West Yellowstone, Montana | Cooke City, Montana |
| Livingston, Montana | Cody, Wyoming | Jackson Hole, Wyoming | Yellowstone National Park |
| Links | |
|---|---|
| The Great Outdoors Net | Great Outdoor Recreational Places |
| Gardiner, Montana | West Yellowstone, Montana |
 |
 |