Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
22nd through 25th April 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
~ April 2025 ~
April 22nd - Tuesday
35 degrees in Gardiner but only 28 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 50 degrees out in the park. I heard and saw my first meadowlark this morning. At 6:20 a.m. we found our first grizzly digging near the Horizontal Forest in Slough Creek. It was in view for quite a long time and could be seen from the road. At 6:30 a.m. the wolf watchers on Dave's Hill called saying they had three grizzlies in view. Two of the three were on this side of the creek, so they advised us to either go to Bob's Knob or Dave's Hill. From Bob's Knob we watched two big sub adult grizzlies first on this side of the creek, then they swam the creek then moved towards Lion Meadow. Later something scared the sub adults, and they ran up hill going through the Slough wolf den area and up and out of sight. We believe that these two are 4 1/2-year-old grizzlies. The Slough Creek sow kept her cubs an extra year so were 3 1/2 years old last year. We watched them last spring after the sow ran them off, seen them multiply times in 2024. At 6:35 a.m. we found a small colorful grizzly digging in front of the mixed conifer aspen forest, it was in view for quite a while. At 10:20 a.m. I found a black bear crossing the A-Z Meadow in Lamar Valley traveling west to east. That meadow is about sixty percent bare ground, and the black bear was post holing crossing the snow patches. At 11:30 a.m. we found a grizzly sow with two yearlings on Specimen Ridge, best viewed from Lamar Canyon West. They were running down towards the Crystal Creek Drainage with one cub in the lead until the second cub raced passed the sow to catch the first cub. Unfortunately, they stopped to dig right behind a small group of trees. Randi M and Paul H stayed until 3:00 p.m. but the viewing was only a few glances of them. The sow we believe this 1054 with her second litter. She successful got both cubs of her first litter to maturity, and this second litter at least to be yearlings. We know that 1054 was collared but since late spring 2024 we have not seen a collar. Today they were over a mile away, a close look at this family that likes to stay high on the ridges. The collar must be covered with hair, because not even the big scopes can see it.
April 23rd - Wednesday
34 degrees in Gardiner but only 28 degrees in Slough Creek warming up to 44 degrees out in the park. At 6:20 a.m. three black and one gray wolf were visible behind the western and eastern trees at the den area. The wolf watchers counted seven or eight before a snowstorm moved through the area making watching the den area impossible. At 7:05 a.m. Kevin M found a dark grizzly southwest of Footbridge Pullout. A nice sized grizzly was digging in one particular place for quite a while. At 10:30 a.m. Quinn H, Wolf Tracker, found a grizzly digging on Amethyst Bench. It was a medium-sized grizzly and remained in sight for over thirty minutes before traveling to the east. At 11:40 a.m. I found a medium sized dark grizzly with a light Yellowstone stripe digging in a small clearing southwest of Fisherman's Pullout. It was really working on its digging but every once in a while, it took a break lying on its stomach. At noon I found a big black bear grazing in Crystal Drainage. It was in view for over twenty minutes. At 1:15 a.m. Bruce Mc showed me the grizzly sow with two yearling cubs again on Specimen Ridge. They were feeding slowly in really high sagebrush. Often times we knew they were there but could not see them. Then then disappeared, they must have bedded in the high sagebrush. At 2:55 p.m. they came back into view. A bison had moved close to them while they napped and that forced the grizzly family to move away. The next fifteen minutes were poor viewing in the high sagebrush. Then they came out into good view. The sow was digging but the two yearlings decided to play. Chasing each other around staying fairly close to the sow. This lasted at least fifteen minutes. Once the two cubs climbed a tree, one went up ten feet or so, the second went up twenty feet. Good viewing until 3:35 p.m.
April 24th - Thursday
39 degrees in Gardiner but 33 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 46 degrees with a cool wind. Today we had snow and low visibility in the morning. At 6:30 a.m. I found a grizzly digging this side of the mixed conifer aspen forest in Slough Creek, it was still there digging at 11:00 a.m. At 7:45 a.m. Chris H called with two grizzlies in the meadow across Buffalo Ford. It was apparently a courting pair, and they were getting a little friendly. I am not sure. The size difference was not that much, and they played with the larger dominate and then the smaller dominate, perhaps a sow with a 2 1/2-year-old cub, but I am not sure. At 10:45 a.m. we had a large black bear glazing in Crystal Drainage. At 12:00 noon I had a call from Bruce P that he had a grizzly family in the Soda Butte Valley. When I arrived, they had gone out of sight, but Julie A found them from a different pullout. It was a grizzly sow with three two- and one-half year-old cubs. They moved into a viewable clearing and stayed there for about an hour and one half. They first bedded, then the sow nursed the cubs, and then a long nap. They looked great. One of the cubs was smaller, perhaps the family has two males and one female. During the early watching of this family Bruce Mc told me he had been watching three grizzlies earlier on the # 1 finger on Norris. At 1:20 p.m. someone found the grizzlies on the # 2 finger on Norris. A strange family: consisting of a sow, a large cub about the size of a small 2 1/2-year-old cub, and a smaller cub about the size of a small yearling. Last June I saw on two different days a strange family of one yearling and two cubs of the year. Last fall friends of mine on a couple occasions watched a grizzly sow with one large (yearling size) cub and one small (cub of the year) size in this same general area. Not sure what to make of this.
April 25th - Friday
33 degrees in Gardiner but only 28 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 64 degrees but with a cool afternoon wind. I had a large owl in the road leaving Gardiner this morning, assuming a great horned. I had a cow and yearling calf moose cross the road near Floating Island Pond on the way to Slough Creek this morning. I had three dusky grouse chasing each other around on the # 1 finger on Norris today. I had a large moose in the willows south of Footbridge Pullout this morning. At 6:00 a.m. Frank H had a black and gray wolf near the Slough Creek den. At 6:05 a.m. I found a dark grizzly east of Horizontal Forest in Slough Creek and above the willows. At 7:00 a.m. Andrea B and Evan S told us about a grizzly on Specimen Ridge. At 10:00 a.m. the grizzly southwest of Fisherman's Pullout was for the third day in a row in a small clearing digging away. At 11:15 a.m. I found a grizzly in the snow high above Fisherman's Pullout in Lamar viewed from Long Pullout in Little America. In view for about ten minutes, it disappeared over a ridge. I was surprised with the warm weather that the grizzly was not post holing in the snow, just walking along as if on firm ground. At 11:25 a.m. I found another grizzly in the snow about one half mile from where the first grizzly disappeared. Only in view for ten minutes or so as it disappeared into a small ravine. Both grizzlies were traveling south towards the road. At 2:45 p.m. there is a bear jam at Lamar Canyon East. A dark cinnamon black bear with her light cinnamon black bear bedded across the Lamar River. This looked like the same black bear family I had north of the road at Lamar Canyon West about a week ago. Apparently, they had no trouble crossing the road and the Lamar River. At 3:30 p.m. Paul H from Lamar Canyon West found a medium sized colorful grizzly digging in the middle of Middle Ridge. We watched from Slough Creek until 4:20 p.m. as the grizzly was in sight when I moved on.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers seen this report: From Montana: Rick M, Wendy B, Kristina G, Taylor R, Jeremy S, Cooper Y, Joe K, and Mike and Jill B. From South Dakota: Sam and Ginny G. From Utah: Paul H and Julie A. From Missouri: Frank H. From California: Glenda M and Rick, Bruce, and Maryjean Mc. From Sweden: Jacob B. From Washington: David and Stephanie O. From Colorado: Bob P. And from Oklahoma: Robert and Pam W. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Washington: Randi M. From Idaho: Larry M. From Montana: Doug M, Jack D, and David B. From Oregon: Larry and Char T. From Wyoming: Kevin M and Sandi R. From Utah: Scott and Joann M. Others seen this report: From Montana: Mike S, Grant J, Andrea B, Evan S, Michael S, Nathan V, Quinn H, Jamie H, Chris H, Pete B, Nate U and Bob L. From Idaho: Willie and Shelly D. From Wyoming: Rick C. From British Columbia: Eric and Debbie. I also saw Ranger Cody C.
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
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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