Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
09 through 12 September 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
~ September 2025 ~
September 9th - Tuesday
37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate but warming up to a hot 85 degrees north of Gardiner this evening. 15 big horn ewes and lambs grazing on Ski Slope in Larmar Valley this morning. Rained for a while north of Gardiner around 7:00 p.m. At 7:00 a.m. 12 black and two gray Junction Butte wolves in their rendezvous area near the Southern Round Tree in Slough Creek. I spent my evening north of the park watching grizzlies. I ended up with ten grizzlies: a sow with two blond yearlings, two large sub adult grizzlies and five separate lone grizzlies.
September 10th - Wednesday
42 degrees north of Gardiner this morning warming up to 82 degrees back in the park this afternoon. This morning, I watched fifteen grizzlies. A sow with three cubs of the year, two sows with two yearlings each and five separate grizzlies this morning. Back in Yellowstone the road repair in the Soda Butte Valley is completed and now the Lamar Valley is being worked on - they are filling in the shoulders of the road with a black gravel compound. At 8:45 a.m. we had a black bear walking the road just east of Upper Hellroaring Pullout. At 9:15 a.m. we had a cinnamon black bear near the road at the exit to the six-mile Blacktail Drive. At 10:00 a.m. Emil M, Yellowstone Wild, pointed out a grizzly eating berries south of Straight-away Pullout in Little America. My guess is that this is a 4 1/2-year-old female from the Junction Butte (Middle Ridge Family). We had seen this female several times in the spring and summer, and she appears to be the only grizzly staying around in this area. At 2:00 p.m. we had a small black bear eating berries in Crystal Drainage.
September 11th - Thursday
44 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 70 degrees out in the park this afternoon. We did have a nice hour-long rain this morning. I watched a merlin falcon (several people told me) this morning, and a vulture this afternoon. At 6:30 a.m. thirteen black Junction Butte wolves were seen chasing a small grizzly bear in the Slough Creek bottoms not too far from the wolf rendezvous area. They separated soon after and no injuries to each party. Paul H had discovered the grizzly first this morning and notified me. At 7:10 a.m. Gary G found the grizzly with three two-year-old cubs (Druid Peak Family) north of Fisherman's Pullout in Lamar Valley in Secret Passage. Gary had seen them in the same place yesterday when I was out of the valley. They were digging in the same place yesterday and were there for quite a long time. It is unusual that the sow still has the cubs. Almost all grizzlies throw out the cubs and mate when the cubs are two years old. Obsidian, a grizzly sow near Norris, also has three two-year-old cubs now. At 11:00 a.m. we had a black bear eating berries south of Lamar Canyon West Pullout, a huge bear jam several times today. At 1:00 p.m. 1479F, a three-year-old Junction Butte wolf crossed the road north to south just 75 yards west of the Slough Creek Bathroom on the main road. A few cars go to watch her cross. At 5:15 p.m. Gary G found a small black bear near the east side of the Diagonal Forest in Slough Creek.
September 12th - Friday
Friday September 12th. 37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to above 70 degrees out in the park. I hiked up to Dave's Hill at Slough Creek to start the morning. At 6:20 a.m. five of the six black Junction Butte pups plus 1478F a three-year-old gray wolf were in view and moving around. At 6:25 a.m. they found a grizzly in their area. The grizzly was a lot bigger than the grizzly from yesterday, so the greeting was shorter. The grizzly walked off to the east crossing Lion Meadow before I left. At 6:50 a.m. Michele H, Wolf Tracker, called with a grizzly on Amethyst Bench in Lamar Valley. A large dark grizzly was heading for the trees before I could get down the hill and go into the Lamar Valley. I watched it for about five minutes finally disappearing in the tree line. At 6:55 a.m. Hunter G, Silver Gate Guides, called with another grizzly south of Trash Can Pullout. I stopped at Hubbard Hill and could see both the grizzlies. The second grizzly was also large and dark and was passing a large herd of bison. It disappeared behind the western foothills.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Doug S, Melba C, Jeff A, Taylor R, and Janice and Cindy H. From Utah: Paul H. From Texas: Carl L and Carol S. From South Dakota: Sam and Ginny G. And From Colorado: Bob P. Bear Watchers: From Montana: Doug M, Bob J, and Carolyn G. From Mississippi: Gary G. From Illinois: Wayne K. From Idaho: Adam B. From Wyoming: Tom H and Debbie M. And from New Mexico: Lorie U. Others seen this report: From Montana: Kate J, Quinn H, Hunter G, Cara M, Michelle H, Anu L, Audra C, Russ K, Michael S, Mike S, Mac Neil L, Emil M, Jim H, Alexander M, Jayden A, Evan S, Kyle D, Ashea M and Nate U. From Vermont: John K.
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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