Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
29 September through 02 October 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 29th - Monday
48 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to a nice 75 degrees out in the park this afternoon. The fall colors continue to be the best in years on the northern range, the aspens are beautiful this year. At 9:15 a.m. Gary G found a small black bear in the Crystal Drainage eating berries. At 9:40 a.m. Gary G found a black bear above the willows in Slough Creek. At 10:50 a.m. we had a black bear walking west to east on Amethyst Bench, it was wandering around for a long time. At 6:00 p.m. my last sighting for the day was a black bear north of the Soda Butte East Pullout.m Vermont: John K. And from Washington: Aaron M and Nick and Diana L.
September 30th - Tuesday
40 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to a nice 75 degrees north of the park this afternoon. I had two grouse on the edge of the road at Upper Hellroaring today. I also had a grouse north of Gardiner this evening, it was also just off the road. At 7:00 a.m. Frank H found the Junction Butte wolf pack again behind Jasper Bench. Today we watched fourteen black and two gray wolves (missing only 1434F). We watched from the Institute, and they soon traveled up the Salad Bowl/Southern Divide Ridge. They took their time and followed along in single file. We showed lots of people the wolves, even with the distance of over a mile. With the light behind us it was good viewing. At 7:20 a.m. we had a black bear viewed in the tree line on Amethyst Bench. At 800 a.m. I found the Ski Slope Family (grizzly sow with one blond yearling cub) digging in a wet spot just east of the western hills. They were in view for about one-and one-half hours and could be seen from Ex closure Pullout and Confluence as well. I had laundry to do today so I went north of the park to look for grizzlies and camp for the evening. I ended up with ten grizzlies this evening: two sows with two yearlings each (one sow had two light colorful cubs), a pair of large dark sub adults and two individual grizzlies (one large dark grizzly and a medium sized colorful grizzly).m Vermont: John K. And from Washington: Aaron M and Nick and Diana L.
~ October 2025 ~
October 1st - Wednesday
46 degrees this morning north of the park warming up to 68 degrees out in Lamar Valley this evening. The Yellowstone National Park has decided to remain open with reduced staffing. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. My morning grizzly watching north of the park was fifteen grizzlies: a sow with three cubs of the year, a sow with two light yearlings, a sow with two yearlings, a pair of large dark sub adults, two dark separate grizzlies, and a medium sized colorful grizzly. At 8:45 a.m. I was at the Blacktail Plateau when Don P called just having ten Rescue Creek wolves in view traveling to the west. I went to the Children's Fire Trail and picked them up. Nine black and one gray. The pack moved out of sight to the west, but two wolves remained behind playing. The two remaining wolves behind were probably pups, one gray and one black. The Rescue Creek pack has twelve adult wolves (eleven black and one gray), and four pups (two black and two gray). At 9:20 a.m. we had a black bear in view on the slopes of Hellroaring. At 11:20 a.m. one black Junction Butte wolf was on the backside of the western end of Jasper Bench (a two-pack day for me). At 6:30 p.m. I found two sub adult grizzlies digging in the Bowl. One darker and a little larger, and one smaller, lighter, and colorful. I had a jam at Trash Can Pullout tonight. It was Limpy/Tripod the regular limping coyote that entertains the tourists on the road. No one was throwing out food so a nice view.m Vermont: John K. And from Washington: Aaron M and Nick and Diana L.
October 2nd - Thursday
39 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to the low 70's out in the Lamar Valley this afternoon. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. Before daylight we could hear wolves howling. It was coming from near Amethyst Bench and then a single howl that sounded to the east south of Trashcan Pullout. We moved to Trashcan Hill at daylight. The wolves fooled us as a wolf watcher Celia L found wolves near Amethyst Bench traveling to the west. They put on a show today through about 11:00 a.m. We counted ten blacks and two grays looking from Trashcan Hill. They moved west and attempted to separate a bison from the bison herd. Unsuccessful, they moved around, later two black wolves chasing pronghorn antelope (not even getting close to them). Single wolves kept showing up to the east and moving back behind Jasper Bench where the wolves have been staying with the pups. A gray was seen by others north of the road, so all seventeen wolves were accounted for this morning. At 8:00 a.m. Rick B called with a grizzly just across the Lamar River and below the Amethyst Bench. After looking for quite a while I found the large grizzly feeding on vegetation below the bench. It later moved south up and across Amethyst Bench but reappeared later for a better viewing. At 8:40 a.m. a Yellowstone Forever Guide called with a grizzly south of the Confluence. It was a dark grizzly slowly moving to the west not three hundred yards from the road and across the Lamar River. We viewed this grizzly after 12:00 noon as it had traveled to south of the YES Pullout still in the Lamar River Corridor. Both grizzlies from this morning, the Amethyst Bench and the Confluence grizzlies were in view tonight at 6:15 p.m., one on Amethyst and the second to the east. At 9:50 a.m. I found a small grizzly in the Salad Bowl/Southern Divide Ridge. It was traveling to the east and did some digging for almost a half an hour before disappearing into the tree line. At 11:15 a.m. I found the same two sub adult grizzlies as last evening, again in the Bowl near the little tree/big tree. They were in view for over an hour but bedded side by side for a forty-minute nap in the shade of the trees. At 5:30 p.m. we had a small black bear at bear jam north of Thunderer Pullout, there might have been more than one bear, but I drove through the bear jam.m Vermont: John K. And from Washington: Aaron M and Nick and Diana L.
People Seen
From Montana: Rick M and Jeff A. From South Dakota: Sam and Ginny G. From Missouri: Frank H. From Utah: Paul H and Celia L. From Colorado: Bob P and John C. From California: Kathie L and Bruce and Maryjean Mc. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. And from Washington: David O. Bear Watchers: From Mississippi: Gary G. From Washington: Hank L. From Vermont: Don P. From Montana: Howard A and wife Pam, Doug and JoAnn M, Margaret L and Scott M. From Wyoming: Debbie M, Tom H, and Sandi R. From Tennessee: Mike and Donna F. And from Wisconsin: Mike S. From Vermont: John K. And from Washington: Aaron M and Nick and Diana L.
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
| 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 |
 |
 |