Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
07 through 10 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
~ October 2025 ~
October 7th - Tuesday
26 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 68 degrees north of the park this afternoon. Bob Landis was in Lamar Valley this morning. I did not see but nine black and two gray Junction Butte wolves had to get up and move as a grizzly walked among them this morning. Most of the viewing was high north of Dorothy's and Coyote Overlooks, from where they can see over Jasper Bench to the ravine the wolves often stay. I had an oil change scheduled in Gardiner, so I decided to watch for grizzlies north of the park. I saw ten (a sow with three cubs of the year, a sow with two light yearling cubs and a sow with two large yearling cubs).
October 8th - Wednesday
42 degrees this morning north of the park warming up to 68 degrees this afternoon out in the park. I watched a few Clark's Nutcrackers this evening out in the Beartooth's. I had ten grizzlies this morning north of the park, the same ten as last evening (a sow with three cubs of the year, a sow with two light yearling cubs and a sow with two large yearling cubs). At 10:00 a.m. I viewed a medium sized grizzly digging near the Soda Butte Cone. It was in view by others for a long time before I arrived and was in view a long time after crossing the road to the north. At 5:30 p.m. I revisited the elk carcass on the Beartooth's. I saw a grizzly on the carcass two days ago. I was surprised to see the large dark grizzly leaving the carcass crossing the road to the east. At 6:55 p.m. a grizzly sow with two yearling cubs crossed the road and went to the carcass. The sow was wary and nervous, but they all started to eat on the carcass. Twice passing cars caused them to run uphill, the second time they did not return before darkness, and I left the area. It is interesting that one of the cubs and the sow had white ear tags in their ears.
October 9th - Thursday
Thursday October 9th. 28 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 75 degrees out in the park this afternoon. The construction of the road at Tower Junction is causing long delays. The construction crew is paving the road around the Junction both north and south as well as east past the Yellowstone Picnic Area as well as the parking area of the gas station and restrooms. They plan to have the new bridge finished and cars traveling over it this November, finishing the miscellaneous work next year. Again, I did not watch the Junction Butte Wolves today. The count was sixteen today, fourteen blacks and two grays, and most of the viewing was only for people high to the north of Coyote and Dorothy's Pullout. At 7:35 a.m. a black pup came down almost to the river below Jasper Bench. The wolf watchers gave a good description, and I found the wolf and showed a few people a long-range view as I was at Hubbard Hill. At 9:15 a.m. we had a large black bear grazing in the yellow grass Meadow in Slough Creek. At 6:55 p.m. Steve J found a black bear on the tree line east of Amethyst Bench.
October 10th - Friday
37 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 66 degrees out in the valley this afternoon. I had ten trumpeter swans in Yellowstone Lake this morning. I decided to travel south this morning. At 7:35 a.m. Don P showed me one and then two grizzlies west in Alum Creek in Hayden Valley. It was a sow with a large colorful yearling cub. I went further east this morning, but Dale and Fay B were still watching the grizzly and yearling cub at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon. At 8:15 a.m. I found the large grizzly JoJo K had called out earlier moving to the east north of Three Panel Pullout in Hayden Valley. I joined Dale and Fay B as they walked out the trail to the west from Tree Panel Pullout. Dale found a grizzly which turned out to be two grizzlies. It was a grizzly sow with one cub of the year. Julie A, a Hayden Valley regular, later told me this was probably sow #864. At 9:00 a.m. Dale found another single grizzly further to the north of the grizzly sow and cub of the year digging. At 11:30 a.m. I heard of a bear jam south of Grizzly Overlook. It was a medium-sized colorful grizzly digging five hundred yards across the river to the east. I passed by at 1:00 p.m. and the crowd was bigger and had walked down to the river, the grizzly was still about five hundred yards out and still digging away. I heard from friends, Kevin, and Tammy, from Red Lodge. We had a grizzly #964 show up in 2023 with two cubs of the year in the NE Entrance and Warm Creek Area. She was a daughter from 399 who had gotten into a little trouble and was relocated northeast of the park. She shows up every year near Warm Creek and in 2024 was actively hunting moose calves. She than moves to Red Lodge for the summer. Traveling over the Beartooth Mountains with cubs of the year. About two weeks ago she was trapped and weighed. 460 pounds. That is a very very large sow.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Jeff A, Wendy B, Jeff B, Helena E, Bob J, Marisa F, Jeremy S, and Taylor R. From Utah: Paul H and Celia L. From Colorado: Bob P. From Missouri: Frank H. From Washington: David and Stephanie O. From Oregon: Michael and Deb O. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From North Dakota: Sandy H. From Arizona: Steve J. From New Mexico: Lynn C. From Wyoming: Dale and Fay B. And from Florida: Andy and Missy O. Bear Watchers: From Montana: Kathy M, Lee H, Kevin, and Tammy. From Utah: Bill and Chris M. From Idaho: Kim and Joyce C. From Connecticut: Geoff F, Kate, Luke, and Tennille. From Vermont: Don P. And from Wyoming: Tom H and Sandi R. Others seen this report: From Montana: Michael H, Quinn H, Cara M, MacNeil L, Kyle D, Hunter G, and JoJo K. From Colorado: Jim F. From Florida: Ric and Vicky K. And from Washington: Aaron M.
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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| Yellowstone Geyser and Thermal Videos | |
|---|---|
| Beehive Geyser Eruption | Old Faithful with Bison |
| Beehive Geyser Eruption Two | Pocket Basin |
| Fan and Mortar | Roaring Mountain |
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| Gardiner, Montana | West Yellowstone, Montana |
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