Yellowstone National Park 2026 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
25 through 28 March 2026
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 2026 ~
March 25th - Wednesday
I left Idaho Falls, Idaho at six a.m. and made good time traveling to Yellowstone National Park going through Ennis, Norris, Bozeman, and Livingston arriving at 11:00 a.m. 52 degrees at Idaho Falls this morning warming up to a warm 66 degrees in Lamar Valley this afternoon. I watched two trumpeter swans in Idaho Park and a few elk and pronghorn antelope on the way in. A lone trumpeter swan was on the Blacktail Ponds. The bald eagle is on the nest across the river viewed from Coyote Overlook in Lamar Valley. Paul H showed me a new hole in the rock formation north of Footbridge Pullout with a golden eagle in the hole which is difficult to see with the dark background. The major news is the lack of snow and really warm temperatures this winter. Island Park usually has one to four feet of snow this year and it was mostly bare ground. The Blacktail Plateau, Hellroaring, Little America and Lamar Valley are all bare ground. Three years ago, on the same date Little America had six-foot-high snow on the sides of the road.
March 26th - Thursday
36 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 51 degrees this afternoon out in Lamar Valley with afternoon winds. I watched two trumpeter swans flying into Slough Creek this morning. I was too late to see the grizzly leaving the bison carcass at Blacktail Ponds for the third straight day, other people with thermal imaging watched it leave well before daylight. The carcass looks pretty much gone with only ravens and a golden eagle on the carcass tonight. I heard that Paul H had a grizzly on a carcass viewed from Footbridge Pullout. Yesterday Paul H had a grizzly on a very old carcass with a couple of wolves at Footbridge Pullout which I missed. Today I got there in time to see the same grizzly, according to Paul, on a bull elk carcass. If Paul keeps seeing grizzlies more often, I might upgrade him to a bear watcher from wolf watcher. The wolves were found just after this moving west south of Picnic Pullout. My guess is that the wolves made the kill and the grizzly displaced them on the carcass. Today all fifteen Junction Butte wolves put on a show slowly traveling all the way to Crystal Drainage viewed briefly from Slough Creek Restroom. The pack now has thirteen blacks and two gray wolves.
March 27th - Friday
It was 24 degrees in Gardiner this morning, but it was only 17 at Footbridge Pullout heating up to 52 degrees out in the park this afternoon. I had my first bluebird in the park this afternoon. At 6:40 a.m. the grizzly was again on the bull elk carcass southwest of Footbridge Pullout. The grizzly stayed a while before heading for Dead Puppy Hill again. He stopped a couple of times running back to chase two coyotes off the carcass then went east out of sight. Around 8:00 a.m. I found two black and one gray Junction Butte wolves from Boulder Pullout walking away in a snowbank of the skyline above the Trough. Others viewing from Tower Junction viewed more. I think the wolf project had all fifteen again. Late this afternoon they did not come back into sight.
March 28th - Saturday
37 degrees in Gardiner but only 24 degrees in Lamar Valley today warming up to 68 degrees with afternoon winds out in the park. I watched three trumpeter swans in the lake below the three Peregrine Hills today. At 6:35 a.m. the grizzly was back on the bull elk carcass southwest of Footbridge Pullout. Today it left the carcass earlier but tried to drag the carcass off. I think the carcass is about finished now. The bear did slow down, taking a long time to cross Dead Puppy Hill. Around 11:00 a.m. Paul H and I found a single black Rescue Creek wolf near the skyline on Prospect Peak viewed from Boulder Pullout. Fourteen of the fifteen Rescue Creek wolves had been seen earlier on the Blacktail Plateau but had moved a long way to the east. I assume the one we saw was the last part of the pack, the rest disappearing before we saw the last of the line.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers seen this report: From Montana: Rick M, Taylor R, Jeff A, Jeremy S, Janice and Cindy H, Melba C, Jeff B, and Marisa F. From Utah: Paul H. From California: Bruce and MaryJean Mc. From Kansas: Calvin and Lynette J. And from England: Jacob B. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Montana: Doug M, Jeff and Valerie B, Kathy M, Sandi R, Les and Paula W, and Jack G. From Louisiana: Bruce P. Others seen this report: From Montana: Cara M, Cliff B, Hanna B, Quinn H, Brian B, Ashea M, JoJo K, Andrea B, Matt D, Mike S, Nate U, Scott B, Evan S, and Grant J.
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
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