Yellowstone National Park 2026 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
May 28th through 31st 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
~ May 2026 ~
May 28th - Thursday
42 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 70 degrees this afternoon out in the park. I watched a bedded cow moose at Warm Creek this morning. At 5:15 a.m. we had a black wolf on the Fisherman's carcass south of Fisherman's Pullout. At 5:20 a.m. Gary G found a courting pair of grizzlies north of Hubbard Hill. Not in sight very long this morning. At 5:25 a.m. Gary found the K-3 grizzly sow with two big two and one-half year-old cubs on Calfee. At 5:50 a.m. Terri W found a grizzly digging on Norris. At 6:15 a.m. I found a small colorful grizzly digging near the Moosehead. At 6:40 a.m. Gary saw a cinnamon black bear on the # 2 finger on Norris. At 6:45 a.m. there were two different large black bears in the tree line behind the Western Foothills. At 7:30 a.m. Hayden G had a grizzly on the east side of Calfee. At 7:35 a.m. Hayden had a large dark grizzly high north of Picnic Pullout. At 7:40 a.m. a courting pair of grizzlies were being watched in the Bowl. At 8:00 a.m. Doug M showed us two sub adult grizzlies digging in the Bowl. At 9:00 a.m. we watched five black wolves moving on the east end of Amethyst Bench moving east. At 11:00 a.m. Gary found a large grizzly on the Druid Peak traveling northwest. It was in sight for ten minutes or so before going over the ridgeline.
May 29th - Friday
42 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 77 degrees out in the park this afternoon. I had a yearling cow moose cross the road north to south in Round Prairie today. I also had a big bull moose grazing near Trout Lake. I watched my first bighorn sheep lamb on the mountain south of Trashcan today. We also had a moose in the evening behind the Western Foothills. At 5:10 a.m. Hayden G found a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl. At 5:20 a.m. Hayden found the Institute grizzly sow and two big two and one-half year-old cubs north of the Institute. They were in sight for quite a while this morning. At 5:30 a.m. Hayden found a larger sub adult, sow sized in the Bowl. This grizzly would follow the courting pair most of the day. So, we think we watched two sows and one boar off and on all day. The boar seemed to dig between the two sows. At 5:40 a.m. Doug M found a small grizzly digging and moving on Druid Peak watched from the Institute. At 5:45 a.m. Hayden found a dark grizzly in the meadow above the eastern end of Jasper Bench. At 5:45 a.m. Hayden found a medium sized grizzly north of the Picnic Pullout. At 6:00 a.m. I followed Hayden back to the dirt pullout about one quarter mile west of Picnic. He had seen the grizzly when driving by. It was in a clearing that could not be seen from Picnic Pullout. It was a small colorful grizzly. At 6:05 a.m. I found a grizzly north of Hubbard Hill, but I watched from the pullout east of Picnic Pullout. At 6:30 a.m. Doug M found the Pebble Creek grizzly sow with two big two and one-half year-old cubs again northeast of the campground. At 7:00 a.m. Hayden found two sub adults in the Bowl. We believe that these were the two and one-half year-old Specimen Ridge sub adults. At 7:30 a.m. Hayden found a courting pair of grizzlies on Norris viewed from Trashcan Pullout. They went over the ridge shortly afterwards but returned in view for a second time. At 8:20 a.m. Kim C found a cinnamon black bear low north of Picnic Pullout. At 8:35 a.m. Hayden found a medium sized, or sow sized north of Picnic. At 9:35 a.m. Ashley G found the two and one-half year-old light colored Ski Slope grizzly digging on Ski Slope. She was feeling quite good this morning, she dug into the snow, ran quickly through the snow cornices, and finally ran over the hill and out of sight. At 9:30 a.m. we had a large black bear low in Bear Meadow. At 11:40 Gary found two large black bears in the tree line south of Trashcan Pullout. At 1:20 p.m. We had a large cinnamon black bear viewed in Round Prairie. About one half of the bear jam thought it was grizzly, it was not. At 1:30 p.m. I drove by a large black bear northwest of Soda Butte first bridge. At 4:35 p.m. Gary had a small cinnamon black bear high south of the # 1 finger on Norris. At 4:45 p.m. I had a medium sized black bear grazing on K-3 Meadow. At 5:00 p.m. Gary found a large cinnamon black bear high to the south of # 1 finger on Norris. At 6:10 p.m. I finally went down the road to Dorothy's to see the small grizzly on the carcass. This grizzly and at different times another small grizzly had been feeding on the really old bison cow carcass south of Fisherman's Pullout. At 6:55 a.m. Mike and Donna F, on their last day in the park, found a medium sized colorful grizzly on the far west skyline clearing north of the Institute. It turned into two grizzlies; a large dark grizzly was following the colorful grizzly. The distance between the two stayed at about one hundred yards; often as courting arrives the sow is not ready, so the boar follows, putting no pressure on her.
May 30th - Saturday
45 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to only in the low 50's out in the park this afternoon. Around 9:00 a.m. it started to rain and continued most of the day. At 5:15 a.m. Gary showed me the grizzly on the Fisherman's bison carcass south of Fisherman's. It left abruptly this morning and swam the river going south. At 5:20 a.m. I found three grizzlies on the skyline in the Bowl. What we believe is a boar and two sows. At 5:30 a.m. I found a small colorful sub adult digging below the three grizzlies in the Bowl. It was still in sight late this morning, but the three grizzlies had moved on. At 5:40 a.m. I found a small darker grizzly high northeast of the Institute. At 6:15 a.m. I arrived first at Picnic Pullout and found a colorful grizzly straight to the north. It remained in view for a long time this morning. At 6:25 a.m. I found a small colorful grizzly on the Inverted Triangle Clearing to the north of Picnic Pullout. It disappeared shortly, came back for a couple minute sighting. At 7:15 a.m. Gary G found a medium sized grizzly in the old Druid Rendezvous area. At 7:45 a.m. we joined the crowd at Coyote Overlook. They were looking at a large dark and a smaller colorful grizzly north of Coyote Pullout near the skyline. They were close to each other but digging separately. At 7:50 a.m. I found the two and one-half year-old light Ski Slope sub adult digging on the lower part of Ski Slope. At 9:00 a.m. I found another small grizzly low north of Coyote Pullout in the tall sagebrush. It was in and out of sight for about twenty minutes, trending up and to the north. At 8:15 a.m. we found a cinnamon black bear grazing on the A-Z Meadow. Soon Gary noticed a larger second cinnamon black bear following the first one. It turned out to be another courting pair. At 9:20 a.m. I found two black wolves of the Junction Butte wolfpack north of Coyote Pullout. A few people got to see them before they disappeared to the east. At 9:30 a.m. Gary called with three grizzlies to the north of the Institute. It was the Institute grizzly sow with two big two and one-half year-old cubs. Only in view for a few minutes, but a lot of people got to watch them.
May 31st - Sunday
46 degrees and light rain in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 48 degrees with light rain most of the day. This meant the high meadows were clouded in most of the morning, bad for bear watchers, since most of the bears are now in the high meadows. At 6:55 a.m. Doug M had a medium sized grizzly above the Moosehead viewed from Trashcan Pullout but went out of sight quickly. It took a while, but we found it now high north of Picnic Pullout. At 7:15 a.m. Gary G found a courting pair of grizzlies in the Bowl. Gary also had a third grizzly near the courting pair and two sub adult grizzlies running down the Bowl (I did not see any of these grizzlies). At 8:20 a.m. from the Confluence I found the K-3 grizzly sow with two big two and one-half year-old cubs on Calfee. The clouds kept moving in and out and a few people got to watch them digging away. At 9:10 a.m. we had a small colorful sub-adult grizzly low near the enclosure fence viewed from Picnic Pullout. This appeared to be one of the three- and one-half light-colored Druid Peak sub adults. At 10:50 a.m. a guide called with the two and one-half year-old Ski Slope grizzly low below the clouds on Ski Slope. Gary and I finally got to see it between the clouds. This grizzly was back in sight later in the morning too. At 11:20 a.m. I found two small two and one-half year-old Specimen Ridge sub adults in Bear Meadow. These are the ones Gary had seen in the morning. At 11:40 a.m. I found two large bears north of the Institute. The light was not great, it was a courting pair, but I thought black bears and Gary thought grizzlies. Not sure who was right. At 2:25 p.m. while on the phone with Ralph N, I saw one black wolf move from the western trees to the east and disappear near the Slough Den..
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Jeff A, Wendy B, Dan and Laurie L, Jeff B, Melba C, and Janice and Cindy H. From Missouri: Fra H. From Utah: Paul H, Celia L, and Marlene F. From Colorado: Mark, Carol, Roch R, and Steve M. From England: Jakob B. From Wyoming: Dale, Fay, and Mel B. From California: Kathie L, Mark M, and Glenda M. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. And from Tennessee: Terry and Betty C. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Mississippi: Gary G. From Washington: Randi M and Hank L. From South Carolina: Margaret P, and Don P. From Tennessee: Mike and Donna F. From Wyoming: Terri and Bill W, and Sandi R. From Idaho: Kim and Joyce C, and Tom and Molly B. From Utah: Hayden, Doug, Kathy, and Ashley G, Gail, and Judy. From Montana: Doug M, Jack G, Jeff and Valeria B, and David B. From Illinois: Wayne K and Mike G. From Oregon: Bill and Karen M. And from Colorado: Kim H, Dave S, and Yasman H. Others seen this report: From Montana: Kate J, Hunter G, Evan S, Michael S, Mike S, Cam H, Spencer S, and Chris H. From Washington: Aaron M. And from Wyoming: Jill S.
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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