These photos were taken in my Inn parking lot of all places in Gardiner, MT just 3 days ago. I was driving into the parking lot after dinner when I saw the momma elk run across the grass and towards her two babies. Guys, if you plan to spend some nights in the Yellowstone upper loop, definitely check out Gardiner MT as an option like me. I'm so glad I did, as it's right on the outskirts and so nice with great restaurants.

We thought most of the flowers would be gone in late July but we were wrong.

On our last visit I was complaining to my wife that we never see bears despite our frequent visits.

I admit we usually aren't in the prime locations to see them but odds are that we are there enough we'd think we'd see them more. Meanwhile we've practically run over bears in Grand Teton and Island Park areas.

It has been years since I'd gotten a good look at a bear in the park and I was noting our bad luck to my wife. Well, last week we ran into two black bear sightings in one day.

I think I'll keep complaining!

In case this is useful to folks - in addition to geysertimes.org or Visitor Center at Old Faithful, NPS has an information line for latest geyser predictions: 307-344-2751 (Option 1: Old Faithful; Option 2: Other Geysers).

On the final day of my trip, I was looking for additional things to do and wanted to see if I was able to catch a less frequent eruption. Was able to make it to a Riverside eruption thanks to this info and waited 40min to see a 20-min eruption :).

Very useful when you don't have convenient Wi-Fi access but have some minimal-yet-enough-to-make-a-phone-call service. There are also little whiteboards in front of every eruptible geyser, but they are less frequently updated.

Another unrelated tip - there are area-specific day hike maps available upon request at each village's hotel front desk and visitor center. Some popular trailheads also have a brown metal box nearby with trail guides inside ($1 donation or return after use).

Have fun!!

In short, Yellowstone is the least complicated vacation I’ve ever had.

Unless you’re absolutely dead-set on specifically seeing a wolf, the park is not complicated. The roads go to endlessly beautiful places and it’s so easy to see anything you want. You just drive around and it’s gorgeous.

We spent hours online trying to figure out what to do, and then just asked a ranger at the Visitors Center. She took out colored highlighters, told us where to go each day, what we’d see where, etc. You honestly don’t need to research, just ask these people. They’re amazing. It took 5 minutes.

Once you’re in, the park is stupid-simple. You just drive, and anything that matters has clear signs. Insane views require only a simple pull off.

Like anything, parking is easier if you start early. Animals are also more active in the morning. And unsurprisingly, there are fewer animals in the parts of the park where boiling water shoots from the ground.

But again unless you want to see a wolf you don’t need to be up before dawn. We drove to the Lamar Valley at like noon and saw multiple herds of bison at varying distances.

We just drove around and saw so so so many Bison, an elk, a bear cub, bald eagles… no special tricks needed.

Anyway, I loved it. And was shocked at how easy it was.

Only tip I’d share is that we rented binoculars and were happy we did. Great way to get a better view!

for people experienced in off trail hiking (yes, it is legal in most of the park), this is a compilation of short videos exploring a small area of the Blacktail Deer plateau. Careful, since this area is a BMA and when opened it borders the closed Washburn BMA down south. I explored between Lupine and blacktail deer creeks. Note: the park service doesn't monitor off trail areas, so no reports on carcasses or bear activity at all.

Hi! I’m visiting Yellowstone this week and am hoping I can get some advice on Lamar vs Hayden Valley for potential wildlife sightings, especially for wolves and bears. I’ve heard Lamar is unmatched, but have also read that Hayden Valley has been pretty good this year and that the Wapiti pack has been pretty active around there. Any advice/pointers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

It's so neat that I was able to take a photo of this smart, majestic raven from 3 days ago in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. They have no fear.

A couple favorite pics

Post your Yellowstone shots - any year, any camera, phone shots welcome. Say roughly where and when if you remember; it helps people plan around season and light.

Wildlife shots: long lens, legal distance - 100 yards from bears and wolves, 25 from everything else. How-did-you-get-that questions are on topic too.

I'm heading to Yellowstone next week and one morning we plan to wake up super early and head to Lamar before sunrise. I'll be renting a spotting scope and tripod. I'm really excited about this part of my trip and don't want to make any mistakes, so I had a few questions:

- The road in Lamar Valley is long, so how do I know exactly where to stop?

- Are there common spots where wolf/bear sightings are more frequent?

- Should I just drive until I see a handful of others on the side of the road with their scopes out?

- Someone recommended downloading the Yellowstone Go app for real-time wildlife sightings. Any experience using this for Lamar early morning?

I was visiting the Mammoth hot springs yesterday morning and took a shot of this fast hopping bird on one of the steps. Which makes me curious, what kind of bird is this?

Caught this fox in the heather in Lamar Valley and one of the pronghorn that was around walked up to it and stared it down until it made off.

edited to note it’s a coyote, whoops!

Do the fire rings at Canyon Campground have grill grates? Thanks and have a good week!

My gf and I are going to the grand tetons, yellowstone, and then glacier in two weeks up to the first week in october. Yes, I already know that the weather can be hit or miss, especially in glacier, but this is the only time we could make work.

We do not fly often, I’ve only flew a few times in my life. We are both getting a check back. We are flying into jackson and out of bozeman. I know we will need layers, but I am concerned about the weight limit on a check back. I was going to bring a patagonia fleece and a wind breaker over it, but I don’t think that would be enough.

Just wondering if anybody has any suggestions regarding gear for hikes at that time of the year.

We recently returned from 3 days in YS and 1 day in GTNP. We spent 2 days in Lamar Valley and then worked our way South to see Hayden Valley and a majority of the springs and geysers. We were in the park most days by 5:45am. The weather was superb while we were there. My goal was to see bears and wolves. We saw several bears but never laid eyes on the wolves. We were blessed to see a great grey owl which was a 1st for me. Thanks to those that provided recommendations and feedback. It was very helpful! I can't wait to go back.

Hi! We’re a group of Canadians staying in Island Park, Idaho from April 21–27, 2027 for a combined bachelor/bachelorette trip, and we’d really like to spend one of our days in Yellowstone.

There will be 10 of us (5 couples), all in our 20s, and we’ll have our own vehicles.

I know late April is VERY early in the Yellowstone season and that weather/road conditions can change everything, so I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what we should expect rather than planning a giant itinerary that isn’t possible 😂

Assuming the West Entrance is open and weather cooperates, what would you recommend prioritizing for ONE day coming from Island Park?

We’d love to see wildlife, geothermal features/Old Faithful and some of the major scenery, but we completely understand that parts of the park may still be inaccessible.

How early would you leave Island Park? What route/stops would you prioritize? Is there anything that is especially cool about visiting that time of year?

Also, how flexible should we keep the day because of snow/weather? We’ll have several days in Island Park, so we can move our Yellowstone day around if one day looks significantly better than another.

Any late-April Yellowstone advice is appreciated!

I'm from the east coast and booked a room at the old faithful inn for a night (for quite a lot of money) and.. I don't want to get into politics, but my wife is not a citizen yet and our lawyer said that flying currently is risky for her.

Any ideas on how i can recoup some of the value? can i gift it to friends? will they be able to give credit? (I booked through a 3rd party that's not flexible at all)

Any advice will be appreciated.
Hopefully we will get to see Yellowstone in a few years :(

I was back in my park (Yellowstone) for 4 full days-3 nights in Gardiner, 2 in Old Faithful. I lived and worked in Yellowstone for most of the aughts so was comfortable with not seeing everything. Also, it's late August so didn't go to Lamar to see animals because they generally aren't there.

Here's what we did.

Arrive-dinner with friends

Day 1-Mammoth VC, northern range boardwalk, tower falls, dunraven, brink of lower falls, Gardiner school playground

Day 2- walk flooded Gardiner road (niche, this road was a daily part of my life, i wanted to see it), walk most of Norris, dinner with friends

Day 3- pack up (takes forever), Artist Paint Pots, Hayden Valley, ice cream at lake with friend

Day 4-OF area. Midway boardwalk, Foutain Paint Pots, Midway overlook, OF visitor center, Geyser Hill ranger walk, dinner in the Inn

Day 5-today we leave. Will see what the fam wants to do. Will probably walk a bit more around OF area. Stop at west thumb. Tonight, soaking at Thermopolis

My kids get very whiny with longer hikes right now which limited some of what we did. Also, they were super excited to see elk and bison, looking for hours through a scope to try to see wolves wasn't on any of our wish list. 4-5 days isn't enough to see all of Yellowstone but neither is months. We'll be back in a few years and hopefully the kids will be up for backpacking and seeing an entirely new park.

Got very lucky and randomly stumbled upon this in Hayden Valley mid day on August 26. She swam across the lake before I had time to get the recording started.

Double rainbow. Great ribeye.

I’m driving from Gardiner to Red Lodge city in the second week of September. It’s my wife’s birthday that day and I want to cook a nice meal for her but I want the picnic area to have a breath taking view. Any Suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Are they young white-tailed deer?