Latest / This Week in Yellowstone National Park / This Week in Yellowstone: March 27th to April 2nd, 2025

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This Week in Yellowstone: March 27th to April 2nd, 2025 · This Week in Yellowstone National Park

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From the land where we're currently working through
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our third, fourth, and fifth rounds of Fall Spring,
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this is that Scott Guy you know and love with
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a new episode of This Week in Yellowstone. What's
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up everybody? This week in Yellowstone National
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Park, I talk about a new hydrothermal feature,
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share some facts about bison, give you a fun
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yet challenging trail to snowshoe in visiting
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Mammoth, and give you all the other updates you
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need to be prepared for this week in Yellowstone.
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Alright, so the standard disclaimer... I'm probably
0:52
going to miss a few details, so feel free to
0:54
reach out to me with any questions you may have.
0:56
I also mention park locations casually, so if
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you're unfamiliar, a quick search can help. This
1:03
report only covers the drivable areas of the
1:05
park. Also, this podcast is a passion project.
1:09
I'm not paid or sponsored. If you're enjoying
1:12
it, I'd love a review or just a quick email or
1:15
text to say, hey, I like what you're doing. If
1:17
you want to further support my work, you can
1:18
check out my guidebooks on hiking and wildlife
1:20
watching in Yellowstone, or you can join me for
1:23
a guided Yellowstone tour. For details, visit
1:26
outdoor -society .com or just reach out to me
1:29
directly. Okay, on to the news. The only entrance
1:34
to Yellowstone National Park that is open right
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now is the north entrance. Technically the northeast
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entrance is also open, but the road east of Cook
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City is closed, so the only way to reach it is
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to drive through the north entrance in Gardiner,
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then to Tower Junction, then through Lamar Valley
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to reach Cook City. Then you're gonna have to
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turn around and come back. So this stretch of
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pavement is currently the only open road in Yellowstone.
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The other park roads will begin to open again
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on April 18th. You cannot access the park's interior,
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which includes spots like Old Faithful, the Grand
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Canyon of the Yellowstone River, Hayden Valley,
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or Yellowstone Lake at this time. Alright, did
2:14
you hear about the new hydrothermal feature that
2:16
was discovered in Yellowstone? On August 5th
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last summer, a park scientist spotted a billowing
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steam column rising through the trees over a
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marshy expanse. This newly discovered hydrothermal
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feature is located in the Roadside Springs Thermal
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Area just north of Norris Geyser Basin, so you
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still can't see it yet. This is a region consisting
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of distinct zones of altered rock and hydrothermal
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activity. Shortly after its identification, park
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geologists conducted a closer examination measuring
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a temperature of 171 degrees Fahrenheit. That's
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77 Celsius centigrade. I'm not sure which one
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is correct. The surrounding surface was coated
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with a thin layer of gray, siliceous clay, a
3:01
sign that the feature's recent formation was
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sign of the feature's recent formation. I was
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going to try and talk through that and just corrected
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myself instead. The steam plume remains prominent
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through the fall of 2024, especially visible
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on the crisp mornings when all steam is more
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visible. However, as winter approached, the plume
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gradually diminished. So while the feature remains
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active, the presence of water in the vent has
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reduced the amount of steam being released. And
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whether or not the strong plume will return in
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the summer of 2025 is yet to be determined. So
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if you want to read more about this, get the
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exact location to take a look at it. Check out
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the caldera chronicles those are linked in these
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show notes and then finally the first grizzly
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sighting from the road happened on March 24th
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a friend of mine in the park told me that a grizzly
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was spotted around the blacktail ponds area with
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numerous cars stopping to see it while it was
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quite far away it's an important reminder that
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not only are bears active in the park again but
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they're near areas where the people are so carry
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bear spray on every trail adventure long or short
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and know how to use it. I'll be posting a standalone
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bear safety episode in April, so keep your ears
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open for that. Random history about Yellowstone
4:21
for the week. This is a new segment, so bear
4:24
with me. I read a lot about the park, probably
4:27
more than anybody else you know. I have guidebooks
4:29
from every decade and pour over random Yellowstone
4:32
data for fun. Because of this, I figured I'd
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share a new section to this podcast. To give
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you some random information that I've learned
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I have no one else to tell this to so Unless
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you book a tour or you happen to be my friend
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You probably won't hear any of this so one to
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share it with you So this week I want to share
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some information about the historical bison population
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of Yellowstone in the late 1800s the bison population
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of Yellowstone was 23 full stop 23 bison the
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story of how these remaining bison were saved
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that's a tale for another day Will share that
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I promise it's something I talk about on every
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tour but to assist in the species revival in
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1896 the United States government attained one
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bull and seven cows from the Lincoln Park Zoo
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bison herd for the purpose of trying to Make
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the Yellowstone herd bigger. So in 1902 a captive
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herd of 21 bison was introduced to the park and
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then moved to Lamar Valley and managed its livestock
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until the 1960s when a policy of natural regulation
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was adopted by the park. By 1926, there were
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927 bison in Yellowstone, but only 125 of them
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were wild. The rest were in pens, and for decades,
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they were what the park called tame or show herds
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all around the park, and visitors could, you
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know, pose... for pictures near the pen see them
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kind of at a glance but it really wasn't the
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Yellowstone experience that you know today and
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you won't see much about these pens or the tame
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show bison because it's just not something the
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park is proud of and you know this is again something
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that when the park was you know 20 30 40 years
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old they were having some growing pains and trying
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to be a fun place. If you think the park is crazy
6:35
now, it is very wild and nice. There's also just
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not a lot of information about these pens and
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I wanted to share that. So I haven't found an
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exact year of when these show tame bison areas
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ended. Just numerous references to the return
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of fully wild bison in the 1960s. However, this
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seems to be more about management and not about
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the pins. If I were to guess, I'd say that the
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tame herds were removed around the same time
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the park decided to slowly stop feeding bears
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for visitor entertainment, which would be around
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the 1930s. Bears were still fed, but not quite
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in the same way. They had quote unquote lunch
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counter bears. And I will be talking about bear
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feedings next week. So more than a hundred years
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after bison from other regions were introduced
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to the park, there were two genetically distinct
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herds. Recently they have become one genetically
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distinct herd, so they have interbred successfully.
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In the past 20 years, Yellowstone's two bison
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subpopulations have become one large interbreeding
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herd and that's according to a new genetic study
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published September 13th, 2024 in the Journal
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of Heredity. In case you're wondering, the 2024
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pre -calving, so that's before bison were born
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in the spring population, that was about 4 ,550
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bison for Yellowstone as of 2024, probably like
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March or April. So we went from 23 bison in the
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late 1800s to now having over 4 ,500 bison Alright
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the experience of the week looking at animals
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around mammoth So there's still snow in the mountains
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and Lamar Valley looks way more like winter than
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spring So the experiences I haven't yet mentioned
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are few and far between for this time of the
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year All right, that's not quite true. There's
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like a million things to do in the park But right
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now it's kind of a low -key time And I don't
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think anybody really wants to post hole through
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snow to do some of the things I want to share
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So instead I'm going to tell you about an easy
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relaxing experience Near mammoth so all around
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mammoth right now wildlife activity is bustling
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around the entrance Elk, bison, deer, pronghorn
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have been congregating while bighorn sheep have
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been visible across the way on the cliffs above
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the Gardner River. Bluebirds have been darting
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about just north of the arch along the old Yellowstone
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Road and that's where you may also see all of
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the aforementioned animals. You may see these
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animals elsewhere in the park and it's you know,
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it's definitely worth driving in but it's pretty
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cool to see so many close to the town of Gardner.
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So if you're wanting to just have a easy day
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and you're visiting and the weather isn't ideal
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or you're just wanting a sunset wildlife adventure
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close to Gardner consider driving to Mammoth
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and back then driving Old Yellowstone Road to
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Yellowstone Hot Springs and back you should see
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plenty of wildlife without a lot of effort and
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obviously you may not see any animals at all
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but you know there's a high likelihood that you're
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going to see quite a lot this time of the year.
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You probably will also see some bald eagles if
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you're looking and the return of osprey to the
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region and sandhill cranes. So there's a lot
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of kind of change happening right now and if
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you drive that route that I said from Gardiner
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to Mammoth from Mammoth back to Gardiner then
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Gardiner along Old Yellowstone Road to the Yellowstone
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Hot Springs and then back you should have a good
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wildlife day. My tip of the week Once again,
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it's stopping on roads if you listen to this
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every week You probably have heard this message
10:22
before and if you continue to listen to this,
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you're gonna hear it again But it's important.
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I do apologize for repeating myself But unfortunately,
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it will forever be something that needs to be
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mentioned Since it is a slow week, I'm using
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my time once again to remind people not to stop
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on roads while driving in Yellowstone National
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Park. I think I said that in a different fun
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way, but the general gist is, please do not stop
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your vehicle on the road while driving through
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Yellowstone. Stopping on the road to take pictures
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of wildlife or scenery can create dangerous traffic
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hazards, so instead use the many designated pullouts
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available throughout the park to safely enjoy
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the views. help keep traffic flowing and ensure
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a safe experience for all visitors. I bring this
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up because over the weekend I once again saw
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numerous cars stopped on the road often with
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passengers and drivers exiting the car to set
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up tripods on the road to take pictures of wildlife.
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Each time I saw this the drivers were only a
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few feet away from a pullout. We're not like
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talking about areas where oh there's nothing
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else around they try to pull off to the side
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as best they could know they stopped in the middle
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of the road even though there's a pullout 20
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feet away so stopping on the road is not allowed
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and park rangers will ticket you for it now if
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you do use a pullout you need to make sure that
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all four wheels are outside the white line which
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i recently learned is called the fog line um
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so that's There's some knowledge buried in this
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rant. Finally, do not drive off the road to park
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your car or stop anywhere that is not an official
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pullout. Just because others may be doing this
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does not mean it's right or legal. Also, if and
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when you see guides, so the driving guide vehicles,
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stopping in the road and letting people out,
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please report them. They've been warned numerous
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times by park staff about this, and park guides
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especially need to be setting a better example
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to help all visitors to the park know what the
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rules are. So again, don't stop in the road,
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use the pullouts, and do not create your own
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pullout, use the established ones. The weather
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for the coming week, Lamar Valley. The weather
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for Lamar starts out glorious and slowly descends
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into the winter spring mix one should expect
12:44
while visiting the park in early spring. We're
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going to start with highs in the 50s on Thursday,
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then Friday through Sunday will be partly sunny
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at times with highs in the 40s and a chance of
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snow on Saturday and Sunday. Monday, Tuesday,
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and Wednesday all have a chance of snow with
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lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s or high
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30s. So in Cook City, After a 50 degree and partly
13:08
sunny Thursday, clouds will start rolling in
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heavier in the evening, bringing with it a chance
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of rain for the night and early Friday morning.
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By Saturday, highs will drop to the 30s with
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lows in the 20s and there's a chance of snow
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every day. Currently, it's looking like Monday
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and Tuesday will see the heaviest snow in Cook
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City, with potentially 2 inches of snow a day.
13:29
Out in Gardner, after a nearly 60 degree day
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on Thursday, Clouds will become heavier in the
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evening and a chance of rain develops for that
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night and into Friday morning. Highs in the 40s
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will remain for the rest of the weekend with
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a chance of rain on Saturday and then a potential
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for light snow on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and
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early Wednesday morning. It should melt out pretty
13:50
fast. If it does fall as snow though, highs are
13:53
going to be in the 40s during that day so it'll
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be wet snow if it's snow at all. So as always,
14:00
the forecast is pretty unpredictable. Right now,
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it's decently predictable up to three days out,
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and then it all is kind of a guess as to how
14:09
accurate it will be. It could be pretty nice
14:12
by Tuesday, Wednesday, but I would just anticipate
14:15
on some clouds, rain, maybe a little snow, and
14:19
then you'll be good to go. Speaking of snow,
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the snowpack update. The snowpack for the park
14:25
is still in fantastic shape. We are right around
14:28
100 % in normal and will probably stay in the
14:31
mid to high 90s throughout the coming week. Pretty
14:34
soon the snowpack is going to start melting for
14:36
real, but typically that doesn't start happening
14:39
for a few more weeks or maybe even a month, a
14:41
month and a half. So we are good still, nothing
14:44
to worry about. Road conditions. The roads this
14:49
week, especially Friday, Saturday. Sunday, Monday,
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Tuesday, and Wednesday, so every day, there's
14:56
a potential for the roads to be wet and maybe
14:59
a little slushy in places. It doesn't appear
15:01
that things will be super treacherous, but the
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roads won't be complete smooth sailing this week,
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so just be careful. If you need up -to -date
15:10
road information, you can call 307... 344 -2117
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for recorded information or you can sign up to
15:18
receive Yellowstone Road Alerts on your cell
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phone by texting 82190 to 888 -777. That is 82190
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to the number 888 -777. As always, anticipate
15:35
possible road closures due to inclement weather
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and dangerous driving conditions as we get Warmer
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and warmer those are going to be Less common
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instead. We'll have bison jams and construction,
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but we'll talk about that later the wildlife
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watching update So this is one of those things
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everybody probably wants to hear if you're visiting
15:55
the park this week It could be an especially
15:58
good week Wolves have been sighted in northern
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range basically near Blacktail Plateau and the
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blacktail ponds area if you look south there
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and then all around from hell roaring to slew
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creek so that's where you'll probably want to
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drive back and forth to look for wolves also
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in that blacktail ponds area there was a grizzly
16:19
sighted earlier in the week so that is super
16:22
exciting the black bear den that is by the petrified
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tree has been decently active the black bear
16:29
sow has come out and people have viewed the cubs
16:33
inside of the den so if you drive by give that
16:36
a look there have been moose out by floating
16:40
island lake for a couple days in the last week
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and there's also just been a ton of elk bison
16:46
some deer out and all of that as you just drive
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back and forth that's kind of a closer you get
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to mammoth as i mentioned off the bat that's
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probably where you're going to see more bison
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than say Lamar Valley. I was in Lamar Valley
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the other day and I saw a couple of coyotes and
17:04
a few lone bison and that was kind of all of
17:06
the wildlife action out that way. If you're looking
17:10
for eagles, they're all around. Osprey should
17:13
be back. Bluebirds will be more towards mammoth.
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But otherwise, you know, like I said before,
17:20
bighorn sheep are also out by mammoth, but you
17:23
just have to drive and put in work as always.
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If you're driving through the park and you see
17:28
a bunch of cars stopped with spotting scope set
17:30
up or people looking through binoculars, stop,
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ask what they're looking at. They should tell
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you. If they don't, they're jerks. Um, you're
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not required to share information, but you know,
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it's kind of the nice thing to do. So if you're
17:44
looking at something and someone stops, also
17:46
let them know what you're looking at. It's good
17:48
for everybody to have a great experience. So
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if you're enjoying what you're hearing on this
17:53
podcast about wildlife watching, but you want
17:56
more wildlife watching information I've written
17:58
a guidebook It's available in both ebook and
18:01
paperback formats and my book is designed to
18:04
help you spot wildlife like a seasoned local
18:06
it's broken down into every section of the park
18:08
and Telling you typically where to look when
18:11
to look and what is in that region. So please
18:13
consider Buying that book and if you do buy it
18:16
directly from me as when they're sold on Amazon
18:19
Amazon makes way more money on that thing than
18:22
I do So if you want that wildlife watching guidebook
18:25
pick up your copy at outdoor -society .com Hiking
18:30
news and updates. I'm repeating myself from last
18:34
week's episode This really isn't the best time
18:36
to hike right now as you'll be postholing way
18:39
too much to have an enjoyable time on the trails
18:42
It's decent for snowshoeing and cross -country
18:44
skiing, and we're definitely nearing the end
18:47
of the season. So expect less than ideal conditions,
18:50
even if there is a little bit of snow. It's just
18:52
going to be sloppy for the next couple of weeks.
18:55
So with that, my trail of the week. My trail
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of the week is the Beaver Ponds Trail near Mammoth
19:02
Hot Springs. This week... The Beaver Pond's trail
19:06
is going to be a snowshoe, and it's gonna be
19:09
a slog, but if you're looking for a fun adventure
19:11
that's probably type 2 fun and definitely not
19:15
a family -friendly adventure, then this is a
19:17
trek for you. If you want to challenge yourself
19:20
and still be close to Mammoth, and close enough
19:23
to Bale if it's getting too hard, This is the
19:25
perfect adventure. Please note that I am only
19:27
recommending this trail for experienced snowshoers
19:30
right now. I will update everyone when this trail
19:32
is snow free and easy to follow again, as it's
19:35
super rad and it's a nice short -ish hike near
19:40
Mammoth. So, the loop is roughly six miles in
19:43
length and is best walked clockwise from the
19:48
trailhead near Liberty Cap, and this direction
19:51
starts by going uphill immediately for a mile.
19:53
then it transitions into a gentle adventure with
19:56
rolling ups and downs for the rest of the route.
19:59
The only real directions you'll need are found
20:02
in the first mile where you're gonna encounter
20:04
two junctions, one at point two miles and another
20:08
at point seven miles. Stay to the right along
20:12
the beaver ponds trail at both junctions. If
20:15
you are hiking this and there is snow you Probably
20:19
will be the only person out there for a while
20:21
or very few other people will be there. So look
20:23
for the Trail markers. They're orange and they
20:28
will be pointing to the Inside of where the trail
20:31
is So if there is a trail marker if you're looking
20:34
at a tree and it's on the right side of the tree
20:36
That means that the trail is on the right if
20:38
the trail marker is on the left side of the tree
20:40
That means the trail is on the left the last
20:43
time I hiked this I was the only person on the
20:46
trail the entire day, and it gave me an amazing
20:49
dose of silence and solitude. I watched a herd
20:54
of elk walk across a clearing a few hundred yards
20:57
away, and I heard woodpeckers and trees above
20:59
me, and I heard an owl in the distance. I also
21:02
came across coyote and wolf prints in the snow,
21:05
and some of those tracks were going right across
21:07
beaver ponds. You might even see some bluebirds
21:10
out there. Now this hike isn't for everyone,
21:12
as 6 miles and 1 ,000 feet of gain can be a big
21:15
day. However, if you're seeking a unique adventure
21:18
on a trail that is largely overlooked this time
21:21
of year, you can't go wrong with Beaver Ponds.
21:24
You'll start by seeing the terraces and steam
21:26
at Mammoth Hot Springs, and end with a sweeping
21:28
view of the Mammoth region. There are some pretty
21:32
spectacular viewpoints along the way too, so
21:35
give that a look, and there are also some bones
21:38
scattered about because it's the wild. So if
21:41
you have the energy and are in shape enough to
21:43
do it, I think that this would be a good adventure
21:47
for you. If you then still have energy after
21:50
doing this, walk the upper terrace in Mammoth.
21:54
You'll need snowshoes for that, but it's definitely
21:57
a cool little walk. It's a mile and a half, two
22:00
miles at most. So and then when you're done,
22:04
you can just hang out. You can go back down to
22:07
Gardner. Have a good day or you can. Just sit
22:10
and watch sunset from mammoth. Yeah, that is
22:12
a very cool place. So that's kind of my hike
22:14
again very hard hike for This time of the year,
22:18
but it's I mean it's Hikeable right now. It's
22:22
no shoeable, but it's also not the best time
22:25
So if you need more information about where to
22:28
hike feel free to reach out to me I will happily
22:31
recommend some things I'm gonna be there all
22:33
next week giving tours. So if you see me give
22:35
me a wave otherwise we will Quickly talk about
22:39
next week's episode and wrap this one up. So
22:42
in next week's episode, I'm going to talk to
22:44
you about biking the roads of Yellowstone. I'm
22:47
going to try to convince you to head toward Jardine,
22:49
which is above Gardner, and then share a hike
22:52
in Hell Roaring and also talk about the history
22:54
of feeding bears in Yellowstone. So that should
22:57
be a fun one. Until then, happy trails. This
23:10
week in Yellowstone is brought to you by the
23:12
Outdoor Society because that's my company and
23:15
that's where this is hosted. There are no sponsors.
23:18
This is a labor of love, so thank you all for
23:20
listening. Copyright 2025, baby!