Latest / This Week in Yellowstone National Park / This Week in Yellowstone: March 20th to March 26th, 2025

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This Week in Yellowstone: March 20th to March 26th, 2025 · This Week in Yellowstone National Park

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From the land where marmots are starting to emerge
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from their dens, where I saw about 70 bluebirds
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a few days ago, and where a black bear left her
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den for a little bit and her newborn cubs were
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spotted last week, this is that Scott guy you
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know and love with a new episode of This Week
0:16
in Yellowstone. What's up everybody? This week
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in Yellowstone National Park, I give an update
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on what's closed in the park, share a quick blurb
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about the bison hunt, and then jump into the
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meat of this week's episode. I talk about the
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first wolves to roam the park in 60 years, share
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some tips on how to climatize yourself to Yellowstone,
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and also share a cool place to hike just outside
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of the park. Of course, I also share the weather
1:03
forecast, road conditions, and pretty much everything
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else you need to be ready for this week in Yellowstone.
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So before I jump in, the standard disclaimer,
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I might miss a few things, so if there's anything
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else you'd like to know, please just reach out.
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I also mentioned park locations casually, so
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a quick search might help if you're unfamiliar
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with some of the places I mentioned. Also, this
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report only covers the drivable areas of the
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park. And then one more thing, This podcast is
1:32
a true labor of love. I don't get paid to do
1:34
it. I don't have any sponsors I'm doing this
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because I love sharing the park. So if you'd
1:39
like to show your appreciation you know shoot
1:42
me a message subscribe share with a friend if
1:45
you want to do more i have guidebooks for sale
1:48
covering hiking and wildlife watching in the
1:50
park and i also give hiking tours in yellowstone
1:53
that go beyond the boardwalks so if you're interested
1:55
in seeing the park more or supporting me you
1:58
can check out all of that more at my website
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outdoor -society .com okay let's get to the news
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so The park is mostly closed. The only way to
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enter the park this week in a vehicle is the
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north entrance in Gardner. The road between Gardner
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and Cook City, Montana is open all year and you
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can still access Mammoth, Roosevelt Junction,
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Lamar Valley, and the rest of the Northern Range.
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So I bring this up because as a guide in the
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park, I have a lot of people contacting me right
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now asking about tours and they're staying in
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places like Big Sky or out in West Yellowstone.
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To reach Gardiner from Big Sky, you'll have to
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drive about 126 miles one way, which will take
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you around two and a half hours. So, you know,
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that's going to be, what, 252 miles and five
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hours of driving. And to reach Gardiner from
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West Yellowstone, it's a 165 mile drive and will
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take you over three hours each way. That's just
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to reach Gardiner. Lamar Valley is about another
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hour or so away from Gardiner. So if you're headed
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out, you know Just know that other than that
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news. It's been super slow news wise in the park
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There's an annual bison hunt occurring outside
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the park right now And it's done by the Confederated
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Tribes who have treaty rights to do so But so
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far the hunt has been very slow as few bison
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are actually leaving the park bison are also
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being quarantined as they leave the park's northern
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entrance and They're being tested for brucellosis
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If they test positive, they're put down. If they
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test negative, some continue to be quarantined
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and will eventually be relocated to lands and
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tribes that are hoping to restore their bison
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populations. The reason they aren't allowed to
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roam free is because of the ranching lobby. And
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while I could go more into this, I want to keep
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this episode short and keep it kind of positive.
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So just know that there is a bison hunt going
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on outside of the park. You may see that going
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on if you're visiting the experience of the week.
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So I'm not sure if this is really an experience
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But I wasn't sure where else to put this information
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and since it's a slow week I thought I'd plug
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it in here and see how it goes so This is the
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year of the wolf in Yellowstone National Park
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as wolves are reintroduced to the region in 1995
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almost at 85 but no 1995 so 30 years ago Throughout
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the year. I'll be sharing some wolf history and
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this week is an important week for those wolves
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of 1995 14 wolves in 1995 were captured in Canada,
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translocated to Yellowstone, and placed in acclimation
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pens for 10 weeks. There were three original
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holding pens, the Crystal Creek, the Rose Creek,
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and the Soda Butte pen. After 10 weeks in the
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pen, the wolves were soft released into the wild.
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The soft release is what I'll be discussing today.
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On March 21st, March 22nd, and March 27th of
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1995, the acclimation pins were opened for the
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wolves. I use the word opened with quotation
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marks here because of the method of which was
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used. Instead of just opening a gate for the
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wolves to walk out in and saying see you later,
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rangers and biologists worked together to find
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a good place to cut a hole in the fence and then
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let the wolves slowly test out the outside world
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by sneaking in and out. After all, they'd been
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captured, flown into a new country, and then
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placed inside a pen. I'll beat a large one for
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10 weeks. On March 21st, the Crystal Creek pen
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was opened. The next day, March 22nd, the Rose
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Creek pen was opened. And then, on March 27th,
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the Soda Butte pen was opened. Despite having
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freedom first, the Crystal Creek wolves did not
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exit their pen until March 31st. The five Soda
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Butte wolves didn't exit their pen until the
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19th of March. The smallest pack of wolves, the
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Rose Creek wolves, were the first wolves to roam
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the wilds of Yellowstone in 60 years. The group
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of wolves, numbering only three, had two wolves
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leave their pen to explore on March 24th, 1995.
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So this year on March 24th will mark the 30th
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year that wolves have been roaming around in
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Yellowstone National Park. So all of this information
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is from the 1995 -1996 annual wolf report found
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on Yellowstone National Park's website. Highly
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suggest checking those out. They're fun reads
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and you can kind of get to know wolf history
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really well. My tip of the week. Being prepared
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for the park's elevation. Depending on where
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you're coming from, adjusting to elevation in
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Yellowstone may be tough. Most everywhere you
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will be in the park this week will be above 6
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,000 feet above sea level. Mammoth sits at 6
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,200 feet, Lamar Valley is 6 ,400 feet, and Cook
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City is around 8 ,000 feet. Even Gardiner is
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5 ,259 feet above sea level, just 21 feet under
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being a mile high. The main issue with being
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higher in elevation is there's slightly less
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oxygen. At real altitude in the mountains, The
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barometric pressure of the atmosphere is much
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lower than in sea level environments. The result
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is that oxygen molecules are spreading further
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apart, lowering the oxygen content of each breath.
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As a result, the reduced availability of oxygen
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in the air reduces the blood oxygen saturation
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in the body. As the percentage of oxygen in the
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body goes down, the body struggles to efficiently
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deliver oxygen to tissues, muscles, and even
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the brain. If you're coming from sea level to
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Mammoth, you'll be experiencing a decrease in
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oxygen effectiveness of 4 .3%. It's definitely
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not the 14 % you lose at the top of Mount Everest,
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but it's still noticeable to the majority of
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visitors to the park, mainly in shortness of
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breath and lack of energy. While you probably
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won't notice much of an elevation change if you
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stay in the car the whole time, the minute you
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do any physical activity, you could be feeling
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it. To counteract the elevation difference during
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activity, I have a few tips. The first few are
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pretty easy. Get plenty of rest, stay hydrated,
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give your body energy with good foods, and move
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a little slower. One tip I do tell a lot of people
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when booking tours is that if they can, give
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themselves a day or two to get used to the elevation
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before doing a strenuous activity. While this
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may not always be possible, If you can, definitely
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consider it. It's going to make the transition
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easier. Also, if you are going to be doing something
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physical, one thing I also try and tell people
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is don't go out drinking heavily the night before.
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It will impact you more at elevation. The weather
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for the coming week. For Lamar Valley, this week
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should start off snowy with highs in the 30s
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and lows in the teens and 20s. Thursday should
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be cloudy and a snowy day, getting around an
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inch of snow. Friday will see an inch of snow
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in the evening, then two more inches of snow
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falling on Saturday morning. Sunday sees sun
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and temperatures climb into the high 30s with
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a chance of rain overnight. Monday will be in
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the 40s and then highs in Lamar Valley will hit
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the 50s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Cook City!
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Cook City will be colder and snowier seeing a
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possible total of 9 inches of snow through Monday.
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Thursday and Saturday are the snowiest days,
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but the current forecast is also calling for
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snow on Friday night and Sunday night. Highs
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will be in the low 30s and lows will be in the
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teens and 20s, but by Tuesday expect things to
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warm up quickly with highs reaching the 50s.
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This will last through at least Wednesday, this
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warmth that I'm talking about. As always, Gardner
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will be warmer than Cook City and Lamar. Highs
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will be in the upper 30s and low 40s through
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the weekend with a chance of rain or snow on
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Thursday, Friday night and into Saturday and
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Sunday night into Monday. So the highs on Monday
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will be in the 50s and continue climbing upwards
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through Tuesday and possibly hitting the 60s
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by Wednesday. Now we'll see if these temperatures
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hold up. As always, the forecast is pretty predictable,
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up to three days out, so through this weekend.
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Then it's kind of a guess to how accurate the
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forecast is actually going to be. It will be
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warmer and it probably will be close to that.
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So be ready for some warmth this week. So speaking
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of warmth coming, let's talk about the snowpack.
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The snowpack for the park is in excellent shape.
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It's currently hovering around 100 % of normal.
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It's higher than that in some places, it's lower
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than that in others, but generally, it's a great
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snowpack right now. With more snow in the forecast
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through the weekend, it looks like it's gonna
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remain at this level throughout the week. It's
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gonna start dipping probably later next week,
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so we'll see next week how the snowpack is. So
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road conditions. The roads this week will be
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less than ideal the farther east you drive. Expect
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early morning snow and ice in places with it
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melting out by late morning or midday, and that's
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really until the temperature warms up. That's
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kind of what you're going to expect when you
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visit for the next few weeks is maybe some snow
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and then it's going to be warm. For up to date
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information, call 307 -344 -2117 for recorded
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road information done by the park. Or you can
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sign up to receive Yellowstone road alerts on
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your cell phone by texting 82190 to the number
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888 -777. That is 82190 to 888 -777. As always,
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anticipate possible road closures due to inclement
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weather and dangerous driving conditions. I said
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last week probably wasn't going to happen. They
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had to close part of the road last week between
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Mammoth and the Blacktail Ponds area for a couple
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of hours while cars had driven off the road and
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snow was pretty bad. Camping information. Mammoth
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Hot Springs is still the only campground in the
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park and will continue to be so until May. However,
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camping options are available and will continue
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to open up outside of the park. If you want a
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few of those places, just contact me. Happy to
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tell you some of those places that are open.
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I could name them now, but it's going to mean
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nothing. So reach out to me if you're interested.
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The wildlife watching update. So those of you
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that are listening to this, congratulations,
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you get this. I no longer include it on the written
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version, mainly because I figure out what's going
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on and then I just talk. So, I was in the park
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yesterday so that would be the 18th, Tuesday
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the 18th, and wildlife watching was pretty good.
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Early in the morning, wolves were visible in
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multiple spots. mainly near the black tail ponds
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area and then hell roaring and out toward um
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slew creek so early in the morning people were
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watching those they've been moving back and forth
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on that northern side of the park so if you want
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to see wolves this coming week just drive back
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and forth and look for tour groups and people
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pulled off looking through spotting scopes they're
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active they're out there they might be a few
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miles away though You also might be able to see
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a bear especially with the weather warming up
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the black bear den that I talked about before
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that's near the petrified tree the black bear
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has been coming out the sow the female and The
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other day somebody saw the sow come out. She
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was moving around and then they looked in and
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they could also see two new cubs in the den which
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is an awesome thing those cubs are brand new
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so the warmer the weather the better chance that
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things will be active and out there otherwise
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bears are going to be still not quite out if
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you do see one you're going to be incredibly
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lucky i would expect bear sightings to increase
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in the next two to three weeks However, the Eagles
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are putting on a show. Osprey are coming back
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very soon. There's Rocky Mountain Bluebirds all
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outside the north entrance. I saw about 70 of
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them on the old Yellowstone Road. So if you drive
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under the arch leaving the park past the high
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school and drive the dirt road toward Devil's
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Slide and Yellowstone Hot Springs, there are
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a ton of bluebirds out there. In the park, there's
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also some moose on the move. I saw multiple moose
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yesterday and should continue to be so. I've
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only seen a few coyotes and that's kind of the
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wildlife update. Oh yeah, one more thing to mention,
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talking with some people who took a tour from
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me and they saw the first marmot of the year
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out by Mammoth Hot Springs, so keep an eye out
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for those. They're going to be waking up. Those
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are the largest animal in Yellowstone that fully
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hibernates, so that's pretty cool. Pronghorn
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are moving back into the park. They're currently
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kind of outside the park in that same area where
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I just mentioned bluebirds. Other than that,
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it's going to be a good wildlife watching week.
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So wake up early, spend some time, scan around,
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and you never know what you're going to see.
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If you love what you're hearing on this podcast
15:24
and want more information on wildlife watching,
15:26
consider picking up a copy of my wildlife watching
15:28
guidebook. You can check out my website, outdoor
15:31
-society .com. Please consider buying the book
15:33
directly from me as I make next to nothing when
15:36
they're sold on Amazon. So that would be really
15:38
cool if you'd like to. My book will help you.
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See wildlife how I do. I give wildlife tips I
15:46
tell you how to scan really well and also I want
15:49
you to feel like a local when you're out So if
15:51
you want to pick that up, you can get an ebook
15:53
copy or a paperback copy Hiking news and updates
15:58
this is not the best time to hike Now, there's
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a caveat because it's still a good time to snowshoe
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and cross -country ski, but we are nearing the
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end of that season, so if you want one more snowshoe,
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one more cross -country ski trip, definitely
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head out now. If you are hiking without those,
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you're going to be postholing in snow way too
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much and it's not going to be enjoyable at all.
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My trail of the week. So right now, as I'm saying,
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hiking isn't enjoyable. without snowshoes and
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cross -country skis, but I still want to give
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something for hikers. I'm going to be talking
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about the Yankee Jim Canyon Trail. That is outside
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the park, it's north of Gardiner, and it's a
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very rad place along the Yellowstone River. So
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accessed from the west side of Yankee Jim Canyon,
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this trail puts you in the steps of both indigenous
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populations that call the region home, as well
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as lets you walk along the original road that
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led tourists to Yellowstone. Found at the southern
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end of Paradise Valley, just below Tom Miner
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Basin, the Yankee Gym Canyon Trail is a trail
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that nobody aside from a handful of locals wanders.
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So after locating the trailhead parking lot,
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which is nothing more than a clearing of dirt
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along a dirt road, it's unsigned, it's kind of
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hard to find, I'm going to tell you how to get
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more information about it in a minute, but once
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you find that trailhead, The easiest thing to
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do is to park and walk down the dirt road to
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the river. Once you reach the river turn right
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and walk upstream. Along the way you'll be above
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the river so keep an eye out for wildlife especially
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osprey and eagles. You'll want to follow this
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path for about 1 .5 miles. Once you are about
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1 .2 1 .3 miles you're going to be in a clearing
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that is the Sphinx Creek picnic area. You'll
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also have passed an old cabin. which is really
17:52
cool. Once beyond that parking area at the 1
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.5 to 1 .6 mile mark, keep an eye out for an
17:58
old road to the right. It will look more like
18:01
a boot path at this point than a road, but you'll
18:04
want to take this path. Along the path you'll
18:06
come across interpretive signs as well as old
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advertisements for Gardner and Yellowstone spray
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painted on rocks. This is the original road that
18:14
led to Yellowstone. This is only about a half
18:18
mile long, this section of the trail. He'll climb
18:22
up and then drop down to meet the main path.
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But it's definitely a hidden gem, and it's something
18:26
few ever see. It's a very iconic place. My favorite
18:30
thing is seeing yellow arrows. arrows spray painted
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to kind of tell you where to drive and which
18:37
way to go that are also pointing to Yellowstone
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so it's like yellow rock spray painted and it's
18:42
kind of cool. Once you reach the main path after
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walking this little half mile section follow
18:47
the river downstream so retrace your steps and
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go back to the car. In total it's about four
18:52
miles with about 400 feet of elevation gain.
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So if you want more information on this hike
18:58
or other hikes in and out of Yellowstone, please
19:01
contact me. I have a guidebook specifically for
19:04
this. It covers 50 of my favorite hikes in the
19:07
region with something for every month of the
19:09
year. And I say this like humbly, but it's a
19:13
truly awesome book that's gonna forever change
19:15
how you hike in the Yellowstone ecosystem. All
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right, next week! In next week's episode, I will
19:22
talk about the upcoming biking season, share
19:25
a cool trail near Mammoth, and give you another
19:27
tip that should help you get ready for your trip
19:30
to Yellowstone. Until next week, bye! There are
19:50
no sponsors. This is a labor of love, so thank
19:53
you all for listening. Copyright 2025, baby!