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This Week in Yellowstone: February 6th to February 12th, 2025 · This Week in Yellowstone National Park

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From the windy and frozen banks of the Yellowstone River in Livingston, Montana,
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mere miles from the nearly one million acre AB wilderness,
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and a short drive through Paradise Valley to get to Yellowstone National Park,
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welcome to a new episode of This Week in Yellowstone,
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for the week of February 6th to February 12th, 2025.
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Hosted by me, that Scott Guy, aka the guy with a bison tattoo.
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What's up everybody, coming in with a little more energy, the only note I've received from anyone so
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far is I tend to trail off in energy toward the end of this, so I'm starting up very high,
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so then when I get to the end of it, I'm at my normal like NPR voice level, so let's see how that goes.
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This week in Yellowstone National Park, I'm going to give you an update on the Wolf Hunting Bills,
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tell you about a lesser-known road in Yellowstone to drive,
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share a cool snowshoe and cross-country ski route, and also let you know how the wildlife sightings
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have been. Hopefully this is going to help inspire you to take a trip to the park.
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Also, standard disclaimer, I might miss a few things, so if there's anything else you'd like to know,
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just reach out. I also mentioned park locations pretty casually, so if you're unfamiliar,
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a quick search might help. Also, this report only covers drivable areas of the park and does not cover
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those areas where you may be taking a snow coach or snowmobile tour.
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Alright, this week in Yellowstone News, it's another slow news week in Yellowstone,
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again good thing. I do have a few things to update and share. The first is an update on the Wolf
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Hunting Bills I talked about last week. House Bill 222 failed, while House Bill 176 was amended
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and passed through the Montana House. Now, this is going to be changed a little bit, like I said,
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it was amended. Initially, this bill required the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission to
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establish an unlimited statewide quota on Wolf Hunting, while the population was above 550
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animals in Montana. But the language was amended on the floor, allowing the Fish and Wildlife
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Commission to apply an unlimited quota at their discretion. The commission could continue to manage
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wolves under the state's current management strategy, and so if updates occur on this,
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I will share those. That's better news than it was as it allows Montana Fish and Wildlife
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and the commission that is in charge of this to continue to monitor each region and make decisions
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based on that instead of just a statewide quota. That is much better news, and a lot of the anti-wolf
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people are upset about the amendment, so that's how you know it's probably good for the wolves.
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In other news, the only other thing that's kind of making the rounds right now is a potential
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issue with seasonal workers. That includes rangers and not just those staff that work
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in national parks for the summer. This could even include law enforcement officers,
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but right now a lot of places are talking about the hiring freeze that the president implemented
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and then rescinded. However, the hiring freeze, as I said, that was rescinded, is still not quite
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solved as the Bozeman Daily Chronicle was still reporting as of two days ago that a potential
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staffing problem for the summer will exist. I've also seen rumors that law enforcement officers
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across the country are not being renewed for their contracts, and I even saw today somebody that had
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a seasonal ranger position was told that they are not hiring for those seasonal ranger positions
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right now. All that being said, I am not quite sure what's going on with that, and the issue
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doesn't seem to be that big at the moment, which is why I'm not going to be mentioning it again
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unless it amounts to something much more serious. Right now it's a, well, what's going on? Everything's
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kind of up in the air, and there's a lot of speculation and guessing as to what's going
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to happen next, but I'm not going to be playing the what-if game with news stories here. There are
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plenty of other places for that. I just wanted to update that as something that you might want to
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pay attention to, but also it could all be worked out and not be a big deal. We don't really know
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right now, so that's all I want to say about that. I don't know though, news stories like that are a
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bit of a bummer, and especially if there are no tangible facts, then I don't know what I should
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be doing about it, but just giving you a heads up that there's currently some potential hiring
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issues down the road. Currently, I think we're okay, but I don't really know.
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So, after news, it's always weird to transition, but here's the transition for the experience of
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the week, and the experience of the week that I would like to recommend is driving the old Yellow
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Stone Trail South Road. Now, I could talk about this for hours. I love talking about the roads of
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the park and what you can see and drive. Probably should put together a driving tour guide book
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or something to the park, but that's a lot. The old Yellow Stone Trail South Road is very short,
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but really cool, but this is the condensed version, so enjoy. So many who visit the park's northern
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entrance in Gardner, Montana assume that they have left the park once they pass through the
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entrance station back into Gardner from Mammoth. While you have left the main park access point,
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there are still 4.5 miles of Yellowstone National Park roads that should be seen. After leaving the
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park, head under the Roosevelt Arch, and hang to the left. You'll drop down a small hill, pass a
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park on the right, and then go past the high school also on the right. I will only say this once for
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this entire road, but keep your eyes open for wildlife as they frequent this region all year
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long. Like, this is a kind of underrated wildlife spot very close to Gardner. A few hundred yards
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after the high school, you'll see the Yellow Stone Heritage and Research Center on the right.
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With over 6 million items, Yellow Stone has one of the largest collections in the National Park
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Service. The collections here grow continuously with the addition of archival records, archaeological
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artifacts, and scientific specimens. To learn more, you can schedule an appointment to explore the
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herbarium or archives, sign up for a public tour, or you can kind of just drop in during business
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hours and see the library collection and public exhibits. You can also go to the website and view
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online collections anytime. According to the Yellow Stone National Park Service website,
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the current exhibits are Women in Yellowstone. The exhibit tells the story of women from the
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early history of Yellow Stone National Park through their work as park rangers, naturalists,
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and entrepreneurs. There's also the Yellow Stone National Park Travel Through Time online exhibit
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that you can see anytime. This online exhibit explores travelers through Yellow Stone National
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Park from the earliest Native American groups, European trappers, and surveyors to present day
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visitors. So once you've left the Heritage and Research Center, continue on the road heading north.
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The road will gradually climb a hill giving off views of electric peak. One mile from the arch,
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you're going to see a small dirt road on the right. If you take this right, you'll go up to the
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Old Gardener Cemetery, which is also known as Tinker's Hill Cemetery. If you stop and wander
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this place, you may see some names you recognize from places and stories of Yellow Stone National Park.
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After you walk around there and see the old gravesites and taking the views, make sure to stop
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and look back toward Gardener when you're heading back to the main road as you're going to get a cool
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view of town, including Mount Everett's and the Roosevelt Arch. Beyond the cemetery, the road
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continues to slowly climb the hill, passing pullouts to stop and look for wildlife, or you can just
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take in sweeping views. Once you reach the top of the hill, the road drops down sharply, passing the
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Stevens Creek Road. This is best known as a bison capture area for the bison relocation and brucellosis
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testing, as well as the bison culling. So after you pass this road, you'll remain in the park for
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another 1.8 miles. After you leave the park, you can continue on the road again for 3.4 miles,
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taking in even more cool sights, spotting wildlife, and enjoying the relative calmness of the dirt road.
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Definitely stop and enjoy the geological feature known as Devil's Slide. You have access to the
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Yellowstone River nearby, and before crossing the bridge to get to the Yellowstone Hot Springs and
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back to Highway 89, look on the hills to your left for Bighorn Sheep. You'll often see them there,
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especially in the fall and early spring. And then once you're done, you can return to Gardener by
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either turning around and driving the dirt road back, or you can turn right across that bridge
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and head on Highway 89 south back toward Gardener. The tip of the week. My tip of the week will seem
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pretty simple and obvious, but it's super important. So what is it? It's have a pair of binoculars or a
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spotting scope with you when you come to Yellowstone. I often see people in the park pulling over to a
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pullout where wildlife is out in the distance, and they're not able to see it without the aid of a
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good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope. Now you might get lucky and see wildlife close to the
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road, but chances are if you're going to see something, it's going to be out in the distance,
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especially if it's a wolf or mountain lion or later in the year when it's a bear. So last week when I
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was in the park, people were watching wolves that were two miles away. When they're that far away,
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you're not able to see them without binoculars or a spotting scope at all. Like you can kind of make
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out where people are saying they are, but you won't be able to see anything. Even when they are closer,
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you're still going to want to be able to see them better because sometimes they'll be out on hillside
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and you can see them, but it's just going to be a dot in the distance. Because of that, again,
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always have a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope with you when you're in the park. Obviously,
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there's going to be a lot of brands of glass that you can buy depending on the type and style of
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binoculars, spotting scope you want. And I'm often asked what I prefer. Honestly, right now,
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vortex seems to be the most common type of binoculars used in the park. They cost anywhere
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between $100 and $1,500 for a pair of binoculars, depending on the size and power that you want.
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I'm not getting paid to advertise them or mention them at all. I just happen to have a pair that
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I really enjoy and I've seen a lot of people use them in the park and have enjoyed them. So,
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you know, go check them out at whatever store nearby sells binoculars and see if you enjoy them too.
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You might find a different brand that works for you and that's awesome too. Just find something
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that you like, how it feels, you like, how it looks, you like the distance that you can see and
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the clarity. One thing I do recommend is try and test it in lower light situations so that way when
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you're in the park early morning, late evening, you're still going to be able to see something good.
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The weather for the coming week. So, it's winter and this week's forecast shows that it's winter.
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I mean, what a shock, right? So, if you're coming to the park this weekend or early next week,
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expect some snow, some cold and maybe a little sun. Lamar Valley forecast is as follows.
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Snow should be developing in the region on Thursday with Friday being the snowiest day.
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Currently, the forecast is calling for about five inches of snow. Highs on Thursday and Friday will
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be in the 20s and lows are going to drop to negative one by Friday night. The rest of the weekend
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and the week will be partly sunny with highs in the teens and lows below zero. The Cook City
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forecast, as always, Cook City is going to be similar to Lamar but colder and snowier. The highs
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on Thursday and Friday will be at the low 20s and the lows will be below zero. Expect about six
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inches of new snow for Thursday and Friday. It also may snow lightly on Saturday that could be a
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heavy snow or it might not snow at all. Once the snowstorm has gone through, expect highs in the
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low teens and lows below zero until next Wednesday. And then in Gardner, Gardner is going to be warmer
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than Lamar and Cook City with highs just below freezing for Thursday and Friday. The low on
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Friday is said to be just two degrees. Friday may also have Gardner seeing three inches of new snow.
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Could be more, could be less. Expect highs Saturday through Wednesday to be below freezing with lows
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in the negatives. And it will be partly sunny so you might get some sunbreaks. The snowpack
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update since I'm talking about snow. Snowpack is continuing to climb which is great news. The
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northwest corner of the park is about 100% normal while the west side of the park is around 90%.
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The rest of the park is hovering around 87%. So we still have a ways to go but this has been a
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decent winter so far especially compared to last year road conditions. The roads in the park have
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the potential to be decently snowpacked throughout the weekend and also icy in a few spots. Fresh snow
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will impact travel times and potentially make the road more hazardous. They will gradually get better
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as the weekend ends but don't expect clear pavement on a majority of the open road in the park anytime
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soon. As always drive slowly, do not drift toward the shoulder too much and really pay attention to
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where you're going. Once again I've consistently been seeing cars that have driven off the road
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and gotten stuck in the snow. It's a daily occurrence. For up-to-date information on the roads
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call 307-344-2117 for recorded information or you can sign up to receive Yellowstone Road Alerts
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on your phone by texting 82190 to the number 888-777. So send a message to 888-777 and the
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message should read 82190. That will sign you up for text alerts. Also when you're driving just
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anticipate possible road closures due to inclement weather and dangerous driving conditions anytime
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during the winter. Camping information for Yellowstone National Park. As per usual this time of the year
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Mammoth is the only campground in the park that's open. You can camp in the back country but it's
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going to be cold. Just don't do it. If you are dead set on camping expect very cold temperatures at
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night and do not camp unless you have good winter gear and experience in winter camping. If you're
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just hoping to have a fun camping experience don't do it right now. It's not going to be fun unless
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being very very very very cold is fun to you. Which it might be you know and if that's the case
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just still have good gear. The wildlife watching update. As of the time of this recording which is
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Wednesday February 5th about 10 30 a.m. Montana standard time. I know it's mountain standard
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time but I live in Montana. All right wolves have been spotted around the hell roaring area. There
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is a carcass out there. They're picking it pretty clean. Will it last through the weekend? Who knows.
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Moose are still hanging out around the round prairie area. They may drift towards like
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soda butte cone but generally stop and scan around there and you might see a moose. Bison and elk
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are scattered about in the northern range. Got caught in a bison jam last week. It's just kind
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of what's going on right now. I've even heard that there's some bighorn sheep that have been spotted
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in two spots in the northern range. The ews are going to be near the Yellowstone River picnic area
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and the rams will be near the confluence of Soda Butte Creek and Lamar River. There's also a Black
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Bear den near the Petrified Tree that's been occasionally putting on a show and worth stopping
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at. The Black Bear that is in the den has been sticking its head out sometimes or maybe a paw
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which is fun to see but don't expect a lot of activity. If you do want to see that bear it is
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not going to be as impressive as a bear walking around but it's still kind of cool to see a bear
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in a den. Outside the park, wildlife abounds. The large elk herd that frequents the north,
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the outside northern area of the park is hanging out north of the park near Yankee Gym Canyon
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and the north side of that and bighorn sheep are also around that area especially if you're
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going up toward Tom Minor. Out near Cook City moose and foxes have been spotted daily
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and that's kind of where the wildlife are as always drive back and forth that's how you're
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going to see them but there's also this. If you love what you heard but want more wildlife information
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on Yellowstone National Park you can get even more out of your adventure with my wildlife
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watching and hiking guidebooks to the region. They're available in both ebook and paperback
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formats and the wildlife watching book is going to help you spot wildlife like a season local.
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I've written it based on my lifetime of experience in the park. It is definitely a fantastic starting
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point and will help you all year long. You can grab your copy now at outdoor-society.com. That's
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outdoor-society.com. All right, hiking news and updates. The trails are going to be snow covered,
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not a shock. You're going to need snow shoes or cross-country skis to experience pretty much
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anything. You could attempt to hike in just boots on some trails but you're going to be
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post-tolling deep every single step. That's not what you want to do. It's not fun. It's exhausting so
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if you do that good luck. But if you do wear snow shoes or cross-country skis just know that the
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groomed trails are going to be much easier to travel on than the non-groomed trails. Those are
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going to be slow going but worth it. You're just going to have to really pace yourself and not get
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too warm, too tired. And the last real segment is the truck of the week. So if you're headed to the
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park this week you're going to have an opportunity to see the landscape after a decent snowfall.
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The snow is going to allow you to see the movements of animals in the snow as well as let you take
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in the sweeping vistas of the snow covered landscapes. It will be very pretty. So while nearly
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every trail will be awesome right now the trail I'm recommending for this coming week is the Blacktail
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Plateau Ski Trail. For this adventure snow shoes or cross-country skis are required. If you snow
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shoe just make sure you don't walk on the cross-country ski paths. That's like very uncool to do.
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So make sure you stay in the side even if it's more work. Don't mess up the ski trails as those
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are groomed sometimes. So start at the trailhead eight miles from Mammoth near the forces of
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Nature Boardwalk Trail. Not that standard start on the Blacktail Road which is a little further up.
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When you start across from the forces of nature trail you get a more gradual incline to start
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and also some pretty great views of the Gallatin Mountains including electric peak behind you.
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Now this is going to be an out and back trail unless you have two cars and do a point to point.
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So travel as far as you wish and then turn around. And you can go one direction is about eight miles
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and you could make it a long distance but I typically go around three or four miles
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and you get up to a nice little plateau. There's a rock that's kind of sticking out of the snow
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and if you walk over to that you get some great views in all directions.
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When I wander this trail in the winter I usually see elk and bison, coyotes and foxes.
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I've also seen fresh wolf tracks in the snow and I just heard about a cross country skier
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coming across a wolf pack here just last week. They rounded a corner and off on a hillside
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a couple hundred yards from them was a wolf pack which is pretty cool. This is definitely a good
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place to check out and you know you may also see owls or ermine bouncing around and you're going
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to be around some people but it's winter, winter crowded on trails which means you're going to see
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maybe like 10 people most. So check that out if you're looking for a good adventure.
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Now if you love being on foot in the great outdoors but want to make the most of your
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time in Yellowstone you can book a tour with me. I am a knowledgeable local expert who knows the
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best spots, hidden gems and all the incredible wildlife stories the park has to offer. I also
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love park history and love sharing that. I offer private guided hikes in Yellowstone designed
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to give you an unforgettable experience in the wild. We go beyond the boardwalks here and so
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whether you're looking for breathtaking views, wildlife encounters or just a stress-free day
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in nature I've got you covered. So if you're ready hit the trails and you want someone to
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tell you about the park and show you around reach out to me directly or check out my current
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guided hiking options at outdoor-society.com. Let's make your Yellowstone adventure one to
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remember and hopefully you can fall in love with the park as much as I do. With that,
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that is our episode and here is my outro with a little message at the end.
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This week in Yellowstone is brought to you by the Outdoor Society because that's my company
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and that's where this is hosted. There are no sponsors. This is a labor of love so thank you
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all for listening. Copyright 2025, baby!