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

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  From the land where I just saw the first Rocky Mountain Bluebird of the season,
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  and where the feeling of spring is in the air, even though there's snow in the forecast and
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  we won't see new plant life for another month or two, this is That Scott Guy You Know and Love
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  with a new episode of This Week in Yellowstone.
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  What's up everybody, it's another episode. I'm coming in hot because after that intro,
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  I had to sit for about two minutes and catch my breath because that was one sentence and I have
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  another very long sentence to start this episode. Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and are
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  ready for another This Week in Yellowstone. This Week in Yellowstone National Park, March 6th,
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  to March 12th, 2025, I share a cool walk on a washed out road, try to help you navigate bison
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  jams, share reasons why you should visit the park this week, and give you all the weather,
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  wildlife, and road updates you'll need to enjoy your time visiting Yellowstone this coming week.
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  So my standard disclaimer, I might miss a few things so if there's anything else you'd like to
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  know, reach out to me happy to answer. I also mention park locations very casually, so a quick
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  search might help if you're unfamiliar with areas I mention. Also, this report only covers the drivable
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  areas of the park. So before we dive in, I want to share that this is truly a labor of love.
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  I say that every week and if you're enjoying it, I'd love to hear from you, whether it's through a
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  review or a quick email or even a text. Somebody texted me the other day and said, hey, I like your
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  podcast and that was awesome. When you do visit Yellowstone, I also am a hiking guide here in the
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  park and I am very excited to show people around. So imagine wandering the park's best trails with me,
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  uncovering the hidden gems, hearing incredible wildlife stories, and learning all of the history
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  and geology of the park all while going beyond the boardwalks. That's what my tours do. We go
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  beyond the boardwalks and I give you a deeper, more immersive experience of Yellowstone. So if
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  you're interested, reach out to me either through my website or social media or my business line is
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  also listed on my website so you can even send a text. I really want to make sure that when you
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  visit Yellowstone, it's going to be a truly unforgettable trip. So if you're headed here,
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  reach out, happy to help. Okay, on to the news. This week's Yellowstone news. Happy birthday,
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  Yellowstone National Park, last week. I forgot to mention this last week, but on March 1st,
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  Yellowstone National Park celebrated its 153rd birthday. While the region itself is obviously
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  much older, the park was created on March 1st, 1872. There weren't that many people celebrating it
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  aside from social media posts, but I'll get to what happened in the park or just outside of the park
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  on March 1st in just a few seconds. Well, maybe a minute. So I mentioned this last week, but the
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  first news story I want to cover is that over snow, travel is ending. I mentioned this last week,
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  but I want to continue to talk about it in case you missed the news. On March 2nd, over snow travel,
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  which involves travel on snow coaches and snowmobiles, stop for the season at Mammoth Hot Springs.
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  On March 4th, travel to Norris and Canyon from West Yellowstone ended for the season,
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  and on March 9th, travel to Canyon from Fishing Bridge will end for the season, and then all
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  interior roads will be closed to over snow travel on March 15th. I'll talk about that again next
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  week. The road between Gardner and Cook City, through Mammoth, Tower Roosevelt and Lamar Valley,
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  is open all year long to personal vehicles, so if you're headed to the park, you can still drive
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  that section no matter the day, the month. With over snow travel ending, many amenities and Mammoth
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  are now closed. On March 3rd, the cabins, dining room, gift shop, hotel lodging, map room bar,
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  ski shop, terrace grill and Mammoth are all closed. The Mammoth General Store, the fuel
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  pumps at the gas station, the campground and the visitors center are all open.
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  In other news, the National Park's rally happened last week in Gardner. On March 1st,
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  there were rallies for park and forest service workers at numerous locations around the Department
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  of the Interior. From national parks and national monuments to national historic sites and battlefields,
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  workers of those units, community members and those who wanted their voices heard over the
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  firings and possible staffing issues, public lands are facing held a rally. In Gardner,
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  around 150 people showed up with signs holding a rally of solidarity. There's a good article on
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  this rally from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that's worth a read. I debated writing something out,
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  but instead I'm going to link it in the show notes. So go ahead and check that out.
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  Alright, the experience of the week. A nearly empty park. With the end of the snowmobile and
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  snowcoach season upon us, visitation to Yellowstone dramatically drops. With the closure of Mammoth
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  Hotel and cabins, tourism just slows to a trickle. Some of the amenities in Gardner will be closed for
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  a month or so, leaving the town to mainly be full of the locals who call the place home.
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  Many guides take this time off as well, helping the region appear much more desolate and quiet
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  than it actually is. While that may be a reason for some to not want to visit the park in March,
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  some of us find this a truly magical time. Historically, March is the third least visited month,
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  and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Despite the lack of popularity to visit the park,
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  the wonders of the region still dazzle. You'll have access to the entire northern range of the
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  park from Mammoth to Cook City, giving you ample opportunity to see wildlife, stunning mountain,
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  views, snowy scenery, and a slowly thawing out river. You'll still need snowshoes or cross-country
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  skis to trek the trails, but you'll find yourself mostly alone, no matter what area you wander.
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  Sure, there will be people in the park, but early March on a weekday can sometimes feel like you
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  have the entire area to yourself. Weekends will always be a little busier, but nothing compared
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  to February or April. Visits to Yellowstone during the first few weeks of March have led
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  to some of my favorite memories, calmness moments in the serenity of the region, and a deeper connection
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  with the park. I can't promise you a super exciting trip in early March, but if your spirit and soul
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  are open to it, you will find serious bliss. Alright, my tip of the week. When visiting Yellowstone,
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  an animal near the side of the road can quickly cause a backup, sometimes up to an hour or more
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  if it's a bear or a herd of bison walking down the road. If you get caught in one of these animal
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  jams, stay patient, there isn't much you can do. However, there are a few things that can help alleviate
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  these bison jams for the cars behind you. During the winter months, expect bison jams all the time,
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  especially this time of the year. Right now, the bison are kind of moving between lowlands and highlands
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  based on how the snow is, searching for grass, so I've been on the roads a lot. Earlier this
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  winter, I was driving down the hill to reach Man with Hot Springs from Roosevelt, and I was
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  directly behind a herd of 45 or so bison using the road to pass through the park. For 5 miles,
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  which took roughly 30 minutes, I followed the whole herd going as slow as I could. Occasionally,
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  a few of the bison would drop back and walk next to my car until I stopped and let them get further
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  ahead of me. Eventually, they all get to one side of the road and I was safely able to pass them.
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  When you're caught in a bison jam, it's important to breathe and remember where you are. Sometimes,
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  you'll see people get caught in a bison jam and they'll be furious. Other times, they will have one
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  single bison in the road and they'll stop their car 200 yards away from it and just sit in the middle
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  of the road. Neither of those things are great, but you are in Yellowstone and if you are finding
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  yourself getting frustrated at bison jams, just remember that you are doing something that almost
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  didn't happen. At one time, there were just a little more than 20 bison remaining in the entire
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  region. So, you know, sit back and enjoy it. You'll wish for a herd of bison or a possible bear
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  sighting next time you're stuck in a dumb commuter traffic jam in a big city. So, what do you do
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  when you are in a bison jam and they're walking all around your car or they're in the road ahead
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  of you? There's two schools of thought here. One is to stop and let them have their way. After all,
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  it's their home. This route could mean sitting for hours as bison will occasionally just decide
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  to lie down and rest on the pavement. It is the most common way that people handle a bison on the
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  road, but it's actually not the correct way to deal with a bison jam. The recommended way to
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  maneuver a bison jam was told to me by Yellowstone Rangers and it is to slowly approach the animal,
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  stopping your vehicle only to let them move directly out of your way. Bison are very smart and will
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  eventually take the hint that the giant thing next to them that is making noise wants them to move.
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  Doing this carefully and slowly without honking your horn or coming in contact with the animal
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  will encourage the bison to move off the road. This will also help the bison jam diminish for
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  others that are stuck. If you are uncomfortable with slowly hurting the bison off the road,
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  then at the first pull off you get to, take it. Let cars pass you. If you are in a bison jam and
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  the car ahead of you is splitting the herd of bison, like I was saying, just slowly moving
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  forward, do not allow a lot of space between your cars. If you drop too far back, the herd will
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  congregate on the road once more. Finally, if you see a bison jam on the opposite side of the road,
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  or just a singular bison on the opposite side of the road, just walking, do not stop your car.
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  Even slowing down to take a quick picture for a second can lead to a bison jam in both directions.
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  A quick note about passing bison. Very rarely a bison will strike a car. This typically happens
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  during the bison rut in July in Hayden and Lamar valleys. It does rarely happen during the rest
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  of the year, but that's why we have insurance. In my 30 plus years of coming to the park,
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  I have yet to see a bison hit a car. I have never seen a bison hit a car. I have, however,
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  seen a few bison hit by cars. So, when you are driving, please be careful and mind the wildlife.
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  And if you're uncomfortable with a bison jam, then pull off to the side and let those who are more
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  experienced in the region kind of move traffic and help herd the bison off the road.
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  Okay, the weather for the coming week. For Lamar Valley, after potentially chilly and
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  slightly snowy Thursday, this coming week looks downright great. Expect highs in the upper 30s
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  and 40s in Lamar with lows in the teens through Monday. On Tuesday, a front bringing moisture
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  is headed this way with a potential for some light snow on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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  For Cook City, after some snow on Thursday morning, the next few days look to be pretty dry in Cook
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  City. Highs climb from the low 30s to the low 40s until Monday when a chance of snow happens on
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  Tuesday and Wednesday. Lows will be in the teens and 20s all week. For Gardner, like Lamar and Cook
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  City, there is a chance of snow in Gardner on Thursday morning, then partly sunny skies and
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  decently warm temperatures that are going to last through Monday. Highs will be in the upper 30s
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  and 40s through Monday with lows in the upper teens and 20s. Tuesday currently has a 40% chance of
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  snow and Wednesday has a 50% chance of snow. And those totals are an inch or two.
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  As always, temperatures may be higher or lower than I say and snowfall amounts may be higher
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  or lower. This area is hard to predict weather wise, especially more than a day or two out,
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  so those temperatures and snowfall amounts toward next Tuesday and Wednesday may change in the next
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  few days. After the weather, we of course get to the snowpack update. The snowpack in Yellowstone
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  is looking pretty good right now. The numbers as of March 5th are in the 90% of normal range with
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  no real melt off expected in the coming week. We could see the snowpack numbers drop a little,
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  but that's mainly due to previous years snow events happening during this time. There's no
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  major snow happening this week, so we might dip just a little. Other than that, all looks good,
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  no real worries right now. The road conditions. Expect a few patches of snow and ice before the
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  weekend. With most of that melting off over the next few days, I was out in the park on Sunday and
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  the roads were perfectly fine all the way out to Pebble Creek. They should be the same this coming
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  week. That snow on Tuesday and Wednesday may put a little damper on it, but I'm not expecting it to
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  be enough. With the high temperatures being as high as they are, that snow on the road is going
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  to melt out pretty quick. There might be a little bit of ice in the morning if you wake up super
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  early, so take those corners slow. For up-to-date information on the roads, you can call 307-344-2117
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  for recorded information, or you can sign up to receive Yellowstone Road Alerts on your cell phone
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  by texting 82190 to the number 888-777. The number you will be dialing in theory or sending the text
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  to is 888-777 and the message you will send is 82190. As always, anticipate possible road closures
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  due to inclement weather and dangerous driving conditions at any time. Probably won't happen
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  this week, but you never know. Camping information. Mammoth is still the only front country campground
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  in the park and it wouldn't be the worst week to camp there. The temperature over the weekend should
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  be decent with lows not ridiculously cold. The wildlife watching update. The bluebirds are back.
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  So this is a good time to feel like spring is coming. I'm going to talk about the return of
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  the bluebirds next week, but this is exciting for those who call the region home. I saw bluebird
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  the other day and that was on March 2nd and I was stoked about it. I saw a lot of other wildlife
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  that day, but for me, seeing that first bluebird of the year was super cool. Again, I'll talk about
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  that next week. Elsewhere in the park, bison are on the move as I mentioned and pronghorn are starting
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  to return to the park. They're largely outside of Gardner right now. If you head on the old Yellow
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  Stone Road towards Devil's Slide, there's a lot more there. There's also a few as you're like
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  driving right into the park. Elk are also about the same area, but the big story of this week has been
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  coyotes, foxes, and wolves. This is a great time to see them. Yesterday, I had a friend that told me
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  that they saw a wolf right near the road, maybe 50 yards from the road walking and had a great sighting.
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  There's also been instances of people watching coyotes mate, foxes mate, and even wolves mate
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  way off in the distance. The best thing to do right now is if you see cars congregating somewhere,
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  stop in a pullout and go look at what they're looking at. As of yesterday, wolves were around the
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  Hellroaring area and the guided trail just near Blacktail Ponds. Give a couple extra glances out
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  there, but they could be anywhere, could be out at Slough Creek. There are also some out in Lamar
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  Valley up above the Lamar Valley trail off on that left side on the ridge. You never know where
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  you're going to see them, and right now is a good time to see all that wildlife. If you are interested
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  in more tips of where to see wildlife, I do have a guidebook that I wrote that is based on my entire
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  life in the park and where I see animals and how to see them. All of the tips and tricks that I use
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  when I go there. If you would like a copy of that, reach out to me or go to outdoor-society.com for
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  that. It's an ebook and a paperback, so you can get either one. It is also on Amazon and places like
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  that, but they take a huge cut and if you'd like to support me, the best way is to buy the book
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  directly from me. All right, hiking news and updates. Trails in the park will be snowy, so be
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  prepared for that. You'll need snowshoes across country skis on every major trail. The boardwalks
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  and mammoth are pretty beaten down right now, but they could be slick in the morning, so traction
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  devices would be wise to have with you. The trek of the week. I always go back and forth with like,
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  where do I want to recommend? It's the hike of the week. And this time of the year is a little
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  tough because it's not melted out yet. The snow is kind of good, but not great anymore. Like,
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  it's not the dead of winter or so. Where should you go? One place that I've loved going the last
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  couple of years is the washed out road for mammoth. With weather not ideal for hiking,
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  it can be hard to find somewhere to take a walk that doesn't require snowshoes or cross country
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  skis. Luckily, there's a fun route near mammoth that takes you to some scenic spots on an easy
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  to follow route. To do this hike, which is actually a walk on a paved road, you need to park near the
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  visitor center or the post office in mammoth. Once you're parked and ready to go, walk down the road
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  to the campground down that hill around that big bend. You may be tempted to try and drive down to
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  the campground to save yourself that. Don't do that. If you drive down there, you may be ticketed
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  or towed. Once you reach the campground, stay on the road and keep heading down the pavement.
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  Pass through any barriers you encounter to the washout. Just make sure you read the signs that
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  it's not like a seasonal closure. There wasn't one last time I was there that's just barriers to
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  stop cars from going, not people. So as you're hiking down that gradual hill past the campground,
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  keep an eye out for elk, deer, bison, pronghorn, and even bighorn sheep. Once you get to the section
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  of the old road that traces the Gardner River, keep an eye out for hawks, eagles, rocky mountain
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  bluebirds, and basically anything because that's a good place for wildlife. Continue to follow the
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  road as it traces the river downstream and you'll eventually reach a huge washout where you can no
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  longer go any further along the road. Enjoy the view here and think about the rush of water that
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  surged downstream in 2022 that caused this washout and the loss of the road. Once you've taken in
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  the view and scanned the cliffs for wildlife, head back the way you came. The route's going to be
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  about 6 miles total with roughly 600 feet of elevation gain. You shouldn't need any special
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  footwear besides comfortable shoes to walk in. Definitely have a pair of shoes and socks waiting
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  for you after the hike as you might get a little wet walking through any snow and slush that could
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  remain. Also, bring bear spray. I'm going to say that every week now you should have it year-round,
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  but bears are starting to wake up a bit. So we'll do that. Every week is me recommending that and
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  I might also have a bear spray tip of the week or just repeat the same blurb every single week
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  on how to carry bear spray, all of that fun stuff. Alright, that is it for this week. Next week,
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  I'm going to talk about the return of the bluebirds, the blood moon, and share yet another trail that's
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  going to be great for next week's visitors. Make sure you have subscribed to this if you like it
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  and you'll get it in your feed again. Until next week, bye!
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  This week in Yellowstone is brought to you by the Outdoor Society because that's my company and
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  that's where this is hosted. There are no sponsors. This is a labor of love, so thank you all for
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  listening. Copyright 2025, baby!