Yellowstone-Fishing Bridge or Outside Park
We're going to be staying at Yellowstone for 5 nights at the end of May. We had been planning to stay all of them at Fishing Bridge but someone mentioned we'd be wasting a lot of hours driving around...
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I know these aren't the best directions - and it's been a year - but here is a tip on wildlife. We drove over the entire park hoping to see a grizzly, like most people and one of the most dependable spots was right on top of us. Buffalo are easy. Ditto elk. Never saw a moose.
From Fishing Bridge, turn right (North) onto Grand Loop Road. 3-5 miles down the road there is a big hill (mound?) on the left side of the road. It's about 1/4 mile before Alum Creek goes under a bridge to join the Yellowstone River. The river bows out with a pasture between the road and the river. This spot was one of the best spots I found. Our trip was 4-10 July.
Top of the mound looking West. A grizzly would hang out about 1 mile away early morning and late evenings. We drove past the crowds at dusk for several days before I was smart enough to see what they were looking at. He wasn't there everyday and this requires patience but word from regulars is he would be there several days per week dusk, dawn, or both. It's a higher percentage than random driving. Also, I saw a pack of wolves at the same place. Couple with spotting scope tracks them every year. I had a 70-200 lens with 1.7 teleconverter and they were small. Binoculars or spotting scope would have been much better. Watched them for an hour and they eventually crossed the highway near the bridge.
On the West side of the road, a herd of elk was usually by the river and to the SE was a cove where black bears would frequent.
Wildlife requires luck, but getting up at dawn and a little patience and you can increase your odds.
From Fishing Bridge, turn right (North) onto Grand Loop Road. 3-5 miles down the road there is a big hill (mound?) on the left side of the road. It's about 1/4 mile before Alum Creek goes under a bridge to join the Yellowstone River. The river bows out with a pasture between the road and the river. This spot was one of the best spots I found. Our trip was 4-10 July.
Top of the mound looking West. A grizzly would hang out about 1 mile away early morning and late evenings. We drove past the crowds at dusk for several days before I was smart enough to see what they were looking at. He wasn't there everyday and this requires patience but word from regulars is he would be there several days per week dusk, dawn, or both. It's a higher percentage than random driving. Also, I saw a pack of wolves at the same place. Couple with spotting scope tracks them every year. I had a 70-200 lens with 1.7 teleconverter and they were small. Binoculars or spotting scope would have been much better. Watched them for an hour and they eventually crossed the highway near the bridge.
On the West side of the road, a herd of elk was usually by the river and to the SE was a cove where black bears would frequent.
Wildlife requires luck, but getting up at dawn and a little patience and you can increase your odds.
