Yellowstone, Tetons, places to see grizzly, moose, wolves

If you ask one of the rangers of recent sightings they are usually happy to tell you what area of the park you might see wolves or bears.

Ditto on the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. It's worth a morning or afternoon, especially if you are not having much luck seeing the wildlife. Moose are probably best seen outside the park, in the Island Park area of Idaho (back on the gravel roads off the main drags) - they have become relatively rare in Yellowstone over the past few decades, due in part to change in habitat in the park after the fires of '88.

Black bears may be hanging around the Tower Fall area (not in the parking lot), grizzlies more likely in Hayden Valley, in the Pelican Creek area near Fishing Bridge (do NOT hike there w/o letting rangers know), and over Dunraven Pass. That said, there is far from a guarantee - as you know, Yellowstone is not a zoo and the individual animals are not "managed" closely unless they happen to prove a problem getting too close to people.

Best way to see wildlife: wherever you see cars pulled off along the side of the road, there is usually something to see. It may be an elk or (more likely) buffalo (bison) but it could be deer, bear, moose, etc. (We did see a moose in Yellowstone 3 years ago.) The animals move around a lot to find food (or peace & quiet away from all the tourists :) ) so there's no way to know for sure where they are.

Some less-well-known park residents that are fun to see: bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope. More likely near the north entrance and in Lamar Valley (northeast section of the park). Lots of elk hang out at Mammoth, though we have been there & not seen any some days.

I've been going to Yellowstone fairly frequently for the last 50 years and have yet to see a wolf. :(

In the town of West Yellowstone there is a grizzly bear and wolf sanctuary where you can get within a couple of feet of a wolf and a few dozen feet of a grizzly.
They allow people/kids to bury food in the observation field and then they let in the bears to find the food which they find very quickly and move large stones with ease.
There is also a nice campground next to the sanctuary.
Oh! and you might be able to find one in the wild but don't plan on it. I'd take any possible tours because the guides know where the animals are.

Thanks folks. I am fully prepared to not see any. Just trying to increase my chances lol

We visited both parks in June. We only saw one bear, and it was in the Mount Washburn area of the northern loop of the Grand Circle. We didn't ever get out very early or stay late in the evening, so we weren't in the park during prime viewing times. We hear the Lamar Valley is best for wolves.

We stayed at Colter Bay RV Park in the Grand Tetons and were awaken one morning by someone calling out, "Bear! Bear! Bear!" to alert folks that a bear was passing through the campground. We didn't get outside quick enough to spot it, though.

We were bummed to not any moose in either park.

We were there in mid May and saw a grizzly with 3 cubs on the road between Norris and Canyon. If you look on a map of Yellowstone, it would have been in the vicinity of Wolf Lake.

Grizzly and wolves will be tough to spot... most likely be in the right spot at the right time, early morning or late evening, and most likely be prepared to not see them at all.

We saw moose down near Jackson close to the Snake River near marshy areas.

Summer time is the toughest time to spot those animals. Late Spring or Fall is the best time, preferably Fall. Even in Alaska tourists are always asking where are all the numerous animals they heard about or have seen on television. Not that you don't see some in the Summer, just near not as many.

It can change year to year and with the seasons. In our several visits to Yellowstone over the years, the Slough Creek and Lamar Valley areas have been where we have seen the most wolves and bears. Usually where there is a carcass that they are feeding on. If you see a van and a bunch of folks with spotting scopes, stop and talk to them. They are very likely the biologists that are tracking/studying the animals in the park. The few moose we have seen in Yellowstone were in the Petrified Tree/Blacktail Creek area where there are willows that they like to feed on.

We have seen more moose in Grand Teton in willow stands around the Jackson Lake and along the Gros Ventra River.

Hayden and Lamar Valleys. Very early in the a.m. or right after dusk. Stay near your vehicle and use a spotting scope if you have access to one.