From Yellowstone National Park where both black
bears and grizzly bears have been spotted over
the last couple of days This is that Scott guy
you know in love with a brand new episode of
this week in Yellowstone What's up everybody,
this week in Yellowstone National Park from April
2nd to April 8th, 2026, I try to convince you
to find dead things, tell you about an app to
download that will make your park experience
even better, tell you about Cook City, and highlight
a unique seasonal walk on a closed road. I'll
also give you the complete weather forecast,
the snowpack update, the wildlife report, and
everything else you need to have an incredible
time, this week in Yellowstone. Standard disclaimer,
I'm going to miss a few details here and there,
so if there's something you want to know more
about, reach out to me. I also mention park locations
very casually, so if you're unfamiliar with a
place I'm mentioning, a quick search online can
help, or again, just contact me. Please know
that this report only covers the drivable areas
of the park. Finally in this intro, this podcast
is a passion project of mine. I do not get paid,
I have no sponsors, so if you enjoy it, I'd love
a review or a quick email. If you want to support
my work further, you can check out my hiking
and wildlife watching guidebooks, or join me
for a guided hiking tour in Yellowstone's backcountry.
For more information, visit outdoor -society
.com or contact me directly. Seriously though,
if you're coming to the park, you want to book
a trail tour with me. This week's Yellowstone
news. So there's not really any news going on
in the park right now. There's... been some snow
that's fallen. That's exciting. There's bears
out. I'm going to talk about that in the wildlife
report. So I'm just going to skip on to the next
section because no news is good news. So let's
get to the experience of the week. My experience
of the week is wildlife watching at carcasses
and kill sites. So if you're in Yellowstone National
Park right now, one of the most compelling wildlife
experiences that's going on and will continue
to go on, it has all winter and it's going to
go through the summer, but I'm talking about
it now because it's really a good time for it,
and that is an experience that's centered around
carcasses. This is when wolves, newly emerged
bears, scavenger birds, coyotes, All of these
converge, creating some of the most dynamic wildlife
viewing of the year. Wolves are often the starting
point for excitement on carcasses. That's what
everybody loves. A single kill can hold a pack's
attention for days, giving wildlife watchers
plenty of opportunities to see some really cool
behavior. According to the National Park Service
in Yellowstone's Wolf Project, wolves can consume
large quantities of animals all at once, sometimes
up to 15 % of their body weight in a single feeding
before returning repeatedly to a carcass. That
repeated use makes these sites reliable places
to observe their behavior over time. Bears are
also entering the picture in a major way. Early
April lines up closely with emergency grizzly
bears from their dens, especially adult males,
often referred to as boars. These larger males
are typically among the first bears to come out
of their dens. After months without eating, they're
in significant caloric deficit. Research, cited
by the National Park Service, shows that grizzly
bears can lose 10 to 30 percent of their body
weight during their time in the dens, and that
depends on their age, the sex, and the conditions
of how they were before. For a large boar, that
can easily mean around 100 pounds are lost over
the winter. Because of that, carcasses become
one of the most important early season food sources.
They provide high calorie nutrition without the
energy of hunting. It's common for grizzlies
to take over a carcass from wolves, and studies
have shown that bears frequently dominate these
encounters, displacing wolves and controlling
access to the food source. Watching this interaction
unfold is one of the more intense wildlife experiences
available in Yellowstone right now. Above the
ground level action, scavenger birds are constant.
Ravens are usually first, and same with magpies,
often arriving quickly and staying in groups
around the carcass. Bald eagles and golden eagles
follow, and then it's just a free -for -all.
These birds depend heavily on carcasses in the
early spring, especially before insect and plant
food sources become widely available. Ravens,
in particular, are closely linked to wolf activity
because they rely on wolves to open carcasses
they cannot access on their own. Now, if you're
trying to locate one of these sites, there's
a few things you can do. Obviously, you can go
to where all the cars are, right? That's the
easiest. But if you're there early and you see
circling birds like clusters of ravens and trees,
you hear a lot of birds when you're at a pullout,
or, you know, you hear wolf howls nearby, that's
a good indicator. If you do see a carcass and
you're watching one, know that there is an important
management component. When carcasses are too
close to roads, Yellowstone staff may actually
move them short distances away. This is not uncommon.
something that I tell people they don't really
believe me but sometimes there's carcasses in
the winter and they will get drug out further
so animals can eat them or they'll get taken
to animal carcass sites which I'll talk about
later this year if I remember or you can just
reach out to me and I'll talk your ear off about
it it's great fun by helping move these carcasses
and everything The park reduces the risk of dangerous
wildlife jams and prevents bears and wolves from
becoming too accustomed to feeding near people.
Especially if they're crossing the road a lot,
you're going to see a lot of closures. You're
going to see some park management out there controlling
the situation. So the reason I'm mentioning this
is because right now carcasses are where much
of the best wildlife watching action is. Wolves
are feeding on them. There's grizzlies that are
coming down for them that are just gorging themselves.
There's birds working every opportunity around
those animals. So if you come across a carcass,
pull out and pull out. Enjoy it. Take your time
watching it and just remember to keep your distance.
The park requires, as you know, at least 100
yards from bears and wolves. And please know
that this is super important, not just for your
safety, but these carcasses are high energy competitive
situations and animals will defend what they've
found. Because of this limit your noise and movement
as best you can don't go from pull out to pull
out chasing them You know as they move give them
a break and do your part to help them stay as
calm as possible and as natural as you can be
So that way you can enjoy it and the animals
aren't being stressed and that way everything
is getting what they need without us interfering
More than we obviously interfere by being there
my tip of the week get the Merlin app That's
the Merlin app, nothing to do with wizards based
on birds. So if you're headed into Yellowstone
National Park, there's one simple thing you can
do ahead of time that can completely change how
you experience Yellowstone. That is download
the Merlin Bird ID app. At first, it might sound
like something meant only for serious birders.
Or people interested in being considered serious
birders. And it's not. Merlin is built for anyone
and everyone, whether you've never identified
a bird in your life, or you already know a few
birds. It's easy to use, and more importantly,
it helps you notice things you'd otherwise miss.
Having the Merlin app in the park will help transform
quiet moments of sitting by rivers or at pullouts
into a fuller experience, bringing the park to
life even more. The feature most people end up
loving is Sound ID. You just open the app, hit
record, and it starts listening to the world
around you. As birds call, the app identifies
them in real time. In a place like Yellowstone,
where there's constant background sounds in the
forest, along rivers, and across open valleys,
this can completely shift your experience. What
used to feel like general bird noise suddenly
becomes specific and recognizable. Now, just
to be clear, I'm not getting paid to tell you
to use this app. I love this app. I use it in
my yard. I use it when I go to the river. I use
it all the time. I went hiking last weekend in
the park and I just had it on trying to figure
out what birds were around me. I love this app
and I think you will too. So the app is developed
by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is one
of the leading bird research organizations out
there. Merlin pulls from a huge database of recordings
and observations, including data from eBird.
So it's not just guessing, it's built on real
science and continues to improve over time. When
I first got this app, it was fine. Now it's pretty
amazing. If you're visiting in April, the Merlin
app becomes even more useful. Yellowstone is
really starting to chirp with bird activity this
time of year. You might hear osprey returning,
sandhill cranes, western meadowlarks, bluebirds,
bald eagles, songbirds, who knows? Merlin doesn't
just tell you what you're hearing, it helps you
start to understand patterns. There's birds now
that I didn't know what they were, but I hear
them because I've looked them up so much and
I've like recorded and seen when it pops up and
tells me that now I just know what it is. I don't
need to look at the app. And that's a really
fun thing to do. I mean, yes, it means that,
you know, I'm a birder, but I grew up a birder.
I don't know if anybody else did, but I'm going
to go off on a slight tangent here. When I was
a kid, I lived up by the sketch of flats of Washington
State. and up there in the winter there's tons
of snow geese, there's snowy owls, there's all
sorts of birds that come through. And so every
weekend my parents would load my sister and I
up in the car and we would drive around looking
through binoculars at fields hoping to see a
snowy owl. I have looked at so many white buckets,
bags, any other white lumpy shaped thing in a
field around Bellingham Washington. I have probably
seen every bucket in Whatcom County at this point,
or I did when I was little, you know, but that's
where I got started birding and I hated it. Honestly,
it was not fun, but having that core experience
has made the park more enjoyable for me now.
And if you have kids or you're just wanting to
bird, the Merlin app is definitely something
that you are going to love and it's going to
make everything so much more fun. One thing that
makes Merlin especially useful in Yellowstone
is that it works offline. And you can just hit
that record button and it tells you everything.
So when you're hiking, if you're at a pullout,
you can just listen to the birds and figure out
what you hear. And that's really fun. It also
helps you slow down. It's really easy when you're
in Yellowstone to focus on these big experiences.
Going to these must -see places, or seeing the
bears, seeing the wolves, you know, making sure
you see the bison, all of these things. But with
birding, you start paying attention to things
you might have ignored before. A quick stop becomes
something you linger at. A quiet morning turns
into something more engaging, and it's just done
by listening. The National Park Service regularly
encourages visitors to look beyond the big animals
and connect with the park on a broader level.
The Merlin app helps with this goal of the park.
Birds are a huge part of Yellowstone's ecosystem
and they're everywhere once you start noticing
them. It's a small step to download this before
your trip, but it can make a huge difference.
Once you start using Merlin, Yellowstone feels
more detailed, more interactive, and a lot more
alive. Chances are, You're going to start using
it all the time and then you're going to become
a birder which will either improve your life
greatly or make you a bird nerd searching for
lifers. Both of which are wins in my book. My
random Yellowstone fact of the week. The history
of Cook City. So the story of Cook City begins
long before the mining claims and cabins appeared
in the Absaroka Mountains. Indigenous people,
including the Crow and Shoshone, moved through
this high country for generations, following
seasonal game and navigating routes that connected
valleys and plateaus across what is now Montana
and Wyoming. The region's harsh winters and rugged
terrain limited permanent settlement, but it
remained an important travel corridor. Everything
changed in the late 1860s when prospectors pushed
deeper into the mountains during the broader
Montana Gold Rush. Now, theoretically, it changed
when the Trappers came out, but if I start talking
about Trapper history, we're going to be here
forever, so I just jumped right to the Gold Rush.
Reports of mineral deposits drew attention to
the area northeast of what would soon become
Yellowstone National Park, setting the stage
for Cook City's founding. By the early 1870s,
small mining camps had formed in the area. The
town was named after Jay Cook, a financier tied
to the Northern Pacific Railroad interests, and
it reflected early hopes that industry and infrastructure
would follow mineral discovery. People such as
Nathaniel P. Langford helped publicize both Yellowstone
and the surrounding mineral potential, encouraging
further investment and exploration. Gold and
silver deposits were present, but extracting
them proved difficult. According to historical
accounts and mining records, the short summer
season and heavy snowfall limited how long miners
could work each year. Supplies had to be hauled
over long distances and isolation made sustained
development challenging. While some mines produced
modest yields, the area never reached the productivity
seen in other Montana mining districts. Still,
optimism remained high. By the late 1870s, Cook
City had developed into a frontier settlement
that was very rough. There were cabins, saloons,
and a small but determined population. Remember
how I mentioned railroads? Well, Cook City's
future hinged on transportation. In the late
19th century, serious efforts were made to extend
rail lines into the region. Investors believed
that connecting Cook City to national markets
would unlock its mining potential and transform
it into a major hub. However, multiple factors
intervened. Financial setbacks, including the
collapse of the railroad financing tied to Jay
Cook, stalled the progress. At the same time,
the establishment and protection of Yellowstone
created political resistance to rail development
through the park. National Park Service says
that early debates about access and preservation
played a role in limiting infrastructure expansion
in and around Yellowstone. Without a railroad,
Cook City remained isolated. This moment marked
a turning point. Instead of becoming a booming
industrial center, the town settled into a quieter,
more uncertain future. Mining continued in the
early 20th century, but success remained inconsistent.
Harsh winters, limited access, and fluctuating
mineral prices led to repeated cycles of activity
and decline. Some operations persisted, producing
gold and silver on a smaller scale, but large
-scale development, as we know, never materialized.
During this period Cook City started taking on
a new role. It became a stopping point for travelers
heading toward Yellowstone's remote northeast
corner. Its location kept it relevant, even as
mining declined. Small businesses, supply operations,
and seasonal activity helped sustain the community
through difficult decades. A major transformation
came with the construction of the Beartooth Highway
in the 1930s. Built in part by the Civilian Conservation
Corps, the highway connected Cook City to Red
Lodge and opened a dramatic high elevation route
across the Beartooth Plateau. The impact was
immediate and lasting. What had once been an
isolated mining town became a gateway for travelers.
The highway, now recognized by the US Forest
Service as an all -American road, brought visitors
drawn by alpine scenery, wildlife, and access
to Yellowstone's northeast entrance. Tourism
gradually replaced mining as the town's economic
foundation. Lodges, services, and seasonal businesses
begin to shape Cook City's future. While there
is some pushback by some Cook City locals against
tourists, that's pretty much the only game in
town. So it's a fun argument, but it's not really
steeped in any sort of reality. Tourism is the
lifeblood of Cook City. Whether it's winter snowmobiling,
hunting, or summer visitation, that's why that
town exists today. Today isolation is what makes
the town so great. In the winter, the only way
to get to Cook City is to drive through the park.
In the summer, you can reach Cook City by the
Beartooth Highway or Chief Joseph Memorial Highway,
but in the winter, you got to drive through the
park. It's cut off. If they want to, if people
in Cook City want to go to a grocery store that
isn't the small grocery store in Gardner, they
have to drive through the park, which is about
an hour and a half to two hours, then another
hour to get to Livingston. It's a very remote
place. Livingston is also where the hospital
is. Today, Cook City is very small. It has a
year -round population of fewer than 100 residents.
It serves as a gateway to one of Yellowstone's
most wildlife -rich regions, the Lamar Valley,
and basically that whole northeastern corridor.
While remnants of its mining past still exist
in historic structures and abandoned claims,
the town's economy is now built on tourism and
outdoor recreation. Cook City never became the
industrial center that early investors had imagined.
Instead, it evolved into something more enduring.
Its history is one of ambition, setbacks, and
adaptation shaped by geography, climate, and
its close relationship with Yellowstone. For
visitors, that history is still visible in landscape,
in the buildings, in the really cool museum you
need to check out in town, and in the quiet resilience
of the community itself. The weather for the
coming week. So as always this is the best forecast
for the week at the time of recording Forecast
is gonna change a little bit, but this should
be within the ballpark of what you'll experience
when visiting the park We're gonna start with
Lamar Valley Lamar Valley on Thursday is gonna
have a high of 39 a low of 24 with about 2 inches
of snow Friday high of 40 low of 21 51 percent
chance about a quarter inch of snow mostly in
the morning Saturday, 49 and 22 partly cloudy.
Sunday, 54 and 27 partly cloudy. Monday, 56 and
30 partly cloudy. Tuesday, 56 and 32 with some
rain or snow developing in the evening. And Wednesday,
49 and 24 with about a half inch of snow expected,
maybe an inch, 54 % chance of that. The weather
for Gardner, Montana. On Thursday, high of 43,
low of 29, 73 % chance of 1 inch of snow. On
Friday, high of 46, low of 25, 40 % chance about
a quarter inch of snow. On Saturday, high of
55, low of 28. Don't expect any precipitation
then. Sunday, high of 59, low of 32. 6 % chance
of precipitation. Monday, 61 and 34. Tuesday,
62 and 36 with some rain developing in the evening,
afternoon time. And then Wednesday, high of 53,
low of 28. 57 % chance of about a half inch of
snow. And that brings us to Cook City, Montana.
On Thursday, high at 36, low of 22, 72 % chance
of 2 inches of snow. On Friday, high at 36, low
of 20, 53 % chance about a half inch of snow.
Saturday, 46 and 21. Sunday, 50 and 28. Monday,
52 and 30. Tuesday 52 and 31 with again that
rain developing late morning early afternoon
out here Maybe about a quarter inch of snow We
just don't know right now and then Wednesday
high of 46 low of 23 62 percent chance of one
inch of snow the snowpack update As of April
1st, the snowpack is around 83 % of normal for
this time of year for the whole park. The eastern
and northern ranges of the park are 95 % of normal,
so that's great, but the western and southern
sides are about 68 % of normal. Last year on
this date, we were averaging around 100 % of
our normal level, so we're not in great shape,
but it could be worse. Thankfully, that northern
range is doing great. road conditions. The only
road open right now is the road between Gardner,
Montana and Cook City, Montana. So please be
aware that it's probably going to be okay this
week, but Thursday, Friday might be a little
sketchy. So just a heads up there. If you want
updated information on the road conditions, there's
two ways to do it. You can call 307 -344 -2117
for recorded information, or you can sign up
to receive Yellowstone Road Alerts on your mobile
phone by texting the number 82190 to the number
888 -777. Camping Information There is only one
campground open in the park right now and that
is the Mammoth Campground which is open year
round. Other than that there's some camping that's
available outside of the park especially north
of the park between Livingston and Gardner. If
you need some spots there let me know but if
you want to camp in the park go to Mammoth there's
room. The wildlife watching update so wildlife
watching has been pretty good aside from the
lack of visibility the last day or so But once
this next storm clears out, it's gonna be pretty
good again. So if you're headed to the park,
it should be awesome This week people have been
seeing wolves bears Obviously bison, pronghorn,
bald eagles, golden eagles, coyotes, even some
foxes and a couple moose. Pronghorn are out.
I've heard of people seeing badgers. It's just
a good time. Right now, if you're looking for
wolves, as I mentioned off the top here, carcass
watching is kind of the thing to do. And that's
going to continue this week. So do that. There's
going to be carcasses. Currently, there's one
out by hell roaring. that's gonna get picked
clean but there might be a bear that lingers
and comes out for that so go to some viewpoints
scan around there bear wise there's some grizzlies
out near Junction Butte and then there's some
black bears that have been seen so just drive
back and forth it's it's kind of hit and miss
especially with the weather being so like bad
and good and bad and good it really is a you're
gonna see what you're gonna see but everything
is out and your potential is huge so my guess
based on the weather is friday afternoon late
morning early afternoon is going to be great
saturday is going to pick up sunday is going
to pick up monday is going to be good and then
there might be a little bit of urgency on tuesday
and then when the weather changes on wednesday
might not be as good of wildlife watching other
than that though it's great go Scan bring binoculars
and you should see some really awesome things
trail alerts and updates There's no official
trailer. It's this week. Those are gonna be resuming
in a couple of weeks Maybe so hang in there,
but just know that right now bear sightings are
more common. I've seen more bear tracks They
keep popping up Carry bear spray know how to
use it. Don't put it in your backpack. Never
put it in the bottom of your backpack I saw somebody
hiking and I asked them this last week Hey, do
you have your bear spray and they're like, oh,
yeah I have it on my backpack and I had to ask
them like well How long is it gonna take you
to get it? Because a bear is not going to wait
and then that look of realization hitting their
face is priceless. I love it. But I also like
making sure that people are safe. So always have
your bear spray on you very quickly accessible.
We're talking within one second. If you can't
get your bear spray within one second, your bear
spray is too far away. All right, enough about
bear spray. I'm going to talk about that later
in the year. But right now, let's talk about
the Trek of the Week. My truck of the week this
week is the road up to calcite and tower Which
will be mostly snow free at the time of writing
this all out. It was snow free, but At the time
of recording it is dumping snow and so it's not
going to be completely snow free But you shouldn't
need any snow shoes or anything like that So
walking the road from Roosevelt Junction to tower
fall in the early spring is great The pavements
usually clear but the route is still closed to
cars, so it's one of those experiences that almost
feels like you're breaking the rules. It's about
2 .65 miles each way, and without traffic, it
turns into a quiet, easy walk through one of
the more geologically interesting and panoramic
view stretches of Yellowstone's northern range.
Right from the start, the biggest difference
you're gonna see this time of the year if you've
been there in the summer is the lack of noise.
As soon as you leave the junction, all unnatural
noise fades away. In a month, this road is going
to be busy, with people rushing back and forth,
looking at the falls, and hoping to catch a sighting
of bears. Right now though, it's just you, the
sound of the wind, and the growing roar of the
Yellowstone River far below. As you make your
way toward Tower, the views start to open up,
but the real standout along this route is the
geology. Not far into the walk, you'll pass sections
of columnar basalt cliffs where ancient lava
flows cooled and cracked into vertical hexagonal
columns. These formations are a result of slow
cooling volcanic rock and they give the stretch
of the road a completely different feel compared
with other parts of the park. It's the kind of
feature most people drive past without really
noticing or glancing at and saying that's cool,
but when you're walking You're surrounded in
it and you're going to stop and take it in because
it's really hard not to. About halfway along
the road as you're going up, you're going to
reach one of the highlights of the entire route,
Cal Side Springs. This is one of my favorite
viewpoints in the park and one I go to dozens
of times a year. At Calcite, you get a take in
stunning views of the Yellowstone River as it
cuts through dark volcanic rock, and it's going
to be moving very fast, especially this time
of the year because snow melt is starting to
build. There's informative displays that tell
you the geological history, as well as pointing
out layers of ash from previous volcanic events.
At Calcite Springs, the view looking west is
stunning. It shows off a bend in the river at
Bumpus Butte where steam rises from the springs
along the bank. That's why it's called Calcite
Springs. After enjoying Calcite, which you should
walk the whole thing like there's a boardwalk
little thing to walk, do it. It's great. The
walk to Tower continues with more open views
as you get closer to the waterfall. Sweeping
views emerge and with no cars or people around,
there's no rush to move on. Stop and scan the
cliffs across the way for wildlife as it's often
seen here, especially like bighorn sheep. Arriving
at Tower Fall without crowds is a completely
different experience as well. The falls drop
132 feet over jagged volcanic rocks surrounded
by those sharp spires that have been shaped by
erosion over thousands of years. Normally Tower
is a quick stop with people coming and going,
but this time of year you can actually stand
there and take it in. The walk to tower itself
isn't difficult, but it's still early spring.
You might run into patches of ice or snow or
water running across the road. Just be prepared
for changing conditions, even on these paved
routes, and you'll be fine. Also, I mentioned
bear spray leading into this. Always have bear
spray. This area increases with bear activity
every single week, and by mid -May, it's going
to have numerous bear sightings every single
day. This is part of the Bermuda Triangle. I'm
going to be talking about that in a couple of
weeks. This is a very bear heavy area. If you
want to see bears during your visit in May, this
is where you go. But what really makes this stretch
special right now is the timing. The weather
won't be great this week, but the truck will
be. It always is. For a short period each year,
the road shifts from a busy connector to something
quiet and immersive. This is an easy walk, giving
you access to geology, amazing views, and a version
of Yellowstone that most people never slow down
enough to see. Plus, you may even see bison,
bighorn sheep, and maybe a bear. When hiking
this, please park near the pit toilets at Roosevelt
and walk up the road. Alright, that's it for
this week. In the next episode next week, I'm
going to return with all the information you
need to have a good week in the park. That includes
the wildlife, weather, and trail updates. Until
then, book a tour with me, pick up a guidebook
of mine, and happy trails. This week in Yellowstone
is brought to you by the Outdoor Society. That's
my company. It's just me. I do this. It's a labor
of love. If you like it, tell your friends, rate
and review it. Shoot me a message. Otherwise,
keep listening and I hope to see you in Yellowstone.
Copyright 2026, baby.