From Yellowstone National Park, where if the
weather cooperates, all interior roads and the
Beartooth Highway will open on Friday. This is
that Scott guy you know and love with a brand
new episode of This Week in Yellowstone. What's
up everybody? This week in Yellowstone National
Park from May 21st to May 27th, 2026, I'll talk
about driving Dunraven Pass, get a bit pendantic
about Lamar Valley, and discuss how bear jams
impact bear behavior. I'll also give you the
complete weather forecast, a cool trail to hike,
the snowpack update, the wildlife report, and
everything else you need to have an incredible
time this week in Yellowstone. Standard disclaimer
here. I may miss a few details, so I'm sorry
I do the best I can. I also mention park locations
on this podcast very casually, so if you're unfamiliar
with some place I'm saying, a quick search can
help, or just contact me directly. Also, this
podcast is a passion project of mine. I am not
paid. I'm not sponsored. I do this because I
love it. And so if you enjoy this podcast, I'd
love a review or a quick email. Also, one thing
that you could really do that would help grow
this podcast is if you're on any social media
that has Yellowstone discussions, drop a link
to this or tell people to listen to this. Tell
them listen to this week in Yellowstone. More
people I think will benefit from visiting the
park, especially because I'm always talking about
behavior and things like that. So if you like
this. You know, review, quick email, tell your
friends, tell the people online. If you want
to support my work further, check out my wildlife
watching and hiking guidebooks to the region
or join me for a guided hiking tour in Yellowstone's
backcountry. For more information on all that,
visit outdoor -society .com or just contact me
directly, 406 -589 -1873. So a few very quick
news stories of first news story. impacts wildlife
watching in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
It appears that the wolf hunt in Wyoming is going
to be a lot less this coming year than it was
the previous year to help with the wolf population
in and around Yellowstone National Park. State
of Wyoming is cutting down the amount of wolves
that can be killed in their state, especially
in the Yellowstone region. So that's great news.
Obviously, you know, hunting is a hot button
issue, so I'm not going to dive into that right
now. That's a whole other episode when things
are a little slower. Other news right now is
that Dunraven Pass is opening on Friday. That
is a road that connects Tower to Canyon. I'll
be talking about that in just a minute as my
experience of the week. Also, the Beartooth Highway
is expected to open this Friday as well, assuming
the weather works out. That's for both those
roads. Weather works out, those roads are opening.
So that's the main news in the park right now.
Other than that, I'm gonna dive right into the
experience of the week, which is driving Dunraven
Pass. Dunraven Pass is the Yellowstone Drive
that doesn't have the like awesome attention
given to it that a lot of places in the park
do. It doesn't get the fanfare of Old Faithful
or the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone or Lamar
Valley or Hayden Valley or even, you know, the
Madison River as you're driving between West
and Madison. which is why I kind of love Dunraven
Pass. Most people just view this section of road
as a crossing rather than a destination. It's
a quick way to connect Canyon to Tower Roosevelt
and then head to Lamar. The afterthought that
is the scenic drive is part of what makes it
special. Driving this road you leave one Yellowstone
and arrive in another. Not really, but you'll
realize what I mean. The road threads between
Tower Fall and Canyon Village, climbing to 8
,859 feet through the Washburn area, and then,
as you're up above, it offers sweeping views
in all directions, showcasing the mountains everywhere.
You can see the Tetons, you can see the Absaroka
-Beartooth Mountains of both Wyoming and Montana.
You can see way out to the west side of the park.
It's just awesome. And that's from the road,
not even to mention you can go up higher. I'm
obviously excited about this because I love it.
The southbound approach from tower is the most
I think scenic way I mean they're both really
scenic but I love going south from tower to canyon.
So from tower the road kind of just darts in
and out of trees and then it starts to switch
back up which is really fun because you really
start climbing and with every bit you climb there's
more open landscapes that emerge there's more
pullouts Everything is kind of designed on this
section from tower up to the top of the pass
to give you maximum viewpoints Stop at every
single pullout picnic area wherever you want.
Enjoy it. There is one quick side thing I didn't
write this down, but it always pops in my head
when I talk about Dunraven pass is that there
is this like Bison pullout beyond tower as you're
working your way up There used to be a Finston
area where visitors to the park could see some
of the bison in the park before There were that
many wild bison at one time There were just 20
something bison in the entire park when that
was happening There were areas where they could
breed and be safe as well And so this is one
of those areas of bison paddock, which was pretty
cool. Stop there beyond that That's where it
really starts to open up. That's where you're
gonna get these gorgeous views and honestly like
early morning when the fog starts to clear or
there's like dew everywhere, the smells, the
sights, awesome. So the pass is named for Wyndham
Thomas Wyndham Quinn, which you know double the
Wyndham I guess I talked about this last year
if you want go back and find that episode I talked
about this guy quite a bit He was the fourth
Earl of Dunraven an Irish nobleman who traveled
to the park in 1874 just two years after Yellowstone
became the world's first national park He wrote
The Great Divide, a book that introduced many
European readers to this idea that the United
States has set aside a giant landscape simply
to preserve it. Yellowstone superintendent Norris
later named the pass after him. That means when
you drive it, you're on a route named for one
of the first outsiders European outsiders who
try to explain Yellowstone to the world. The
paved road we know now followed decades later,
and then it was expanded during the automobile
era and paved in the mid -1900s, though much
of its alignment still follows those earliest
mountain crossings. What makes the drive geologically
interesting is that it doesn't look like the
Yellowstone most people picture. You know, we
think of Yellowstone, we think of geysers, and
we think of wide open prairies. This isn't this.
The central plateau around the geyser basin is
dominated by younger rhyolite from the caldera
eruptions. Dunraven crosses older volcanic terrain
remnants of the Absaroka volcanic field. These
rocks are darker richer in nutrients and weathered
into these really cool features especially when
you're driving at the top of the pass. The soils
there support thicker forests and wildflower
meadows once that happens in July. In July these
entire slopes that you're driving by can become
crowded with lupine, paintbrush, and fireweed,
some of the best vileflower views in the park.
Not happening right now, but it's going to be.
The mountain looks almost pastoral in places,
which is odd for a place sitting on the edge
of the largest volcanic system on earth, well,
one of them. of Yellowstone, and it just looks
very calm. If you were in the Alps and you saw
this, you would expect a little, you know, chalet
there and some cows roaming around. You don't
get that here. You get grizzly bears, you get
bison, you get elk, bighorn, sheep, and no real
infrastructure. So there are several pull -outs
that deserve more than a quick break tap as you're
driving up. Most of them are unnamed, but stopping
here is one of the best ways to understand how
Yellowstone unfolds. You can see ridges dropping
toward the Lamar Valley, you can see where the
Yellowstone River goes around the mountain, and
you really just get a better feel for how big
this park really is. So I don't know if this
is going to be open, but I'm mentioning it right
now, but there's a stop that you really need
to take, and that is the Chittenden Pass Road
at the top of Dunraven Pass. Chittenden is something
I'll talk about later, it's a fun word to say,
but this is a dirt road that leads up to the
parking area if you wanted to go hike up to Mount
Washburn. Now even if you don't want to hike
up Mount Washburn and this drive is open, drive
up here, get out of the car, and look around.
You're going to notice a few things. One is that
you can see all sorts of places. Two, you're
going to be at elevation and the air is going
to be colder, thinner, and it's just going to
be a little more windy, right? And that's great,
especially if it's a hot day. If you do want
to hike Mount Washburn, know that Mount Washburn
is 10 ,200 feet and it leads to a historic fire
lookout on the summit. I'm going to talk about
that in a couple of weeks because right now there's
still some snow there. Don't recommend hiking
it unless you're really looking for some type
two fun. The trail is Gentle, but in the snow
it's again not worth it, so stay tuned for that
later. Wildlife is another part of why the drive
across Dunraven Pass is awesome. This is a great
place to spot bighorn sheep close to the road,
especially around the top of the pass. They often
graze in the open slopes above the road and then
sometimes just walk in the middle of the road,
so drive carefully when you are here. You also
have a very good chance of black bears and grizzly
bears in this area and these will cause numerous
bear jams from the opening of the road all the
way through the closing of the road in October.
You're going to see ravens circling thermals,
marmots whistling, you're going to hear some
pika or pika depending how you want to say it,
and also you're just going to see what you see
up there. I love this area. Some of my best bear
sightings have been up here so check this out
especially early morning. late afternoon. I almost
always see a bear when I drive this at those
times. So once you begin descending toward Canyon,
the mood changes entirely. The trees become more
common. At a few pullouts, the landscape opens
up and you can see way out towards Hayden Valley.
You can see Washburn Hot Springs out in the distance.
I lead a tour out to Washburn Hot Springs. It's
the smelliest hot springs in the park that you
can hike to and I love it and you should book
that tour. It's so fun. From the same pullout,
you can also see all the way down to the Tetons.
So how cool is that, right? It's another place
in the park you can see the Tetons. The best
time to drive this, I feel, is early morning
late in the day for that wildlife feature. Also
just the daylight and the sun. If you leave Tower
just after sunrise and drive toward the top and
right before you get to where Chittenden Road
starts, there's a really beautiful pullout with
plenty of parking spots. Sit there and watch
the sunrise over the Absaroka Mountains. I can't
describe this experience well enough. Just do
it. It's it's wonderful If you're lucky enough
lucky as in quotation marks to be up here as
there's a thunderstorm Thunderstorms should pass
pretty quickly and when they do These big pullouts
are great place to see rainbows over the entire
horizon. I had a friend that visited who moved
to vegas after living up here for a while and
when she came back she uh wanted to do this drive
we did it and we watched multiple rainbows just
drift over toward lamar valley throughout the
afternoon and it was truly magical and wonderful
so do this drive it's great this is what you
should do this week it also connects canyon to
roosevelt and then from roosevelt you get in
that bear muted triangle where you can see lots
of bears this is a drive that you will love.
You are going to probably love this more than
you think because it's not mentioned that much
as a scenic drive, it's mentioned as a point
A to point B. And by taking the time, stopping
to the pullouts, really letting Yellowstone soak
into you from these overlooked spots, you're
going to understand the park much deeper and
you're going to fall in love with it even more.
Over the last few weeks, I've seen an increasing
trend on social media of people asking how to
experience Lamar Valley. Generally, this is a
fine question, but the questions continue, pointing
to a desire to find the one experience in the
area that they can do so they can say they did
it. I'm here to say that Lamar Valley and most
of Yellowstone do not work that way. Yes, you
can go to Old Faithful and watch it erupt. or
walk to Artist Point and see the lower falls,
and the stunning scene in the Grand Canyon of
the Yellowstone from there. You can wander the
thermal areas and see the sights, but those are
specific things. Lamar Valley is a huge area.
Lamar Valley has a mystique to it. After all,
as everyone says, it's America's Serengeti. I
like to say that Lamar Valley is America's Lamar
Valley. That's not a phrase based in like patriotism
and like all of that. It's just because It's
not like the Serengeti, it's like Lamar Valley.
It is without rival, and it is the best wildlife
watching place in the park, and always worth
a trip. That being said, I think it's long overdue
for an explanation of what Lamar Valley is, and
what you can do there. Lamar Valley is an 8 mile
long, 4 mile wide open valley carved by glaciers
during the last ice age. It's a landscape of
broad meadows, rolling hills, stage rush flats,
and it feels really expansive. The Lamar River
winds through the center of the valley, well,
edge of the valley, for nearly 44 miles from
its headwaters before joining the Yellowstone
River. Together, the landscape and surrounding
grasslands create one of the park's most distinctive
landscapes, where wide views, moving water, and
abundant wildlife all come together in one place.
I also feel it's important to note that Lamar
Valley is only the valley. What do I mean by
this? Well, Lamar Valley commonly gets lumped
in with Slough Creek, Little America, Round Prairie,
and Pebble Creek, as well as most of the Northeast
Inchins Road, making the idea of Lamar much different
than what it actually is. Now some are going
to consider this to be pedantic, but location
accuracy matters. This is really important for
a lot of reasons, one of which I was reminded
about recently. The other day I was asked what
trails are found in Lamar Valley. The answer
is only one, the Lamar River Trail. This out
and back trail starts near Soda Butte Creek and
works its way into Lamar Valley. The person said
I was wrong, telling me a bunch of other trails
that are near Lamar Valley but aren't in the
valley itself. I felt this was important to distinguish
because again, they were specifically asking
for a hike in Lamar. And I know that's me being
picky with words, but I want people to know what
Lamar Valley is. So now that you know that there's
only a single official trail in Lamar, you may
still be asking, what else is there to do? In
all honesty, not much if you're looking for dependable
attractions and experiences. Keyword there, dependable.
What most do in Lamar Valley is drive through
it, stopping at pullouts, and scanning for wildlife.
Lamar Valley is nature, pure and wild. It's not
predictable. Sometimes the valley is filled with
bison, sometimes you'll see bears and foxes,
sometimes you'll see coyotes and wolves, sometimes
you'll see all of those things, and other times
you may see nothing. The truth about Lamar is
that uncertainty is exactly what makes it special.
You do not come here to complete an itinerary
or guarantee a sighting. You come here because
the valley is alive, and every hour can be different
from the last. One morning the hills may be empty,
and the next a wolf may appear on a ridge while
bison move through the river below. Lamar rewards
patience more than planning. The best way to
experience it is not to ask how to do it, but
to go there, slow down, spend time, Let the valley
decide what it wants to show you It's up to you
to interpret that and to give the valley meaning
and to have an experience So if you're looking
to go to Lamar Valley, and you're thinking what
should I do? The thing that you should do get
there early in the mornings or late in the evening
Look for wildlife and just enjoy the valley for
the nature that it is Because places like this
are at a premium and they're getting more and
more rare every single year My random Yellowstone
fact of the week. One of the reasons Yellowstone
National Park does not officially name its bears
is that the names can intentionally change how
people behave toward them. It seems harmless
to call a bear by a nickname, especially when
people have watched the same sow raise cubs for
several seasons or recognize the large boar by
a scar or distinctive coat. Yet, From the park's
perspective, giving a wild bear a public identity
can create exactly the kind of attention managers
try to limit. A named bear becomes a destination.
People begin asking where they can see that bear
that day, whether it's still in a certain valley
or where they can find that bear again when they
visit the park again. In a park that already
receives millions of visitors each year, This
desire to see one specific animal can translate
into crowds gathering around that one animal
and increasing the pressure on it. That matters
because attention changes bear behavior. The
National Park Service has spent decades trying
to keep Yellowstone's bears as wild as possible,
meaning they continue using natural food sources
and avoid learning that humans are relevant to
their daily routines. In the park's own management
history, The period when bears became tourist
attractions was disastrous. Bears were fed in
campgrounds, congregated garbage dumps were fed
by rangers, and became accustomed to people not
as background but as a source of food and entertainment.
The result was dozens of injuries per year and
many bears removed or killed after conflicts.
Modern bear management was designed specifically
to reverse that. Naming can feed into a newer
version of that same problem. A famous bear draws
repeat visitation. People will wait up pullouts
for hours, stop in traffic lanes, or drive back
and forth all day to see one specific animal.
The park documents that roadside bear sightings
already create bear jams, which are traffic backups
caused by visitors stopping to watch bears near
roads. Those jams are manageable when they happen
naturally. They become more intense when one
bear develops a reputation and visitors actively
seek it out. In that situation, the animal is
no longer just moving through the habitat. It
becomes the center of a human event. This is
happening all over the park right now, but there
are two regions where it is most intense. North
of Norris, and out the east entrance. While I
will mention these locations in the wildlife
report, I do want you to know that seeking out
these individual bears does create a problem.
This extra attention can lead to habituation,
which is a specific biological process. In Yellowstone's
research, habituation means a bear gradually
reduces its flight response because repeated
encounters with people have no direct negative
consequences. A bear that sees hundreds of parked
cars and people with cameras may learn that humans
are predictable and not immediately dangerous.
That may sound benign, and the park notes habituation
is distinct from food conditioning. A habituated
bear does not necessarily seek food from people,
but the practical issue is that habituated roadside
bears stay visible longer, use road corridors
more often, and create larger crowds. Once that
cycle begins, human pressure on that individual
bear increases. A named bear accelerates that
cycle because names create narrative. People
are far more likely to drive to a turnout hoping
to see 399 or Scarface or any other animal they've
heard about more specifically than a grizzly.
The name transforms a wildlife sighting into
a personal objective. That can lead to repeated
close observations by crowds, which means that
the bear is learning that those crowds are a
routine feature of its environment. Again, over
time, the bear may spend more time near roads
because roads become predictable travel routes
through habitat that now contains both natural
forage and non -threatening human presence. Yellowstone
has documented exactly this trend with increasing
habituated bears in roadside habitats every single
year. The problem is that this bear is growing
comfortable and it also becomes vulnerable because
the public does not always behave predictably.
Visitors may get too close. They move in for
a better photo. They cluster where bears want
to cross. They stop their cars all across the
road, and the bears get stressed. They intentionally
cut off escape routes. A sow with cubs may tolerate
distant vehicles, but reacts strongly if people
approach on foot. Once a conflict happens, the
consequences usually fall on the bear. Yellowstone's
management policy emphasizes preventing human
causes of conflict because when a bear damages
property, accesses food, or injures someone,
Managers may need to haze, relocate, or in some
cases kill it. In the park's own wording, preventing
human -caused conflict is one of the park's most
important ways to protect bears. Now, I know
some of you are like, well, if we're just watching
from the road, there's not really a lot of conflict
there. The conflict comes not just from human
-bear conflict, but this increased stressed environment.
If you've been in the park enough, you've probably
had a bear sighting where you've seen a bear
trying to cross a road, there's hundreds of cars
all across, stopped in the road, there's people
out of the cars, and the bear starts panicking,
looking for a place just to cross the road and
get away from it. That is undue stress that is
interfering with nature and that's something
that the park really tries to stop. That's why
they may... haze bears you know you might see
that when you're in the park that's why if you
talk to a ranger and say where is this specific
bear they probably won't tell you because they
don't want to create these things this behavior
of being normal around people that you see on
these roadside bears is really not normal all
across the park when i'm in the backcountry on
hikes and come across a bear that tends to never
be near the road the bear is not comfortable
with my presence it may stand up and smell for
me it more often than not is going to immediately
run away from me. You don't see that with bears
near the road because they're used to people.
Some may argue that this is okay. I'm not in
that camp. In fact, if you ever chat with me
on a tour or you see me out in the park, you're
going to find out that I never call a bear by
the nickname. For me, a bear sighting is a bear
sighting and any bear I get to see is cool. Now
the park generally avoids official names even
when visitors create them anyway. These names
again encourage emotional attachment, which encourages
attention, which can create concentrated visitation
around individual animals. That increases the
chance of those bears becoming habituated. Habituation
itself is not always harmful, but the crowds
that follow the bear can cause the stress that
I was talking about, alter movement, and raise
the risk of an encounter that changes the bear's
future. If a bear hangs out by the road a lot
and gets used to it, the chances of that bear
getting hit by a car much higher. Yellowstone's
goal is not to erase individuality. Biologists
know individual bears very well and track many
by number for research. The goal is to prevent
a wild animal from becoming a celebrity because
celebrity in a national park often means people
stop seeing a bear's wildlife and start seeing
it as something to pursue. That shift is often
far more dangerous for the bear than for the
visitor. I know that was a serious topic, so
in order for a palate cleanser, let's talk about
the weather. Monday, 70 and 40, 24 % chance.
Tuesday, 70 and 38, with a chance of thunderstorms,
about a 32 % chance. And Wednesday, high of 65,
low of 34, 24 % chance of some rain. The weather
for Gardner, Montana. On Thursday, high of 50,
low of 27, some rain in the morning, should be
clearing up, or at least cloudy in the afternoon.
Friday, 61 and 33. Saturday 68 and 38 Sunday
73 and 41 with the chance of some rain or thunderstorms
in the middle of the day Monday 75 and 44 Tuesday
74 and 42 with rain developing in the late morning
early afternoon Wednesday 67 and 39 West Yellowstone,
Montana Thursday high of 48 low of 21 51 % chance
of some snow or rain in the morning Friday Thursday,
high of 47, low of 34, 88 % chance of some rain
in the morning. Saturday 73 and 48, Sunday 79
and 50, Monday 82 and 51, Tuesday 80 and 49 with
a 24 % chance of some rain in the afternoon,
and Wednesday 72 and 48 with an 18 % chance of
some rain. Finally, the weather for Cook City,
Montana. On Thursday, high of 41, low of 23,
37 % chance of about a quarter inch of snow.
On Friday, 51 and 30. Saturday 58 and 35 Sunday
61 and 38 Monday 64 and 41 Tuesday 63 and 39
with the chance and thunderstorms and Wednesday
60 and 36 Now please know that this is the best
forecast for the week at the time of recording.
I'm recording this on Wednesday May 20th at 2
p .m. The forecast can change numerous times
in a week, but this should be within the ballpark
of what you'll experience when visiting the park
this coming week. The snowpack update... As of
May 20th, the snowpack is around 63 % of normal
for this time of year. The eastern and northern
ranges of the park are about 76 % of normal,
while the western and southern sides are 48 %
of normal. Last year on this date, we were averaging
around 85 % of our normal levels for the whole
park. It's not great. The runoff currently is
super low for this time of year, and there's
not a lot of snow up there. So yeah, not great.
the rain that is coming in the form of snow tonight
this Wednesday night not going to be enough to
change any of this so um might be in for a very
long year or very long summer so fingers crossed
we get a lot more precipitation road conditions
the only road that's closed at the time of the
recording is the road over dunraven pass that
is expected to be open on Friday the 22nd same
with the bare -toothed highway outside of the
park Now the best way to have up -to -date information
for the roads is to 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 888 -777. Once again, text 82190
to the number 888 -777 for road alerts on your
cell phone. Camping information. Mammoth is open,
Madison is open, Fishing Bridge is open, Bridge
Bay is open, Tower opens on the 22nd, and Canyon
opens on the next week on the 29th. The wildlife
watching update. So wildlife watching right now,
still just absolutely great. Obviously, since
I talked about, you know, trying to find specific
bears. Please don't do that. Just drive around
and look for wildlife. Try not to put as much
pressure as you can on them. It's a busy time
of the year and it's not always the safest time.
Yellowstone National Park recently sent out a
thing that said elk are starting to have their
babies. Elk are like the number two animal for
animal attacks in Yellowstone because of this
time of the year. Elk mothers are very protective
of their newborns and will go after people. If
you see them, stay away from them. 25 yards at
least I recommend 35 to 50 yards Because they
will run faster than you and they will get up
on their back legs and punch you in the face
I know it doesn't seem like that's gonna happen,
but it's absolutely true Elsewhere in the park
wildlife is like I said good Slough Creek area
Lamar Valley area Little America good for wolves
right now Obviously with that den being out in
Slough Creek go check that out if you don't know
what I'm talking about Just head out there in
the morning and you'll see Dozens if not hundreds
of cars all lined up with spotting scopes and
binoculars looking at a certain place So go out
there bears bear mute a triangle extremely great
right now going over Dunraven Pass should be
good Bears are just all over the park as I talked
about So drive around between point a and point
B and look for some bears. They are most active
in the mornings and afternoons Evenings, but
middle of the day as well pronghorn are everywhere
Marmots are coming out Those are really fun to
see. Sheep Eater Cliffs is a good place to see
marmots. So go check those guys out. Baby Bison
all over the place. They're swimming across rivers.
They're moving about. It's great times. Bighorn
Sheep are also going to start having their kids.
So that's cool. Calcite Springs tower area. Really
good to see them, especially giving birth from
the Calcite Springs area. There are some places
that they can hide in caves or like. Not necessarily
caves, but just places where it's a lot more
safe from predators and they'll give birth out
there And you can watch them walk around. I haven't
seen one yet Pretty much know that if I go there
in a couple days, I'll see a newborn. So check
that out Otherwise, it's a very good time drive
around put in the work You're going to see animals
if you do need specific information just reach
out to me happy to help I am just being a little
more reserved on this week's episode because
of that crowding I'm seeing at the bear Areas
and at the wolf areas there are a lot of people
there There's somebody flying a drone at a grizzly
with two cubs the other day. There are people
getting too close There are cars just all flocking
to see one specific bear, which is why I talked
about that this week, so by all means go out
and find animals search for them enjoy the sighting
just know that you have an impact on them and
limit your time with them grab a couple pictures
and go about your day so we can try and keep
all the animals as wild and safe as possible
trail alerts and updates the backcountry conditions
page is updated i will have a link to that in
the show notes That's just going to be something
that I'll always have in the show notes from
here on out. That site's the easiest way to check
the status of a trail you want to hike. Please
know that the area around Fairy Falls, Imperial
Geyser, Queens Laundry, and all of that is closed
until further notice because of that bear attack
a while ago. Also, Storm Point on the north side
of the lake on the east entrance is currently
showing closed due to bear presence. A natural
bridge is also closed, but Elephant Back is open
in that area. So most trails are open. Those
are the only ones that I really see that have
alerts. So enjoy your hiking. Carry bear spray.
Have it readily accessible. Know how to use it.
Always make noise. My Trek of the Week. Osprey
Falls. In 2022 the flooding that impacted travel
in Yellowstone also washed out a few trails.
The Osprey Falls trail was one of those paths.
While it has been open for a little over a year
now, fewer people are going here than you think.
The reason I'm suggesting Osprey Falls right
now is that Osprey Falls and any waterfall in
the park right now is worth seeing because the
snow is melting and water levels are up. Rivers
and creeks are running high and waterfalls are
raging. We have maybe a month or so of melt off.
We'll see. So the power of the waterways of Yellowstone
should take priority right now. They will not
be raging like this later. If you're in the park,
do a waterfall trail now. There's a few ways
to reach Osprey Falls, but for simplicity and
brevity, I'm going to give the most common route.
If you want one of the back ways, send me a message.
Happy to help you. So to reach Osprey Falls,
Park at the Bunsen Peak Trailhead at the start
of Swan Lake Flats after leaving Mammoth. Instead
of turning left on the Bunsen Peak Trail, follow
the old Bunsen Peak Road through Grassland and
Burn Forest for about three miles to the Osprey
Falls Trail. Once at the trailhead, to Osprey
Falls proper, you're going to drop about 700
feet into Sheep Eater Canyon, and it's one of
the deepest canyons in Yellowstone National Park.
Osprey Falls on the Gardner River plunges 150
feet over the edge of a lava flow and I want
you to be aware that the trail down of the falls
is steep and has some loose dirt and rock. This
is not like an easy super family -friendly trail
and should not be attempted by those new to hiking.
You are gonna drop 700 feet very quickly. The
good news is that if you are able to hike down
and back up you get to see a waterfall that is
truly stunning. You get a hike right up close
to it, and it's truly fantastic. I love this
little trek down. It is steep, like I said. It
switchbacks down. It feels monotonous. Try and
avoid it during the heat of the day if possible,
but if you want a really good hike, check this
out. Now, if you can't hike down that but still
want to see Osprey Falls, you can. All you have
to do is go along that first route that I talked
about, along the old Bunsen Peak Road, and there
is a viewpoint from that that you can look right
into Osprey Falls without having to do a lot
of elevation. One of the cool features about
this is that this section, this old road, is
bikeable. So you can hop on a gravel or mountain
bike and ride it to the Osprey Falls trailhead,
giving you a much easier day. The total distance
for this hike is a little over nine miles and
you'll gain about a thousand feet in elevation.
Most of that is that very steep drop down. If
you want to make this more of a day, you can
summit Bunsen Peak. So you go up the Bunsen Peak
trailhead, drop down the backside, go down to
the waterfall, climb back out and walk the old
road back to your car. And that's going to be
an 11 mile day with about 3000 feet of elevation
gain. That's if you're Wanting to know how I
am, that is what I do. I love going up Bunsen
Peak, dropping down, doing the waterfall, coming
back. It is a great day. It's a super industrious
day, but if you're looking for just a fantastic
little journey, that's it. If you want an easier
day that's still some good distance, like I said,
walk the old road, walk down to the falls and
walk back. If you want an easier day, walk the
old road and back and you get to see the waterfall
from a distance. But you can't see this waterfall
from the road, so it's one that not a lot of
people get to see. So enjoy that. That is it
for this week's episode. In next week's episode
I'm going to return with all the information
you need to have a good week in the park. That
includes the wildlife update, the weather, and
you know, a trail that I like. Until then...
Consider booking a tour with me, pick up a guidebook
of mine, recommend this podcast to somebody online
if you know that they're going to Yellowstone.
I would greatly appreciate if I'm on like a Yellowstone
Facebook page to see other people recommend it.
I don't like recommending it myself because it
kind of feels slimy like, hey, look at what I'm
doing. But if you love what you hear, please
consider doing that. Until next week, happy trails.
Abrupt ending! 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!