People go to the National Parks for all kinds of reasons, but one of the prime motivators we kept hearing from folks we met during our trip was to see wildlife. And given the number of “animal jams” we encountered throughout both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, I think it’s fair to say that the majority of park visitors are on the hunt for great wildlife photos during their trip.
Here are some of the animal friends we encountered, and where we saw them in case you are planning your own trip sometime soon!
1. Buffalo
If you’re headed to Yellowstone, don’t worry about seeking out the bison herd. I promise, they’ll find you. These guys are everywhere, and they love to “lead parades” along the main roads causing everyone else to slow down to their speed, and their prerogative as to whether the road should be open or not.
If you’re in Grand Teton only, and not continuing into Yellowstone, then check the fields north of Jackson Lake along Highway 191. These aren’t wild buffalo like in Yellowstone, but if you desperately need a bison pic before you head home, they’ll do.
2. Elk, Deer, and Pronghorns
In Yellowstone, we encountered our first elk in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, but I would at least like to think that’s a bit unusual, as the water in the hot pools isn’t very healthy for them. We saw much larger herds toward the north of Yellowstone, especially in the hills approaching Mammoth Hot Springs from the Tower area. In Grand Teton, the elk can of course be found at the National Elk Refuge in winter months, but as we were there in the summer, the only place we found any were up very high above us in the mountains, while on the String Lake portion of our hike. Even then, they were just barely visible with good binoculars.
As for pronghorn, we spotted these guys all over both parks, but unlike the elk, they tended to be loaners — at best we’d see them in small groups of 4 or fewer. Just keep your eyes open and your binoculars handy for light brown patches standing out on the surrounding landscape. Then look for the tell-tale white butts and giraffe-like “antlers” to confirm it is indeed a pronghorn.
The deer in this region are primarily mule deers, and we saw a good number of these guys too. We encountered the one above on the trail around Jenny Lake, but we also had a small group visit us during the dinner break on our whitewater excursion.
3. Bears
Everybody, I repeat, EVERYBODY, wanted to see a bear at Yellowstone. We had two black bear sightings: the first was a mama with two cubs about equidistant between Tower Falls and Roosevelt Lodge around dusk. The second was a solitary black bear hanging out by a stream on a meadow about halfway between the Lamar Valley and Mammoth Hot Springs. Sadly, we didn’t see any grizzlies (though friends visiting just the week before saw several!), and we didn’t see any bears at all in Grand Teton. Le sigh, to think of all we spent on bear spray for our backcountry hikes was for naught.
4. Marmot
Ok, marmots are officially the cutest thing in all of Wyoming. Seriously, is this Wyoming’s state mascot? Cause it should be. These things are adorable. And they’re not all that afraid of people, so you can get relatively close photos of them too. They tend to hang out on rocky outcroppings. In Yellowstone, make a stop at the Calcite Springs parking area, and check the surrounding rock formations…that’s where we found this family with babies.
In Grand Teton, we saw one marmot on our String Lake hike, one on our Jenny Lake hike, and two after exiting the park just chilling on some rocks. They’re pretty easy to spot too — just look for large, funny-looking woodchuck like creatures.
5. Wolves??? (Maybe more like a coy-wolf…)
I’m gonna let you guys be the judge of this. We saw this gorgeous lady trot right across our path when leaving the Old Faithful area of the park, and rejoining the Grand Loop Road. We asked a ranger and she said the brown on the face means this is a coyote…but, um, I’ve seen a LOT of coyotes in my life and I’ve never seen one that was a) this large b) this pretty c) this grey with d) such a fluffy tail. So, I’ll put forth my own theory that this was a coy-wolf: the offspring of a coyote and a wolf, which has apparently been reported recently in some scientific journals as happening in the park.
We also heard from fellow wildlife spotters that a pack of wolves had been seen in previous days in the Lamar Valley, just past dusk. But we had to take their word for it, as we never saw them ourselves. Same for Grand Teton…although our B&B hosts did have a very friendly and protective Newfoundland, lol.
6. Osprey
Both Yellowstone and Grand Teton are havens for birders. We saw Eagles, Geese, Magpies, Crows, Swans, and tons of smaller birds as well. But the Osprey were the coolest. While we spied this active nest near the Grand Canyon area, we also got to see an Osprey pluck a good-sized trout out of a creek near the Grand Prismatic Spring. Very impressive creatures.
7. Moose
Finally, we were also lucky to see a mama moose and her new fawn while in Grand Teton, right along a creek. At least in early June when we were there, the moose seemed to be sticking to Grand Teton and had not headed north into Yellowstone just yet.
If you’re headed to either of these parks yourself, good luck! Wildlife spotting is all about patience, planning, and a little bit of luck.
