The US’ Yellowstone National Park is the very first one established in the country, a protect area that stands out as being stunning due to various different reasons. One of them is the fact that the wildlife watching experience in Yellowstone is one to seriously want to experience when you really love nature. The only problem is that you cannot see all the wildlife in random spots. You need to know where to look. This is why you want to seriously consider the following wildlife watching spots in Yellowstone National Park.
Lamar Valley
You want to visit Lamar Valley especially for the bison herds. There are numerous ones all around and you can easily spot grizzly bears looking for ground squirrels, coyotes and badgers. Ever since 1995 there are gray wolves restored in Lamar Valley. These were eradicated during the early 1900s because of the mistaken thought that the predators were bad to beneficial animal population. The present elk may not really like that but you will love seeing all the wildlife. If you are interested in wolves, talk to some of the local wolf watchers for indications of the best possible watching spots.
Yellowstone River
This river passes impressive scenery, with the Grand Canyon being the main landmark. Beautiful fish found their home in the river, especially the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. This species is migrating from Yellowstone Lake so the river became really popular for fly fishing. The fish also draw in grizzly bears, bald eagles, ospreys, river otters and various other wildlife species.
Unfortunately, the cutthroat population is not as large as it used to be as someone dumped lake trout in the river. This destroyed the cutts and now we see huge efforts being put into making the species as abundant as in the past. Even so, you still can see them.
Geyser Basins
You can find incredible geothermal features in Yellowstone, with mud pots, over 10,000 geysers, hot springs and fumaroles. Many think that wildlife will not be present in such places but this is not actually the case. The biodiversity present in the Geyser Basins are definitely attractive for those that are interested in weird organisms. While microbe scoping is not the same as grizzly bears, the cyanobacterial mats and living formations are definitely worth photographing.
Tower Roosevelt
Bighorn sheep stand out as the greatest attraction, with the steep rocks not being a problem for them. It is a perfect destination for them as they evade predators. When you walk by and you do not see any, you want to scan rocky cliff faces. Bighorns are often hanging out on beautiful rocky ledges.
Flat Ranch Preserve
This nature conservancy area is found 15 miles to the west of Yellowstone. The wildlife is not recognizing the boundaries of the past so you can find various different species that are migrating right through working ranches. You will surely love seeing elk, grizzly bears and moose. Birding options are also numerous, with various grassland species being spotted in the region. If you love everything about nature, stop and look at the flowers too.
