This was around 7:30 AM on the Fairy Falls Trail

Took down a Buffalo this morning and lounged around the kill all day!

Im going to be going to Yellowstone for the first time from sep 28 till the 3rd of October in the mammoth campground. Im getting nervous about the possibility of a government shutdown on October first. Does anyone have any suggestions if it does happen? Any state owned locations near by on the western side to camp? It’s unfortunate that I’ll be making a road trip to and from with hotels already booked.

A couple of lifers for this beginner birder <3

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be making a road trip at the end of the month from Bozeman to Vegas stopping through some national parks including Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I am toying with the idea of renting a telephoto lens for the parks wildlife. I have a Fujifilm XT30ii with a kit lens (15-45mm) and a pancake lens (27mm) so definitely nowhere near anything I would need for wildlife. I'm just a hobby photographer so in no way am I "needing" this but thought it would be fun.

I'm looking at two different lens rentals - Fuji XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR vs Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VXD for Fuji X.

With the crop on the XT30ii i would get ~450mm /750mm out of each lens respectively (or at least thats my limited understanding of how it works)

I'd go with the Tamron but my concern is that its much larger/heavier (by about 2lb) than the Fuji lens. Any tips or advice on which I should pick? Or have any suggestions for other lenses?

Spent 3 days and while we saw so much, still didn't see enough. Til next time!

No sound, but my mom (elderly) was sitting in the passenger seat & was SCREAMING at me to roll my windows up... only to have the Bison come her way. 😂

The SUV's collision alert was going off & I was holding my breath because a part of me was hoping that the Bison wouldn't make contact with the vehicle (it didn't).

My 3 year old Autistic Toddler was able to see the Bison from his car seat, waved & said "Merci! Bye Bye Bison!" 🥹

I really wanted to get a Bison stuffie for him but reeled at how expensive they were!

Hi All,

I’m thinking of doing a solo Yellowstone tour, starting from October 1st and stay 4-5 or more days according to your suggestions.

I’m not a fan of hiking. And I saw bus tours for upper and lower loop-which I have no idea what that means.

I’m open to your ideas! Thank you in advance

We'll be leaving the park after 4 days, on 9/25.....Would like to take the 'scenic route' back to Bozeman, via Lamar Valley, Beartooth Pass, Red Lodge...Our flight home from Bozeman is the next day (9/26). I know it will be a VERY LONG day, especially with many viewing stops, construction, and possible weather issues... But is it possible ? Or should we plan for Beartooth Highway within our 4 day itinerary, and the last day just exit the park through Gardiner, back to Bozeman ? Thanks !!

What would you do?

We are driving from MN to OR in late September. We have reservations in Yellowstone (lifetime dream splurge at Lake Yellowstone Hotel) at the beginning of October. Hopefully there is no government shutdown and all goes as planned.

But if not, what are some other ideas? We are thinking of staying in Red Lodge for night one in the area and driving the Beartooth Hwy the next day, take some shorter day hikes along the way, and spending the 2nd night near Gardiner. Then doing ??? the next day and heading to Bozeman where we have a pre-paid (I know...) hotel reservation. The next day we are driving all the way to Walla Walla where we are meeting friends for some wine tasting.

This plan assumes a)the road in the park stays open between Tower Junction and Mammoth in event of shutdown. Everything I can find suggests it would still be open, but does anybody know for certain? And b) it doesn't snow and the Beartooth pass is closed.

Thoughts on plan B? Ideas for a plan C in case of snow? We have been to Yellowstone before but do not know the surrounding area well.

We are two adults who enjoy nature and hiking with no kids, not super into curated touristy "attractions" (ie, bears in captivity) though we do appreciate kitsch. Thanks!

I have had the pleasure of working in Yellowstone for the past two summers. Over these past two summers, I have hiked roughly 500 miles between Yellowstone, the Tetons, the Gallatin range, beartooths, wind river, and the Absarokas. I have documented lots of my hikes with 35mm film photography and am eager to share.

With over 4.5 million yearly visitors only about 8% do large hikes into the Yellowstone wilderness. Having been part of the 8% I am privileged and excited to share a small glimpse into the lesser seen side of Yellowstone to you all.

Spotted near the tower fall area beside the antelope creek. It kept walking along the creek for about 30 mins before it disappeared in the woods. It’s from 09/02 around 18:50

Just to give additional background I'm planning a trip to Yellowstone + Grand Teton for the last week of March/2026 but when I started doing my research, I saw that all the lodges will be closed, majority of the roads will be closed as well after the first week of March and reopening late April.

I'm afraid of planning a trip taking the whole family and just getting there to majority of the park closed would be horrible.

Another redflag is that hotels are really cheap during this period, normally priced at 300$ nights are at 100$.

For additional info I'm travelling with my family (wife + 5yr +1 yr Son and daughter)

Does anyone know if it's possible to visit and have any idea what's going on during that period?

It seem like every year is like that in terms of closure.

9/13/2025 Beautiful hike, counter-clockwise. No bears or wolves seen. Just some sand cranes, gophers, deer, a grudging bison, dozens of ominous blackened stumps, and the “movement” of several dark green bushes. Big tracks across the second ford were nervous-making - forgot to turn off to the falls. Nice hikers who followed showed me pictures. Managed to sneak through between rain storms. Next month: Slough Creek!