#5 of 101 sights in Yellowstone
Sight · Yellowstone National Park
Scan open grasslands for bison, wolves, and the northern range.
Overview
The northern range is critical winter habitat for large herbivores, and those animals support several wolf packs. The northern Yellowstone bison herd breeds in Lamar Valley and on nearby high plateaus. The stop makes more sense when you look past individual sightings to the relationship between prey, predators and a changing landscape.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy this range mattersMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yellowstone National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yellowstone audio tourRecorded for this place
Lamar Valley Wildlife Wayside“You're nearing a wildlife-watching wayside in Lamar Valley, a good place to stop and scan the open meadows. Look across the grassland for bison, elk and pronghorn, then take in the river and wooded hills beyond.”
Plays as you drive up to Lamar Valley Wildlife Watching in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“First time driving through a national park. We used the Yellowstone tour on grand loop Road and it’s just like having a tour guide in your car with you.”
Guide
This is a roadside wildlife-watching wayside in Lamar Valley, with open grassland, the Lamar River and low wooded hills spread out in front. Come to scan the northern range; treat it as a place to look, not a show with a schedule. Bison, elk, deer and pronghorn live here, while wolves and coyotes roam the larger ecosystem. A sighting is never guaranteed.
Keep the river in the composition as you scan. Gravel bars give the valley a foreground, while bison can appear as small dark shapes across the meadow. A wide phone frame holds the water and grassland together.
An animal carcass becomes habitat, too. Researchers have identified at least 57 beetle species associated with ungulate carcasses on the northern range. Only one eats ungulate meat; others prey on scavengers or use what the carcass leaves behind. It’s a surprisingly detailed part of the valley’s wildlife story.
Large boulders, moraines and ponds between the Lamar and Yellowstone rivers are reminders of the glaciers that shaped this valley. Look beyond the animals and you can read that older landscape in the open basin and its scattered rock.
The wayside sits beside parking mapped as asphalt and fee-free, and the stop has an interpretive exhibit. It’s a basic roadside pause, not a service area; allow time to scan the meadows, then continue along the Northeast Area drive.
Wildlife
713 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
743 sightingsWolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
5,273 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
3,258 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
397 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,494 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yellowstone. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateSlough Creek Trail3.4 mi · 3 hr · 2.8 mi awayClimb an old wagon road, then follow the creek into open meadows.
ChallengingBliss Pass Trail20.5 mi · 12 hr · 2.8 mi awayA 20.5-mile pass traverse links Slough and Pebble Creek valleys.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
