Yellowstone National Park March 2021 Trip Report
On Day 5 of our road trip from Troy, New York to Seattle, Washington, we took a day off to hike Yellowstone National Park!
March 3rd, 2021
On Day 5 of our road trip from Troy, New York to Seattle, Washington, we took a day off to hike Yellowstone National Park! The night before, we stayed in the tiny town of Gardiner, Montana!
Gardiner is very cold, home to about 800 people, surrounded by beautiful mountain views, cut by the Yellowstone River, and has a great veggie burger (the CORRAL).
There were elk everywhere in Gardiner! We would open the front door to our cabin– elk! Rooftop– elk! People's yards– elk!
Gardiner is the gateway to Yellowstone's North Entrance. The gate can even be seen from the town. Many of Yellowstone's roads were still closed due to winter. However, there was still plenty to see and we were able to enjoy a full day in the park.
Our first real stop was Mammoth Hot Springs, which we were able to enjoy all to ourselves. Some of the wooden boardwalk was very icy, so we wore microspikes when necessary.
The hot springs were beautiful! It was fun to watch the steam rise off the water and the magpies bathe.
After Mammoth Hot Springs, we made our way down to Lamar Valley. Lamar Valley is supposed to be one of the best spots to view wildlife in the entire park!
Lamar Valley is also supposed to be one of the best places to view Yellowstone's elusive wolves. We didn't see any wolves, but we did see plenty of bison, elk, red fox, bighorn sheep, magpies, mule deer, moose, and pronghorns.
The bison were all over the road (including around blind corners), so make sure you drive carefully in National Parks!
Lamar Valley was incredibly peaceful. The sun was shining, river was flowing, and birds were chirping.
The wildlife seemed to be enjoying the sunny weather just as much as we were.
Yellowstone was magical in the winter! The trip might require more logistics if you want to visit places like Old Faithful, which require oversnow travel. However, even if you stay on the plowed roads like we did, there's still so much to see and experience... with no crowds or traffic!
Yellowstone is on the lands of the Crows, Blackfeet, Bannocks, Shoshones, and over 20 other tribes. The First Nation's COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund donates clean water (13% of indigenous homes lack safe drinking water), food, and PPE to help Native communities respond and recover from the effects of COVID-19 (firstnations.org).