Sunrise Drive Through Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley (The Best Day Ever!)

One of the best places to see wildlife at Yellowstone National Park is Lamar Valley – especially at dawn or dusk.

We took our family for a sunrise drive through Lamar Valley, and my daughter still says it was the BEST DAY EVER.

 

When we planned our visit to Yellowstone, we knew we wanted to see all of the amazing wildlife. My little girl is obsessed with animals of all kinds so we knew that seeing wildlife had to be a top priority for our Yellowstone visit.

One of the best places to see wildlife in Yellowstone is Lamar Valley, and the best time to visit Lamar Valley is at dawn or dusk.

With a little research, we learned that Lamar Valley is an excellent place to see wildlife. We also learned that the best time to visit Lamar Valley to see wildlife is dawn or dusk. We are a family of morning people so we chose to go at daybreak.

On day 2 of our Yellowstone visit, we made plans to visit Lamar Valley before dawn. Our plan was to see the wildlife and enjoy a lovely sunrise.

The experience did not disappoint. In fact, my daughter still says that this was the best day of her entire life.

 

Sunrise Drive to Lamar Valley

Our wake-up alarm went off at 4AM.

We got dressed, loaded up the car, grabbed some on-the-go breakfast options (pop tarts and yogurt) and hit the road. Despite the fact that we were visiting Yellowstone in the middle of its busy season, the drive to Lamar Valley was uncrowded. Not too many people are willing to wake up that early while on vacation, I guess.

PRO TIP:  Use extra caution when driving Yellowstone roads in the dark. For safety, drive slowly and keep an eye out for animals on or near the road.

We hadn’t been on the road for long before we started to see some wildlife. We passed a huge bison just walking along the shoulder of the road!

We saw several animals on our drive to Lamar Valley, and while that was really neat, it didn’t even compare to the huge numbers of wildlife we saw once we were actually in Lamar Valley. WOW!

 

Yellowstone Wildlife in Lamar Valley

What wildlife did we find in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley? We saw a ton of wildlife but the highlights of our visit were the bears, bison, coyote, pronghorns, elk, and deer.

PRO TIP:  Bring some binoculars with you. That way, you can get a close up view while keeping a safe distance from the wildlife.

 

First Lamar Valley Wildlife Sighting

Upon entering Lamar Valley, the first animal we came across was a large black bear. We (along with three other cars) parked on the side of the road and watched this big burly guy lumber slowly across a field. I wished I owned a better camera – one with decent zoom capabilities – because this bear was much more impressive than my snapshot can express.

FUN FACT:  Black Bears do not always have black fur. Their fur coats can be black, brown or blond.

Here and there, we saw pronghorn and elk during our drive. These did not seem as impressive because we had seen several pronghorn antelope and elk the previous day as we explored the park.

 

So Many Bison!

The real stars of our sunrise excursion in Lamar Valley was the bison – hundreds and hundreds of bison! We would drive along and suddenly see a few bison as we approached a field. Then, as we came closer, we would find hundreds of them dotting the fields.

Parts of Lamar Valley are quite hilly, and sometimes, we could see the sun slowly rising up from behind a hill with bison standing right on the crest of the hill. (Again, if I had a better camera, can you imagine what a beautiful picture that would have been???)

Eventually, we found a pull off overlooking a large field of bison. So we parked our minivan and watched these majestic creatures as we ate breakfast in our vehicle. We had brought a couple pairs of binoculars so we all took turns using those as well. We were all (parents and children alike) awestruck by the considerable number of bison in the field stretched out before us.

FUN FACT:  Bison are often called American Buffalo (even though they are not really buffalo at all).

After enjoying our breakfasts and observing the bison for a while, we turned around and headed back west. (Our next destination for the day was Artist Point.)

 

Buffalo Jam

On our drive back, we had the pleasure of getting stuck in a bison-induced traffic jam. Bison were standing right next to the road, and sometimes, in the middle of the road.

By the way, why did the bison cross the road? Because he didn’t want to be outdone by the chicken! (I made that joke up myself. Can you tell?)

Getting stuck in that kind of traffic jam is a lot of fun. (On the Wildlife Loop Road at Custer State Park in South Dakota, they would call this a “Buffalo Jam.”) There is nothing you can do but slow down (or stop) and patiently wait for the big beasts to move along. So that is what we did; we slowed our vehicle to a crawl’s pace, rolled down our windows a bit and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the wildlife around us.

This particular Buffalo Jam was extra fun because there was one small bison calf looking for his mama. The little guy would make a bleating noise, and the mama cow (female bison) would bellow in reply. Like a bison-version of the Marco Polo game, the calf would bleat, listen for his mama’s bellowed response, wander in that direction, and then, repeat the process by bleating again. My little girl loves all baby animals so she was especially thrilled to watch these interactions. She even cheered when mama and baby were finally reunited.

 

Coyotes and Other Lamar Valley Wildlife

Past the Buffalo Jam, we continued to see bison, pronghorn and elk dot the scenery. However, we also discovered a coyote (or maybe it was a wolf?) running across a field. (My two youngest kids were delighted! We had just read White Fang together a couple months before.)

After leaving Lamar Valley (but on our way to Artist Point), we had two more wildlife surprises.

• Our first surprise was when two deer – a doe and her baby – dashed across the road several feet in front of our vehicle. My daughter was delighted to see yet another baby animal.
• Surprise number two was coming across a large black bear walking along the shoulder of the road. We slowed down to admire the large and cumbersome creature. He turned down a side road (maybe headed to a campground in search of picnic baskets?) before our vehicle got too close to him.

 

Wildlife Safety Reminders

At this point, I feel an obligation to remind you to always exercise caution when observing wildlife. These are wild animals and can be quite dangerous.

Never provoke the animals or birds.

Do NOT feed the wildlife.

Remain a safe distance from wildlife. Yellowstone National Park recommends remaining at least 100 yards from bears or wolves and at least 25 yards from most other wildlife.

Never approach wildlife. Use binoculars or a telephoto lens if you want a closer look.

READ MORE:  Tips for Watching Wildlife – Yellowstone National Park

On our excursion, our family watched the wildlife from an appropriate distance and in the safety of our own vehicle.

Best Day Ever!

Our animal-loving little girl still tells people that this was THE BEST DAY EVER. She enjoyed our sunrise drive through Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley that much!

Is Lamar Valley worth it? Is the early wake-up time worth it? My family says YES!

The rest of our family (even the teenager) also found the excursion worthwhile. After our 2-day visit to Yellowstone National Park, I asked each family member what were their favorite things about Yellowstone. Every single person in our family mentioned this wildlife excursion.

My teenage son cited the geysers and animals. My fourth grader cited seeing a coyote and getting his junior ranger badge. My little girl said “seeing all the animals especially the two black bears.” And, my husband claimed the bison was a top highlight for him.

So, was this excursion worth the super early wake-up time? Is Lamar Valley worth it? You betcha!

 

See You in Lamar Valley!

If you plan a visit to Yellowstone National Park, we hope you will include a sunrise drive through Lamar Valley in your itinerary. If your family is anything like ours, you won’t regret it!

• Would you get up at 4AM in order to see wildlife at Yellowstone National Park?
• What wildlife would you be most excited to see?          
• What other wildlife have you seen at this National Park?

 

 

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY READING:

• Three Days at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
• A Yellowstone Day Trip to Hike Lava Tubes in Idaho
• Custer State Park Wildlife Adventure: Begging Burros and Buffalo Jams
• Hiking to Grand Teton’s Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point
• Independence Rock – Experience Oregon Trail History on Your Way to Yellowstone!
• Visit Craters of the Moon National Monument