Lynn WiezyckiOne of the main attractions in Yellowstone National Park is the bison! The afternoon of our second day we made the trip to Hayden Valley. There we ran into our first bison backup! The traffic comes to a halt when the bison are near the road. They do not appear to be afraid of the cars at all!
A very large herd of bison was crossing the road. They took their time and ate along the sides and then slowly crossed the road. This gave us a great opportunity to see them up close.
Some details from Wikipedia:
Hayden Valley is a large, sub-alpine valley in Yellowstone National Park straddling the Yellowstone River between Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. The valley floor along the river is an ancient lake bed from a time when Yellowstone Lake was much larger. The valley is well known as one of the best locations to view wildlife in Yellowstone.
The geothermal features that are scattered around the valley are not as impressive as those of the large geyser basins, but in many case they were the first to be discovered and described by the early explorers. They include Mud Volcano, Mud Geyser, Sulphur Caldron, and Black Dragon Caldron at the southern end of the valley and Sulphur Spring in the Crater Hills group further north and west of the river.
Hayden Valley was a beautiful backdrop for the bison that wandered across it. The river flowing through the valley made for some good grazing even though things were a bit dry in the area.
The bulls were in full rut during the time we were there so they were spending a lot of time following the cows. They are very dangerous at this time so everyone stayed in or very close to their vehicles. The park rangers were in the area to make sure no one got too close.
These two were on a rise just across the road from our car. She ended rebuffing him! It is tough being a bison bull!
Over the course of the days we were in the park we heard that other animals were seen in Hayden Valley! Some folks said they saw pronghorns, wolves and deer there. We were just thrilled to see the bison!
Hayden Valley is a must see area if you want to see bison while in Yellowstone National Park!
Please visit my gallery for these and additional images.
That is all for now!
Lynn
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