Yellowstone puts on wild show in winter

Travel

Winter can be prime time for wildlife viewing in Yellowstone National Park. Deep snow in the high country drives elk, deer and bison down into the open valleys, where the weather is milder and they can more easily paw or push snow aside to get to the dried grass beneath.

BISON GRAZE on the front lawn of a public school just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont. Summer visitors to Yellowstone don't realize that winter can be prime time for wildlife viewing. Deep snow in the high country drives elk, deer and bison down into the open valleys, where the weather is milder and they can more easily paw or push snow aside to get to the dried grass beneath.

WHERE GRAZING animals gather, predators follow -- particularly the gray wolf, which was reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995. Here, a 130-pound gray wolf watches biologists after being captured and fitted with a radio collar.

HEAVY SNOWS shroud forests in Yellowstone, as evidenced by these "ghost trees" at West Thumb.

A BIGHORN SHEEP ram sits on a ridge above Soda Butte Creek.

BUFFALO GRAZE in a frozen forest inside Yellowstone.

A TOUR BUS stops to let a wolf cross the road. Most of Yellowstone is closed to auto traffic in winter, but the part that is open to cars offers some of the richest wildlife viewing opportunities in the park.

A WOLF near Blacktail Pond in Yellowstone National Park. At any given moment on any winter day, dozens of binoculars and spotting scopes are sweeping the Lamar Valley in northeast Yellowstone from pullouts, looking for any sign of wolves.

FIVE BULL ELK slog through the snow near Wraith Falls trailhead.

AT WHITE DOME GEYSER, a coyote crosses an open area where the rising steam gives an indication of how cold it is--minus 10 degrees. Snow depths average 51 inches in Yellowstone and winter lasts from October to June--only the hardiest creatures prevail. Hunting is easier in thermal areas such as this where the snow cover is reduced.

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHERS watch a herd of bison along Soda Butte Creek in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park in February. Winter is prime time for viewing wildlife in Yellowstone.

IT IS NEITHER the biggest geyser in Yellowstone nor the most dependable, but Old Faithful certainly is the park's star attraction.

1/11

BISON GRAZE on the front lawn of a public school just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont. Summer visitors to Yellowstone don't realize that winter can be prime time for wildlife viewing. Deep snow in the high country drives elk, deer and bison down into the open valleys, where the weather is milder and they can more easily paw or push snow aside to get to the dried grass beneath.

Today's Gallery Headlines

Alerts

PHOTOS: An early look at CNN Center's redevelopment in downtown Atlanta

PHOTOS: Wayfair opens first Atlanta store

PHOTOS: Hawks defeat Celtics in key East battle

PHOTOS: 'No Kings' rally at Bishop Park in Athens, Ga.