Yellowstone National Park, the first and one of the best national parks in the United States. A park filled with mountains, rivers, lakes, geothermal features and a huge biodiversity of wildlife. Yellowstone National Park really does have it all. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a good amount of time in this park but it never seems to be enough. Yellowstone might be my favorite National Park that the country has to offer and I suggest that everyone who has a chance to visit her, do it and you will not be disappointed.

In this blog I’m going to cover my favorite areas along the upper loop of Yellowstone National Park to photograph landscapes and wildlife. I’m also going to cover the Northeast Entrance Road including Lamar Valley. I will not be covering the North Entrance Road since the last time I was in Yellowstone was 3 days before the historic and damaging floods of 2022. This is not a comprehensive list of everything to see by any means but a list of my favorite areas to photograph and to find wildlife. Thank you for coming along on this journey and I hope this guide helps you find an awesome photographic spot to check out.

In my last blog I discussed my favorite photographic spots along the lower loop and started the journey from West Yellowstone. I will once again be starting this trip from West Yellowstone and working my way north then west through to the Northeast Entrance. This trip is a long one and I suggest taking a few days to explore the upper loop and Lamar Valley areas. If you are anything like me, you could spend a week alone in Lamar Valley photographing all the wildlife the area has to offer.

Since we are once again starting in West Yellowstone, we will be passing a couple of spots I mentioned in my last blog. I’m not going to go into much detail here as you can read about them in my last blog but they can be added to this journey along the upper loop if you didn’t want to include them as part of the lower loop of Yellowstone National Park. As mentioned in my last blog, the West Entrance Road along the Madison River is full of opportunities to see and photograph various species of wildlife. You are already driving along the road into the park so take full advantage of the opportunity to spot wildlife as you go.

Once you arrive at Madison Junction, make a left onto the Grand Loop Road. This will lead you north taking you past another area mentioned in my last post, Gibbon Falls. I feel this is a stop you should make if you have the time because you never know how the mist or the light may be playing with your scene. Continue north until you arrive at Norris Junction. You will want to stay straight to continue north towards Sheepeater Cliff. This is still a long drive to get to and you will pass many beautiful areas that may be worthy of a photograph.

Undine Falls along the Grand Loop of Yellowstone National Park.

After a long drive you will arrive at a gravel road leading to the Sheepeater Cliff Picnic Area. Follow the short road back to a parking area with bathrooms and picnic tables. The main reason most people come here is for the cliff made of columnar basalt. This is something that is similar to Devil’s Postpile National Monument or Devil’s Tower National Monument but on a much smaller scale. You will notice however some people with their tripods and long lenses pointed into the rocks. These people and myself included came to photograph the american pikas running in and out of the rocks. You will definitely hear these little guys but they can be very difficult to find. While photographing the pikas you will likely also come across yellow-bellied marmots who can be curious. Another animal I came across that was very curious due to this being a picnic area was a golden mantled ground squirrel.

When you get your fill of the cute little pikas, head back towards Grand Loop Road and make a right to head to Mammoth. You will pass Mammoth Hot Springs which is a beautiful and interesting area to explore but I am going to cover the town of Mammoth for the purpose of this blog. The reason being is the amount of elk that call Mammoth home. You will find elk to photograph everywhere in the area but the opportunities and better photographs will come early in the morning or near sunset. You do need to be careful if you are wandering around this area. People have been attacked by the elk due to surprising the elk by coming around the corner of a building. Usually this happens due to the elk having a fawn nearby but this can happen at any time so stay aware of your surroundings and practice keeping your distance from the wildlife.

Calcite Springs Overlook in Yellowstone National Park.

When leaving Mammoth, make sure you take Grand Loop Road towards Tower. You will now be heading east on Grand Loop Road. While driving you will come to a large parking area on the left side of the road after about 4 miles. Pull into this lot and head to the viewing platform. From here you will get a beautiful view of Undine Falls. Undine Falls cascades 60’ over a cliff amongst lodgepole pines and makes a beautiful scene. I recommend coming here on a cloudy day as the sun could be rough to work around as it will be direct on the falls most of the day. This is not to say you can’t come away with a stunning photo in the sunlight however.

Finish up at Undine Falls and continue east towards Tower. This next area isn’t a specific spot or mile marker but all the meadows along this northern section of the Grand Loop Road. Keep an eye out while driving when you come across these open meadows and make sure to check along the tree lines as well. Here you will see some elk but the real draw is the bears. The last time I drove this section of road, I came across 3 different meadows that had a bear foraging with one of them having a cub as well. This could potentially become the highlight of your trip to Yellowstone National Park. As with any wildlife, your best chance of seeing a bear is a couple hours after sunrise or an hour or two before sunset. You could get lucky at any time though so stay alert!

Snow capped peaks shrouded in fog overlooking Lamar Valley including a pronghorn and bison along the river.

When you get to Tower Junction, continue straight. We will backtrack shortly to Tower Junction to head towards Lamar Valley. For now, continue straight until you reach the parking area for Calcite Springs on your left. This may be my favorite landscape to photograph in all of Yellowstone. If you are here shortly after sunrise, you will have the sun at your back illuminating the scene in front of you. I love the way the Yellowstone River snakes its way through the scene. Add in the glowing lodgepole pine trees, the picturesque Bumpus Butte and snow capped mountains in the background and you have one awesome photographic opportunity. You also have yellow rocks that give this park its name. From the parking area, I was also lucky enough to find some wildlife. There were chipmunks in the area running all over the place but the highlight was a black bear with two COY cubs.

Head left out of the parking area for a short drive to the parking area for Tower Store. This is a very large parking area and very busy. There is a short hike to a viewing area for Tower Falls but you can also take a longer hike to get a different perspective of the falls. The longer hike to the base of the falls makes for a better photograph but you can still come away with a beautiful photo from the paved shorter hike. Tower Falls is a 132’ waterfall that is surrounded by pinnacles of rock that make this waterfall worthy of your time and effort to photograph. I recommend coming to this waterfall early in the morning to get the best lighting. Cloudy days also work well for waterfalls to even out the light and allow you to slow down the shutter to get a dreamy photo.

A coyote looking for its next meal stepping in a puddle after a fresh rainfall in Yellowstone National Park.

Now we can head back down to Tower Junction and make a right on the Northeast Entrance Road. There are so many places in Yellowstone National Park worthy of pulling out your camera but the best of the best for wildlife viewing is this road all the way to the Northeast Entrance Station and even beyond the borders of the park. I could spend an entire month just taking in all the wildlife of this area and I’d still want to keep coming back for more.

The first area that I’ll talk about is the gravel road that leads back to Slough Creek Campground. You can park in a small area close to the vault toilets but I recommend driving back the road to find larger pull offs and clearer views. This area is known for being able to see a wolf den on the mountain across Slough Creek. The den is pretty far away but with a spotting scope or telephoto lens, you may get a glimpse of a wolf pack. You never know, they may also come closer if they are on the hunt. I wasn’t lucky enough to see any wolves during my time here but I was able to enjoy a wide variety of other wildlife. I was able to see bison, uinta ground squirrels and my favorite of the area, badgers. I was able to find a badger den with a momma and adolescent. If you are into birding, there were plenty of songbirds, osprey and even golden eagles flying in the area.

If you head back out onto the Northeast Entrance Road and head about half a mile, you will come across a couple small pull offs in Lamar Canyon. Here the Lamar River is going through a canyon making for some nice whitewater but the show is in a tree on the other side of the canyon. Here an osprey has a nest that is used on a yearly basis. You can get some nice views and pictures of the ospreys throughout the day and they may even have a baby or two in the nest. The last time I was there in 2022, the mother and father were both going out to catch fish and returning to the nest to feed their chick.

A moose grazing along Wark Creek just inside the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

Continue east and you will arrive in the famed Lamar Valley. The entire drive through the valley will offer you extended views and many opportunities to see and photograph various species of wildlife. You will find bison everywhere and will likely come across pronghorn, elk, squirrels and coyotes. You will also have the chance to potentially photograph black bears, grizzly bears, badgers, fox and potentially wolves. In the skies you will likely find bald eagles and other birds of prey along with songbirds. You are also likely to get caught in a bison jam or two while driving through Lamar Valley.

Continue through Lamar Valley and you will end up going a long a more wooded area along Soda Butte Creek and later on Warm Creek. These areas are good for finding mule deer and moose. I was able to find a moose within a mile of the Northeast Entrance Station but heard reports of them being seen as far west as Pebble Creek Campground. Keep an eye out because moose are rare to find inside Yellowstone National Park.

Is there any places in the northern part of Yellowstone that I missed? Feel free to comment below with your favorite spots and favorite subject to photograph. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope that something I said helps you out on a future trip to Yellowstone.

Guide to Photography in Yellowstone National Park - Upper Loop

Table Of Contents

Guide to Photography in Yellowstone National Park - Upper Loop

Table Of Contents

About the Photo: Route 66 Sitgreaves Pass

Guide to Photography in Yellowstone National Park - Lower Loop