This Week in Yellowstone National Park
Sep 24, 2026 · 43 min · 12 segments
This week in Yellowstone National Park, from September 24th to September 30th, 2026, I’ll talk about being an ethical bear watcher, let you know why being in the park right now is super awesome, and…
So a few things to talk about this week, not anything really big.
The first is that there are still backups in the morning at West Yellowstone and backups leaving the park to get back to West Yellowstone in the evening.
A lot of people are messaging me, asking what's been going on.
Is there construction? Is there some sort of, like, accident every day? It's just kind of how things are right now.
Again, I've talked about it before, and there's that myth that September is an empty time of the year.
West Yellowstone in the morning, right around 8 o'clock, 8.15, lines start building, and they last till 10, it looks like, on the web cameras.
and that's on Tuesday and Wednesdays, so on the weekends it might be a little different and longer.
Also, everybody leaves the park around the same time, and when there are a couple of elk next to the road out west, that's just going to cause a delay, and it's going to make a long 13-mile commute, even though you get to see elk and you're along the Madison River, so how long is it really, right? Just know that things are happening out there, and it is natural.
There's not really any Reason other than people are out enjoying the park, and take your time.
The other bit of news I wanted to share is I've been seeing a lot of reports about the molly pack having re-entered into the park, and they were not shot by hunters in Wyoming.
A few things there.
It appears that the wolf hunt quota on the exterior of the park in Wyoming has already been met.
I just pulled up the Trophy Game Harvest website.
through the state of Wyoming, and Hunt Area 1 and 2 are located right next to the park.
There is another region next to the park as well, Hunt Area 3, but we're going to talk about Hunt Area 1 and 2 right now.
Hunt Area 1 and 2 were the ones that people were very concerned about the molly pack being shot at, and those areas are now closed.
The mortality limit for those areas was four wolves, and there have already been four wolves killed in that, so that area is closed.
Number three, does not appear that any wolves have been killed out of that area.
That is way south and a lot more remote.
That's not really any packs that a lot of people visiting the park are going to be familiar with.
So I'm not saying not to worry about that.
I'm just saying that the main worry areas for the state of Wyoming for people worried about the wolf hunt, where hunt areas one and two, four wolves have already been killed there.
If any more wolves are killed there, it is poaching and it is illegal.
So a few things to talk about this week, not anything really big.
The first is that there are still backups in the morning at West Yellowstone and backups leaving the park to get back to West Yellowstone in the evening.
A lot of people are messaging me, asking what's been going on.
Is there construction? Is there some sort of, like, accident every day? It's just kind of how things are right now.
Again, I've talked about it before, and there's that myth that September is an empty time of the year.
West Yellowstone in the morning, right around 8 o'clock, 8.15, lines start building, and they last till 10, it looks like, on the web cameras.
and that's on Tuesday and Wednesdays, so on the weekends it might be a little different and longer.
Also, everybody leaves the park around the same time, and when there are a couple of elk next to the road out west, that's just going to cause a delay, and it's going to make a long 13-mile commute, even though you get to see elk and you're along the Madison River, so how long is it really, right? Just know that things are happening out there, and it is natural.
There's not really any Reason other than people are out enjoying the park, and take your time.
The other bit of news I wanted to share is I've been seeing a lot of reports about the molly pack having re-entered into the park, and they were not shot by hunters in Wyoming.
A few things there.
It appears that the wolf hunt quota on the exterior of the park in Wyoming has already been met.
I just pulled up the Trophy Game Harvest website.
through the state of Wyoming, and Hunt Area 1 and 2 are located right next to the park.
There is another region next to the park as well, Hunt Area 3, but we're going to talk about Hunt Area 1 and 2 right now.
Hunt Area 1 and 2 were the ones that people were very concerned about the molly pack being shot at, and those areas are now closed.
The mortality limit for those areas was four wolves, and there have already been four wolves killed in that, so that area is closed.
Number three, does not appear that any wolves have been killed out of that area.
That is way south and a lot more remote.
That's not really any packs that a lot of people visiting the park are going to be familiar with.
So I'm not saying not to worry about that.
I'm just saying that the main worry areas for the state of Wyoming for people worried about the wolf hunt, where hunt areas one and two, four wolves have already been killed there.
If any more wolves are killed there, it is poaching and it is illegal.
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