Spring is often called Yellowstone’s “quiet” season where few crowds and little traffic offers a much more intimate experience of America’s first national park. It is a time of renewal and rebirth as later winter storm’s give way to warmer temperatures and sunny days.
    It is a time of birth when visitors can smile at the antics of playful bison calves or peer into the pines for the first elk calf of the new year. If you are lucky, you might glimpse a wolf cub venturing outside its den for the first time accompanied by brothers and sisters.
    Spring and early summer bring some of the best wildlife spotting opportunities of the year. During this time, bears will scavenge for winter-killed elk and bison carcasses, road kills, and carcasses more recently killed by wolves and cougars.
    Yellowstone’s roads and entrances open on a staggered schedule during the spring. The northernmost road, from the North Entrance to Northeast Entrance at Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana is open all year. However, this road remains closed to east/west travel just east of Cooke City until Memorial Day Weekend (weather dependent).
    You can travel from the north entrance east through Tower Junction and on to Lamar Valley. Lamar Valley is famous for its spring wolf watching as the northern packs range the valleys on hunting forays to provide food for new pups.
    During the spring months, some of the 300 Northern Yellowstone northern bighorn sheep migrate from the backcountry by Electric Peak over to the Tower Falls area. Early morning often brings the sight of a group of ewes with lambs at the top of the canyon across the river, silhouetted against the morning sun.
    Antelope fawns also appear in Lamar Valley in late spring. They can be spotted easily in the open prairie areas. During early June, does generally deliver twins weighing between five and nine pounds. The antelope take advantage of ditches and other low-lying areas that are protected by small hills.
    This is the best time of year for cycling into Yellowstone and low-altitude hiking.  This year, the west entrance opened on March 21st for ‘people-powered’ visitors that bicycle, roller ski, roller blade, walk, jog or other non-motorized travel. Through April 16th, you can travel from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction and then north to Mammoth.
    Roads into Yellowstone’s interior begin opening on April 17th, with the west entrance and access to Madison Junction, south to the Old Faithful area, north to Norris and then east to Canyon.
    On May 1st, the roads from Canyon to Lake junction and then all the way to the East Entrance will open. One week later on May 8th, you can complete the loop around Yellowstone Lake as the remainder of the roads open from Lake junction south to West Thumb, and then north to Old Faithful. You can also enter from the south entrance coming up from Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, Wyoming area.
    May brings bison calves and bison jams on the roadways. Bison begin calving in mid-April and by May you can start to see hundreds of bright reddish-brown calves among the bison herds. The bison gather in traditional “nursery” areas such as Fountain Flats just north of Old Faithful or in areas along rivers such as Lamar and Hayden Valleys.
    Finally, on May 22nd the final leg of Yellowstone’s interior roads opens when you can drive over Mount Washburn via Dunraven Pass from Tower Falls to Canyon. This is an excellent location for spring bear watching.
    Your chance of spotting a bear improves if you understand where they feed and when. Grizzly bears are stronger than black bears with larger shoulder muscles and longer, straighter claws designed for digging. Their spring diets consist of the winter-killed carcasses of elk and bison, elk calves, as well as grasses and sedges, dandelion, clover, spring-beauty, horsetail, and ants.
    Black bears tend to feed in and next to forested areas and clearings. Their shorter, more curved claws are best for climbing, and not digging. They often climb trees looking for food sources such as nuts.
    Black bears feed throughout the day, while grizzlies are more active at dawn and dusk, or at night. The best locations to spot black bears include Tower Falls, the Lamar Valley and roads around Roosevelt Lodge. Grizzlies, on the other hand, are spotted more frequently between Canyon and Fishing Bridge, northern ranges of the Park and in the Mount Washburn area.  Later as temperatures warm, you can more easily spot grizzlies in open meadows, in wet areas and along streams.  
    By early June, elk calves will also start to appear. Calves are born with spotted coats that act to camouflage them from predators and help them blend with their surroundings. Lying low in grass and shrubs, calves can be hard to spot.
    Their mothers keep them hidden in deep undergrowth and forests during the day against predators. Watch the edges of the pines early in the morning or just before nightfall as their mothers bring them down to streams and rivers for water.
    This is also one of the best times of year to walk around the geyser basins. No crowds, no rush, no summer heat, no overpowering people noise. The geysers put on a personal show just for you.
    There is plenty of groundwater and run-off everywhere you look. It is still cool enough for spectacular steam rising from hot thermals. And, in the puddles and pools, you can spot the most gorgeous reflections of the ordinary.  A dwindling snow bank, pine trees, mountains, and sky all reflected in the liquid remainder of last winter.
    Remember, spring is a season of constantly changing weather. Temperatures range from near-freezing at 30 Degrees (Fahrenheit) at night to 60 degrees during the day. May can still bring an occasional snow shower mixed in with the rain. A rare snowstorm can deposit up to 12” of new snow in a 24 hour period.  
    The beautiful weather and un-crowded roads make Yellowstone Park a delight to visit during spring. Warm afternoons blend into cool nights. Dusk lingers until late evening creating incredible sunsets against snow-capped mountains. Come and enjoy Yellowstone during its quietest, but most intriguing, season.