The accompanying footage reveals what a Yellowstone bison stampede looks like from inside the nearest vehicle stopped on a park highway.
Many would agree that a bison stampede is best observed from a distance, but in Yellowstone National Park it doesn’t always turn out that way.
The accompanying footage reveals what a stampede looks like from inside the nearest vehicle stopped on a park highway.
Keep in mind that bison are the largest land animals in North America and can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds. The iconic beasts can sprint up to 30 mph, so a stampede might literally be earth-shaking.
“I think this is where I was saying ‘Oh God Dave’ fearing they would run right into the car,” Megan Baker-Murray, who captured the footage, stated recently on a Yellowstone-themed Facebook page. “Nothing we could do, nowhere to go.”
Baker-Murray and her husband Dave were in Lamar Valley when the bison stampede developed after they parked to allow the animals to pass.
“There were a number of different groups that ran past us,” Baker-Murray told FTW Outdoors. “Rough estimate is about 200 bison.”
Megan’s reactions varied as she captured the scene with her phone camera. Perhaps the scariest moment was when a male bison appeared briefly as though it might strike the vehicle.
The encounter was so intimate that Dave and Megan could hear grunting and detect the animals’ musty scent.
Megan said that while the prolonged encounter was unnerving at times, “It was truly amazing.”
More than 5,000 bison reside in Yellowstone National Park and the animals are commonly spotted feeding on grasses and sedges.
Occasionally, in what might seem a whim, they begin to relocate en masse. These short migrations can develop into what are referred to as bison stampedes.
Scramble to new heights at one of the country’s most beloved national parks. Described as a “climber’s playground,” Yosemite National Park provides thrillseekers with several great spots to climb. Before Outdoors Wire clues you in on the park’s best climbing locations, here’s what you should know.
As most experienced adventurers know, Leave No Trace principles should guide every outdoor expedition. For climbers, this means being mindful of and minimizing their impact on the cliffs and mountains they ascend. Thousands of climbers visit Yosemite every year, and conservation guidelines help them avoid damaging the park’s natural beauty. Before your climbing trip, read up on these guidelines here. Once you’re prepared, start the fun part of trip planning with this list of Yosemite National Park’s best climbing locations.
Adventurous travelers know that the United States is home to a treasure trove of natural wonders. There are countless places worth exploring from coast to coast. Each state has its own special landmarks to explore. Hiking trails, waterfalls, swimming holes, and more await tourists curious enough to find them. But you don’t always need to travel across state lines to find fun outdoor escapades. If you’re in Texas and searching for new travel spots, peruse this list of five attractions you can find without leaving the Lone Star State.
Here are the best nature destinations in Texas and why you’ll love them.
Some people seem to be under the impression that South Dakota is boring. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The world is large, and there are always new and compelling adventures to embark on. In South Dakota, some of the most incredible adventures a person can find are at Badlands National Park. Don’t let that name scare you off! This destination is an outdoors lover’s paradise, and these photos prove it.
Buffalo, stars, and fossil beds hide within this dazzling and wild region. If you’re planning a trip to the area, start by perusing this list of the best sights and things to do at Badlands National Park.
Dramatic footage showing a bison fight on a Yellowstone highway shows why warnings about the iconic animals during mating season should be heeded.
After a tourist was gored by a bison Monday in Yellowstone National Park, visitors were warned that the rut is underway and the animals “can become agitated more quickly.”
To illustrate what an agitated bison looks like, and why warnings should be heeded, we’ve reposted footage shared by the park in August 2020, showing a bison battle on a highway.
Imagine the footage with sound as the dominant bison plows into his rival at full sprint, lifting and shoving him 30 feet off the road.
Yellowstone’s warning at the time:
“Bison mating season is still going on in the park. Male bison are particularly aggressive right now, though all bison and other wildlife can be dangerous.”
One of the top comments: “My God in heaven! I’ve never seen anything like that before! And to think that back in ’80 I used to creep up close and try to herd them away from my lane with my car when I was in a bison jam! I feel blessed to be alive!”
The bison rut runs from mid-July through much of August.
Bison are the largest land mammals in North America and male bison can weigh 2,000 pounds. Bison can run 35 mph and, as the footage demonstrates, they’re remarkably agile.
The 47-year-old woman who was gored Monday suffered “significant injuries to her chest and abdomen,” the park stated in a news release.
Tourists are cautioned to remain at least 25 yards from bison and, the park said of the rut, “Use extra caution and give them additional space during this time.”
A sense of adventure makes any hike a little more exciting. In national parks, that drive to find unique natural wonders grows even stronger. When exploring places like Capitol Reef National Park, you know a plethora of fascinating landmarks awaits you in the wild.
What curiosities await visitors to Capitol Reef National Park? Located in Utah, the park rests deep within red rock country. Petroglyphs and canyons greet hikers who dare to traverse the park’s challenging trails. Rocks aren’t the only sights available, though. Ambitious tourists seeking diverse park attractions can expect to find an orchard, a historic homestead, and the incredible Waterpocket Fold. These Capitol Reef National Park photos will clue you in to the region’s best landscapes and places of interest.
A guide in Yellowstone National Park has captured adorable footage showing a black bear cub hitching a ride across the Lamar River on mom’s back.
Black bears can easily navigate rivers, but cubs sometimes require mom’s help.
The accompanying footage, captured by Yellowstone Wolf Tracker guide Michelle Holihan, shows a cub crossing the Lamar River on mom’s back and leaping from her shoulders onto the opposite shore.
“What’s the best way to get across the cold Lamar River?” Yellowstone Wolf Tracker asked followers via Instagram. “Hitch a ride on mom!
“We spotted this black bear in the river but her two cubs were hesitant to cross so she went back to get them and one of them climbed onboard for the crossing.”
The Lamar River, a tributary of the Yellowstone River, spans 44 miles through wildlife-rich portions of Yellowstone National Park.
According to the National Park Service, the Lamar River and Lamar Valley are named after Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, Secretary of the Interior under President Grover Cleveland from 1885 to 1888.
An eight-ton motorized raft chugged down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Inside, I sat with two new Australian friends. Our seats were called “the bathtub” — and it’s obvious why. Every minute or two, we entered another set of giant, heaving rapids. We shivered in puddles of water, even though the air temperature was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We were also shrieking, laughing our heads off, and getting sillier by the minute as we tried kicking the rapids away from us with our soaked shoes.
This is what a typical summer day rafting through the Grand Canyon with Wilderness River Adventures (WRA) is like. Our seven-day trip started at Lees Ferry and covered 188 miles of sometimes roiling, sometimes calm river. We had the best imaginable view of the Grand Canyon — from the bottom up. We listened to the river all day and night as we stargazed, marveled at waterfalls, and spotted cute lizards doing pushups.
A calm stretch of water. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Could a Grand Canyon rafting trip be for you? Read on to find out.
Commercial vs. private
Potential guests must choose between joining a commercial group or getting a private permit and bringing their own raft. For most people, a commercial tour is the better option. The Colorado River rapids are huge. Unless you’re an experienced rafter and a wiz at reading currents, don’t even think about leading your own trip. Plus, permits are hard to get. If you enter the private rafting lottery system, you might wait years for your chance.
If you opt for commercial, there are a few options. I went with the cushiest choice — a seven-night trip on a motor-driven raft. The 35-foot-long raft included two inflatable pontoons to help keep it afloat. WRA also offers oar-powered boats, either rowed by the guide or by all the participants. The company’s trips last from three and a half days to two weeks. The shortest trips entail a grueling 10-mile hike into the canyon to meet the rafts.
The Wilderness River Adventure rafts, parked for a lunch break. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
“It has been voted one of the number one outdoor recreation vacations in the world for multiple years running,” Richard Adkins, our trip leader, told me. “It’s crazy because it’s a very small number of people who can actually do this. We only let 18-23,000 people come through here a year.”
Adkins is in his 29th year as a raft guide, so he has shared canyon views with thousands of people. “The way to see the Grand Canyon is definitely from the bottom up, instead of from the top down. People want to experience the whitewater but they also want to see the Grand Canyon. And a lot of people just want to say that they did it.”
A typical day on the Colorado River
Our two-raft party could accommodate up to 24 guests and four guides. My group had only 17 guests, so there was lots of space to spread out. We ranged in age from 10 to early 70s and included four Australians, two Canadians, and 11 Americans.
On the first day, a bus took us from the rafting company office in Page, Arizona, to our put-in spot at Lees Ferry. There, we had the first of several orientations, focusing on how to get on and off the raft and where and where not to sit. We learned about the wettest places on the boat (the bathtub and the shower, the spot on the front side where water shoots up between the raft and pontoon and comes down on your head) and the driest (elevated seats in the back called the chicken coop).
Nonstop scenery in the Grand Canyon. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Our days on the river started early — coffee call was at 5:30 a.m., and we were on the raft every day by 7:30 a.m. The days began cool and shaded by the canyon’s enormous rock walls. Many of us wore rain gear to protect us from the cold rapids until the day heated up.
We’d cruise along for a couple of hours, alternating between rapids and flat water, gazing at the canyon’s incredible rock formations. Each day included pit stops (where we’d look for discreet places to pee in the river) and a lunch stop where the staff expertly set up a table with elaborate sandwich fixings, chips, and cookies. Some days featured optional side hikes to waterfalls, our guides offered bite-sized bits of geology and history info here and there. Sometime in the afternoon, Adkins would choose our camp for the night. Since campsites are on a first-come, first-served basis, we never knew where we’d end up.
Getting drenched in a waterfall. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Camp life
Once we arrived at camp, everybody staked out the best campsites. Some campgrounds had areas where a couple or family could have a bit of privacy. At others, people were lined up in a row or otherwise close to their neighbors.
After choosing a site, we made fire lines off the raft for a massive unloading. We passed the cots, camp chairs, dry bags, and kitchen gear from person to person until it was all on the shore. At our campsites, we set up rickety blue cots and made our beds with a sheet and a sleeping bag. We had some free time to read, write, socialize, and huddle under bushes and tiny rock ledges for shade.
As we descended into the canyon, it got hotter and hotter. Adkins’s advice on climate control was: “If you get too hot, get in the river. If you get too cold in the river, get out.” There was a lot of getting in and out of the river. We also experienced a lot of sand, as frequent sandstorms blew it into every crevice.
Home sweet campsite. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
At mealtimes, the crew cooked amazing dishes. These are some hardworking people. I don’t know how they run the rafts all day, keep guests safe, and then whip up elaborate meals in the camp kitchen, from fish tacos to Dutch oven brownies. And they accommodated many diets. Our trip had a vegan, a vegetarian, a pescatarian, a couple of lactose-intolerant people, and a diabetic. Nobody went hungry.
Guides Shyanne Yazzie and Jared Castro cooking a delicious meal. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Elimination was also a big topic of discussion around the camp. All solid waste must be packed out, so we had mini toilets that had to be packed on and off the boat at every campsite. Also, we weren’t allowed to pee anywhere except directly into the river or in a bucket at camp. This was to prevent the campsites from smelling like giant litter boxes.
Camp toilets with a view. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
In the evenings, we all pulled our camp chairs into a circle. Our group included a family of seven — three siblings, a spouse, two kids, and a teenage cousin — with a long family history of rafting the Grand Canyon. This was the first time for the kids but the second to fourth time for the four adults.
Fellow traveler Megan Dukes first came as a child and fondly remembers having a family adventure together. “My favorite part was the evenings when we sat around, and I got to hang out with my cousins that I don’t get to see that often,” she said. “And being on the boat with my family.”
Photo by Teresa Bergen
After a few days, everybody felt like family. Spurred on by our youngest members, the evenings were soon full of fun. We faced off in a cutthroat card game called Egyptian rat screw and a roleplaying game called Ultimate Werewolf.
Highlights of a Grand Canyon rafting trip
Rafting through the Grand Canyon is an incredible experience. For me, the scenic highlight was a side trip to the Little Colorado River, which is a milky aqua color. We parked the rafts and walked a short distance to where the Colorado meets the Little Colorado. You can see where they connect when the aqua stops and turns dark green. We put our life jackets on like diapers (very inelegant) so they’d cushion our bums as we floated down the Little Colorado. It was some of the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen.
The amazing aqua water of the Little Colorado River. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
My guides were another highlight. I stayed on the raft piloted by Shyanne Yazzie, who is part of the Diné (aka Navajo) tribe. Her swamper, or assistant, was Kim Bighorse, who is Apache. Eleven tribes once lived in the Grand Canyon, Yazzie told me, though only the Havasupai remain. She and Bighorse greatly enriched the trip by sharing family stories and the traditional interp. Today, most of the rapids that bear people’s names commemorate white guys, so obviously, some stories are missing. I felt lucky to be guided through the Grand Canyon by Yazzie and Bighorse.
Then there were the stars. I slept better than I expected on my cot, but it still wasn’t super comfortable. So, I’d often wake up in the middle of the night. For a moment, I’d forget where I was. Then, I’d open my eyes and be blown away by the stars, moonlight, and enormous canyon walls.
As Yazzie told me, “I feel like everybody should come down and raft the Grand Canyon at least once in your life. Because it will change your life and it will also open your eyes to new possibilities and adventure. Take a pause in your busy life and just come down and enjoy this grand beauty that not a lot of people get to see.”
Shyanne Yazzie, guide extraordinaire, in her beloved Grand Canyon. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
A pilot has been cited after an unauthorized helicopter landing on a lake shore in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. He had hoped to picnic with a companion.
A pilot has been cited after an unauthorized landing on a lake shore in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park.
Peter Smith, owner of West Elk Air in Gunnison, Colo., landed the aircraft at Moran Bay on Jackson Lake on June 24. He and a companion were picnicking when they were greeted by rangers.
The park stated in a news release that Smith had violated FAA regulations and was charged with two misdemeanors that carry fines up to $5,000 and/or six months in jail.
The park elaborated: “The unauthorized landing of helicopters is prohibited on the lands and waters within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park in order to protect wildlife and other natural resources and to preserve the visitor experience.”
Four months earlier, Smith was cited for flying an airplane at an unsafe altitude in Gunnison National Park. He was fined $530.
His court date for the Grand Teton National Park case is scheduled for August.
For now, e-bike riders can cycle through national park trails without worry. But this could change following a court case that instructed the National Park Service (NPS) to “take a hard look” at the impact of e-bikes in parks.
The NPS e-bike saga began in 2019. At the time, P. Daniel Smith, acting director of the NPS, issued the Smith Directive. This directive instructed parks to treat e-bikes like traditional bicycles and allow them on park trails. In response, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit challenging the rule in December 2019. The plaintiffs argued that the Smith Directive failed to conduct necessary environmental reviews.
On May 24, 2022, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras issued a decision on the case. The ruling directed the NPS to analyze the impacts of e-bikes on national park trails.
“As a result of PEER’s lawsuit, National Parks will now need to take a hard look at how to avoid user conflicts with the heavier, faster moving e-bikes, the impacts e-bikes will have on wildlife along backcountry trails, and the potential damage from e-bike use on unpaved trails,” PEER announced in a statement.
Part of this analysis includes public commentary. On June 20, 2023, the NPS announced an “open comment period,” inviting input from members of the public on the potential impacts of e-bikes in national parks.
“E-bikes can have many benefits for parks and visitors including making travel easier, expanding access for those with physical limitations, and providing healthy recreation opportunities,” the NPS said in a news release. “At the same time, the NPS must manage this emerging form of access and recreation, like others that occur in park areas, in a manner that protects park resources, values, and visitors.”
People interested in offering input on the topic can comment online. Feedback can also be mailed or hand-delivered to the address provided here. The comment period closes on July 21, 2023.
