Animal Tallies
| Animal |
Final trip total |
| Wolves |
28 |
| Bears |
31 |
| Coyotes |
6 |
| Moose |
3 |
Ksenia and I spent June 9–21, 2024 in Bozeman, Gardiner, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. We went for wolves and bears. We also got geysers, waffles, and a snowstorm. In June.
Where We Ate
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman Area, Montana
| Place |
Rating |
What I thought |
| Breakfast at Howlers Inn |
★★★★★ 5/5 |
Breakfast on the deck overlooking wolves. A solid five stars and a highlight of the trip. They had wolves. |
Gardiner, Montana
| Place |
Rating |
What I thought |
| Wonderland Cafe |
★★★★★ 5/5 |
“Best restaurant so far.” Really good chili for me and an elk Montana Burger that Ksenia liked. |
| Local Advice |
— |
Ksenia had a turkey-and-salami sandwich. |
| Blue Goose Saloon |
★★★★☆ 4/5 |
Drinks stop with a good local vibe. They let us bring food-truck lunches inside; in June 2024, gin and tonics were $5 and beers $2.50. Locals were putting together a shelf, or mostly watching. |
| Iron Horse Bar and Grille |
★★★☆☆ 3/5 |
So-so food, nice view and patio. My pulled-pork sandwich came with more heat outside than I wanted. |
| The Antler Pub & Grill |
★★★☆☆ 3/5 |
Chicken sandwich. It was OK. |
| Follow Yer’ Nose BBQ |
— |
Brisket sandwich and cheesy corn. |
The food trucks and drinks at the Blue Goose worked well together. We went back the next day, when I had a really good turkey sandwich. We were still full at dinnertime, so that settled dinner.
West Yellowstone, Montana
| Place |
Rating |
What I thought |
| Three Bear Restaurant |
★★★★☆ 4/5 |
Two dinners. Bison ribeye, short ribs, a burger, and spaghetti with game meatballs; huckleberry ice cream and apple brown Betty. We loved Kevin, our very tall and very candid waiter. |
| Ernie’s Bakery & Deli |
★★★☆☆ 3/5 |
Convenient boxed lunches for a park picnic. Ham for Ksenia and roast beef for me; the roast beef could have been better. It looked like a promising breakfast spot, but we didn’t try breakfast. |
| Unnamed diner near Gray Wolf Inn |
— |
Lunch on June 14. Not too big, just right. |
Jackson, Wyoming
| Place |
Rating |
What I thought |
| Café Genevieve |
★★★☆☆ 3/5 |
Chicken and waffles for me, a waffle for Ksenia. My tea arrived cold, but they replaced it quickly. |
Teton Village, Wyoming
| Place |
Rating |
What I thought |
| Corbet’s Cabin |
★★★★★ 5/5 |
Waffles at the top of the mountain. Better than they needed to be. |
| Mangy Moose |
★★★★☆ 4/5 |
Tender elk stroganoff, and the wine stood out pleasantly. We kept going back: soup, fried pie, ragout, ribs, a burger for Ksenia, and Arctic char for me. |
| Teton Thai |
★★★★☆ 4/5 |
Small place, good food. Our first attempt ended when the alternative was waiting outside in a snowstorm; we ate there the following day. |
Moose, Wyoming
Our last night in Bozeman ended with a migraine. I was in bed by 7:15.
Where We Stayed
| Place |
Location |
What I remember |
| Howlers Inn |
Bozeman area, Montana |
A B&B and wolf sanctuary. We stayed in the Wotan room, watched wolves outside the window, and had breakfast overlooking them. A solid 5/5 and a highlight of the trip. They had wolves. |
| Yellowstone Village Inn & Suites |
Gardiner, Montana |
Our base for early starts and wildlife watching in Yellowstone’s northern range. |
| Gray Wolf Inn & Suites |
West Yellowstone, Montana |
Right across from the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. The animatronic wolf out front only howled for Ksenia. |
| Airbnb |
Near Jackson Hole, Wyoming |
Our base for the Grand Teton portion of the trip. |
| RSVP Motel |
Bozeman, Montana |
So cute. Highly recommend. Breakfast was surprisingly good, too. |
Parks, Landmarks, and Other Stops
Yellowstone National Park
We entered Yellowstone from Gardiner, spent several days on wildlife and thermal features, and came back through on our way to Bozeman.
| Stop |
Highlights |
| Lamar Valley and the northern range |
Wolves, bears, bison, elk, pronghorns, a distant mountain goat, and a grouse attacking a car. The Junction Butte wolf pack was a highlight. |
| Mammoth Hot Springs |
A short hike up to the top. |
| Roaring Mountain |
Two gas vents. No roars. |
| Obsidian Cliff and Roosevelt Arch |
Stops on our first day in the park. |
| Artist Point |
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lower Falls. Pretty reds, pinks, and oranges in the rock. |
| Fountain Paint Pot |
Paint pots, springs, and geysers. Jet Geyser went off as we walked by. |
| Midway Geyser Basin and Grand Prismatic Spring |
Colorful and windy. The roughly 1.6-mile walk to the overlook was worth it for the view from above. |
| Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful |
Two eruptions with lucky timing. The second was longer and taller than the first. |
Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole
Grand Teton National Park brought moose, more bears, repeated attempts at the right light, and snow in June.
We skipped our planned Snake River boat ride because it was 35°F and snowing. We would have been miserable.
Animal Sanctuaries and Wildlife Tours
| Place or tour |
What I thought |
| Howlers Inn |
Waking up to wolf howling, watching the same five sanctuary wolves, and casual wolf watching before bed. |
| Montana Grizzly Encounter |
An hour watching Max the bear and chatting with Wyatt, the guide. |
| Yellowstone Wolf Tracker |
Highly recommend. Our guide Michael brought scopes, food, and a plan, and knew the individual animals we were watching. Worth the 5 AM pickup. |
| Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center |
Bears, wolves, otters, and birds. Wade the otter sucked on his tail like a kid sucking their thumb. |
| BrushBuck Wildlife Tours |
Two moose sightings, elk, and pronghorns. A cold outing, but we saw a lot of the park. |
Museums
| Place |
What I thought |
| Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman |
Excellent dinosaur exhibits and an exhibit about mythical creatures and their origins. They love their science. |
| National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson |
Animal pictures, including William Holbrook Beard’s “So You Wanna Get Married, Eh?” |
The Daily Posts
About the Tallies and Ratings
The totals include animals at sanctuaries and discovery centers. I didn’t add the five wolves at Howlers Inn again every morning, but I wasn’t perfectly consistent about repeat sightings. Treat these as trip tallies, rather than a count of unique wild animals.
We also saw bison, elk, pronghorns, a mountain goat, grouse, otters, eagles, ducks, and plenty of squirrels. I didn’t keep totals for those. A zero in a daily table means we didn’t see any of that animal that day; June 15 separates new sightings from repeats.
Five stars means a standout; four means I’d recommend it; three means OK or mixed. I haven’t rated every meal. These are my impressions from June 2024.
