As much as I enjoy winter and love the great snowmobiling opportunities around West Yellowstone, this is my favorite weekend of the year – the opening of Yellowstone National Park for the Summer Season. It’s the time of the year when the weather can still be confused and not sure what season it is – A fact highlighted on our trip this weekend. We left West Yellowstone in bright sunshine but by the time we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs we had experienced, light rain/drizzle, a hail storm, near gale force winds, heavy snow and back to sunshine! This is an important fact to consider when packing for a spring trip into the Park.

But despite the weather suggesting otherwise, the Park is definitely letting us know spring has sprung.

The dense snowy white landscape, that makes travelling a real challenge in winter, is  giving way to a cacophony of color as the snow melts away, and the spring flowers  and shrubs begin to bloom.

The wildlife is also out in abundance. Large herds of Elk seem to be everywhere as they make the most of the readily available supply of fresh vegetation.  Both Black and Grizzly Bears are awakening from hibernation and can be seen roaming around, working off their winter slumber.  But for me the most incredible sight in Yellowstone in spring are the calving Bison.

It really is hard to believe that the young “Red Dogs” could possible grow up to become such a large and imposing creature as a fully grown Bison, as they bear very little resemblance to their mothers. The young bison are however, extremely resilient and are up running around, and feeding from their mothers in just a matter of minutes after being born.

Spring in Yellowstone, without having to endure the hardships of winter or the crowds of summer really is a special time that everyone should have on their bucket list!