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This week in Yellowstone National Park, from February 12th to February 18th, 2026, I try to help you learn about place names in the park, tell you why Mammoth is called Mammoth, share a trail you should hike this week, and also give you an idea for an unforgettable experience when in the park this week. I will also give you the complete weather forecast, the snowpack update, the wildlife report, and everything else you need to have an incredible time, “This Week in Yellowstone.”
LISTEN TO THIS AS A PODCAST
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/id1789397931
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/41E5WWldz4s7n6NXh2Lahr
RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/
Disclaimer: I may miss a few details, so please feel free to reach out with any questions. I also mention park locations casually. If you’re unfamiliar, a quick search can help. This report only covers drivable areas of the park.
Also, this podcast is a passion project. If you enjoy it, I’d love a review or a quick email! To support my work, check out my hiking and wildlife-watching guidebooks, or join me for a guided hiking tour in Yellowstone’s backcountry. For more information, visit outdoor-society.com or contact me directly. Seriously though, come book a trail tour with me.
THIS WEEK’S YELLOWSTONE NEWS
Yellowstone Virtual Summit February 19th through 22nd, 2026
The Yellowstone Virtual Summit, running February 19–22, 2026, is a four-day online gathering celebrating Yellowstone National Park through expert insight, storytelling, and inspiration. Co-hosted by A Yellowstone Life and Yellowstone Forever, the event features engaging presentations from park staff, scientists, historians, artists, photographers, filmmakers, and tribal representatives. Attendees explore wildlife, geology, conservation, culture, and behind-the-scenes perspectives through dynamic talks, interviews, and live discussions. A portion of the proceeds supports Yellowstone conservation, education, and preservation efforts. For more information, check out the link in the episode notes: https://www.yellowstone.org/yellowstone-virtual-summit-2026/
Delay in Grizzly Bear Plans for Greater Yellowstone
Federal officials have delayed final decisions on grizzly bear management plans for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the lower 48 states until December 2026, extending a process already years behind schedule. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited the complexity of grizzly bear rulemaking, extensive public input, staffing shortages, regulatory backlogs, and a recent change in presidential administration as reasons for the postponement. The decision will determine whether Yellowstone-area grizzlies retain Endangered Species Act protections or are managed by states. The delay has frustrated Western states seeking delisting while conservation groups emphasize careful, science-based management to ensure long-term recovery.
EXPERIENCE OF THE WEEK
Animal Tracks in Fresh Snow
There’s a special kind of excitement in Yellowstone after a fresh snowfall. This winter, with snow events few and far between, having an opportunity to see the park after a fresh snow is a huge bonus. After new snow, everything in the park feels quieter, softer, almost brand new. And while many may assume that after snow accumulates, winter wildlife would sometimes feel harder to spot, snow actually makes things easier, because suddenly, the animals start leaving you clues everywhere. If you’ve never paid much attention to tracks before, winter in Yellowstone is the perfect time to start.
The trick is to slow way down. Instead of scanning the hillsides for animals right away, start by looking at the ground. Pullouts, closed roads, river edges, and open meadows are basically nature’s bulletin boards after a storm. A clean set of tracks might be minutes old or from earlier that morning. You’re not just looking at footprints, you’re looking at a story in progress.
Once you start recognizing a few common tracks, it gets addictive. Bison tracks are big and obvious, often mashed into wide, trampled paths where the herd has moved through. Elk leave heart-shaped prints and are often found in clusters where they’ve been pawing down to the grass. Coyotes tend to travel in neat, straight lines, like they’ve got somewhere important to be. However, they sometimes deviate for seemingly no reason. Wolves look similar but bigger and more deliberate, with a confident stride that doesn’t wander much. Fox tracks are smaller and almost dainty, sometimes lining up so perfectly they look fake. And then there are snowshoe hares, whose bounding tracks look like tiny snow explosions scattered across the forest floor.
The real fun starts when you look beyond just the footprints. See wings brushed into the snow where a raven landed? A smooth slide mark leading into a river that gives away an otter? Maybe even the messy signs of a hunt. Suddenly, a quiet pullout becomes way more interesting than another scenic overlook.
What makes tracking so cool is that you don’t actually need to see the animal for the experience to be meaningful. Standing in a wolf’s tracks or following a coyote’s path across a meadow makes their presence feel immediate, like you just missed them by minutes. You’re sharing the same landscape, just on a different schedule.
If you’ve ever felt like winter wildlife watching is all about luck, tracks change that. They give you something to engage with every single day, whether or not animals are visible. And once you start noticing them, you’ll never look at fresh snow the same way again.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Learning Place Names in The Park
Learning place names in Yellowstone typically doesn’t happen by cramming them into your head like flash cards. It happens the same way you learn anything in the real world, by spending time with it, getting a little overwhelmed, and slowly realizing you know where you are.
The first step is getting comfortable with maps, not to memorize names, but to understand the shape of the place. A good paper map or topo shows you how valleys, rivers, and plateaus fit together. Once that clicks, the names start to feel logical instead of random. Lamar Valley becomes “that wide, open basin along Soda Butte Creek,” and Mount Washburn turns into the peak you keep spotting from half the park.
Then comes learning while you’re actually moving, and this is where an app called Spottr is worth downloading. Spottr is made by wildlife enthusiasts in the park, and labels nearby pullouts, creeks, peaks, valleys, and wildlife hotspots throughout Yellowstone. Having it helps you understand where things are, especially when someone mentions a place, on the radio, during a ranger talk, or at a pullout. The app shows you not only where it is on a map, but also has pictures from the locations. You can instantly see it on the map and connect the name to the ground beneath you. That’s huge in helping names and places stick in your brain.
The free app is especially helpful on repeat routes, like the Northern Range from Gardiner through Lamar Valley to Cooke City. After a few drives, the same names keep popping up: Tower Junction, Round Prairie, Pebble Creek, Soda Butte, Barronette Peak. At some point, though, you’ll stop checking the app, not because it stopped working, but because the names finally feel familiar.
Slowing down when in the park helps one learn place names, too. Pullouts and trailheads are basically open-air classrooms. When you stop, take a second to confirm what you’re looking at. Spottr helps with precision, and a paper map gives you context. The maps at trailheads will also help you learn where you are and what is around you. If you do this often enough, you’ll start recognizing places before you even see the sign.
Stories also make a big difference. Place names tied to Indigenous history, wildlife behavior, geology, or early travel routes are way easier to remember than names floating on their own. Ranger programs, books, podcasts, and museums add the meaning, while maps and Spottr keep you grounded in the “where.”
One simple habit that I think works surprisingly well for learning place names is keeping a tiny place-name log. Just jot down a couple of spots you visited that day, and what you saw there: a wolf near Slough Creek, bison at Round Prairie, fox tracks at Pebble Creek. Spottr and a paper map help you get the names right, and your memories do the rest.
For those who really want to know the history of place names in the park, I highly encourage you to pick up a book titled “Yellowstone Place Names.” This is one of my go-to resources for all sorts of research and adventure planning. As a guide, knowing why and when a place was named helps me bring even more to days with clients.
In the end, learning Yellowstone’s place names isn’t about being impressive or studying a ton; it’s about feeling oriented. Maps give you structure, repetition builds confidence, stories add depth, and Spottr ties it all together while you’re actually out there. Over time, the park stops feeling overwhelming and starts feeling familiar, one place name at a time.
RANDOM YELLOWSTONE FACT OF THE WEEK
How Mammoth Hot Springs Got Its Name
Long before Mammoth Hot Springs had a name on a map, the terraces and steaming hillsides were already well known. Indigenous peoples lived in and traveled through the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000–14,000 years, using established trail networks that passed near what is now Mammoth. Tribes, including the Crow, Shoshone, Blackfeet, Kiowa, Flathead, and others, knew this area as part of a larger geothermal landscape defined by steam, heat, and mineral-rich waters. Many Indigenous names for Yellowstone translate to phrases like “the land of the burning ground” or “place of hot water,” reflecting both familiarity and respect for the power of these features. Thermal areas like Mammoth were woven into seasonal travel, hunting routes, ceremony, and practical use, rather than seen as curiosities.
Indigenous use of hot springs was often functional as well as spiritual. Northern Shoshone groups sometimes used hot water to soften bighorn sheep horns so they could be shaped into bows, and warm ground near thermal areas offered winter advantages for travel and camping. Oral histories suggest that Mammoth and nearby valleys were important corridors for following bison and elk during colder months. When Euro-American trappers and explorers arrived in the early 19th century, they often relied on Indigenous guides and trails, encountering places like Mammoth long after they had been integrated into Native landscapes.
The name “Mammoth Hot Springs” came later. Mammoth Hot Springs gets its name not from woolly mammoths but from the way early European-American settlers and visitors perceived the site: as something enormous and impressive. In the late 19th century, the word mammoth was commonly used to describe anything exceptionally large or grand, and the extensive travertine terraces at this location fit that idea. The multi-tiered formations spread across the hillside and down toward the valley were among the most spectacular geothermal features anyone had seen, so the name stuck.
When early explorers and stagecoach drivers first encountered this thermal landscape in the 1870s, the sheer scale of the travertine was unlike anything most had seen. One of Yellowstone’s first formal scientific surveys, the 1871 Hayden Expedition, described the terraces in detail, and the area quickly became known as a must-see highlight for early tourists traveling up the Yellowstone River valley.
The name also sets this place apart from other hot spring areas in the park. Unlike the silica-rich geyser basins at Old Faithful or Norris, Mammoth’s travertine terraces are extensive, ever-changing, and often broad and sculptural, with springs shifting course, drying up, or re-activating in entirely new locations. That dynamic, colossal quality helped visitors justify calling it “Mammoth.”
Geologically, Mammoth is unique within Yellowstone. These terraces form through a very different process than the geysers most people imagine in Yellowstone. The hot water that feeds Mammoth rises through limestone along deep faults, cooling slightly before reaching the surface. As carbon dioxide escapes from the water, calcium carbonate (travertine) is deposited, building up massive, terrace-like structures over thousands of years. The Mammoth terraces are so large that they dwarf most other active carbonate-depositing hot springs in the world.
After the park’s creation, Mammoth became a center of administration. The U.S. Army established Fort Yellowstone there in the 1880s, drawn by year-round access, water, and open ground. Soldiers enforced park rules, built roads, and lived among the terraces, further cementing Mammoth’s role as Yellowstone’s northern hub. That military presence helped transform a place long understood through Indigenous relationships into one defined by maps, buildings, and official names.
Today, Mammoth Hot Springs carries both histories at once. The name reflects a 19th-century reaction to size and spectacle, while the land itself holds far older meanings tied to migration, survival, and cultural knowledge. Understanding Mammoth fully means recognizing it not just as a geological wonder or park headquarters, but as a place layered with human stories that stretch far beyond its modern name.
WEATHER FOR THE COMING WEEK
I am too lazy to type it all out, so you’ll have to listen to the podcast to get the weather forecast, or just contact me.
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/id1789397931
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/41E5WWldz4s7n6NXh2Lahr
RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/.
SNOWPACK UPDATE
As of February 11th, the snowpack is around 105% of normal for this time of year. The eastern and northern range of the park is 115% of normal, while the west and south side of the park is 91% of normal. Last year on this date, we were averaging around 103% of our normal level.
ROADS CONDITIONS
The only road open is the road between Gardiner, Montana, and Cooke City, Montana. Please be aware that this road can close at any time due to inclement weather.
For up-to-date information, call (307) 344-2117 for recorded information, or sign up to receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone by texting “82190” to 888-777.
CAMPING INFO
There is only one campground open in the park right now, and that is the Mammoth Campground, which is open year-round.
WILDLIFE WATCHING UPDATE
You have to listen to the podcast to get this information. Sorry.
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/id1789397931
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/41E5WWldz4s7n6NXh2Lahr
RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/
PICK UP A GUIDEBOOK
Love what you have heard on this podcast and want more information on wildlife watching? Get a copy of my wildlife-watching guidebook to the region! Available in both ebook and paperback formats, my book will help you spot wildlife like a seasoned local. Please consider buying a book directly from me, as I make next to nothing when they are sold on Amazon. Grab your copy now at outdoor-society.com!
TRAIL ALERTS AND UPDATES
There are no official trail alerts this week.
Honestly, the snow in much of the park is quite poor, which makes recommending a specific area for snowshoeing less than ideal. I know that new snow has fallen since last weekend, but we still need more before snowshoeing really gets good.
TREK OF THE WEEK
Slough Creek
The Slough Creek Road in the winter is easily in the top three easy winter trail adventures you can have in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park. Offering sweeping views of the region’s landscape, potential for incredible wildlife-watching, and an opportunity to experience the elements first-hand, you shouldn’t skip this.
Located just before passing through the narrow canyon along the Lamar River, Slough Creek is currently one of the best spots in Yellowstone to spot wolves. Over the last few years, one of the wolf packs in Yellowstone has been denning in the region during the spring months, dazzling wildlife watchers. In the winter, wolves, bison, coyotes, foxes, elk, and even an occasional moose can be spotted in the area. No matter what the month, Slough Creek is worth a stop and an adventure.
During the winter months, the dirt road leading to Slough Creek Campground is closed to vehicles, turning this wide path into an ideal place to wander in the cold temperatures and wind-swept snow. Please park in the appropriate spots around the pit toilets. Do not park in the spots in front of the toilets or block the gate if you plan to hike. There are pullouts nearby along the road that should be used. Once parked, make your way to the gate and walk around it.
The path is usually easy to follow, meandering down toward Slough Creek and alongside the flank of Bison Peak. You’ll more than likely see some other human tracks, be it from snowshoes or cross-country skis. NEVER walk on the cross-country ski path. There is plenty of room.
The trail will roll in elevation a bit, but for all intents and purposes, there is really only one hill to descend on the trek out and up on the way back. The hill is located less than a half-mile from the parking area. Once the hill has been descended, the path will head toward Slough Creek. Along the way, stop and scan for animals. Nearly every winter trek along the Slough Creek Road, I have seen bison and coyotes.
Just under one mile from the gate and pit toilets, you’ll have a chance to leave the road at a pullout and walk out to a fantastic view of Slough Creek. This area is often popular with eagles, and it is also a spot where I have watched wolves on the hills to the north. This is a great place to stand and scan for a while, or it is also a decent spot to turn back. If you choose to do so, do not fret- you’ll have completed a nearly two-mile winter trek in Yellowstone!
Beyond the pullout, where you’ll have an option to turn around, the next mile of the trail is quite pretty. Occasional creek views will emerge on your left, while the right side will show off the rocky and rugged side of Bison Peak. Keep an eye out for animals of all sizes, as wildlife is often quite active here. Animal tracks in the snow also start to increase, allowing you to see where coyotes have been hunting, where wolves have been roving, and where bison roam.
Important Note: If you do encounter a bison while on foot, do not approach them. You’ll have to get off the trail and walk around them. If they walk toward you, do not stay where you are; move away from their path.
At just under two miles, the path takes a left at the Slough Creek Trailhead. Super serious adventurers with proper gear, hoping for a long day with more elevation gain and winter conditions, should consider hiking the first bit of this trail to the meadow. Everyone else should walk the road to the outbuilding and the second gate. At the gate, walk around it, and continue to the campground. This section of the path will narrow, and animal prints in the snow should increase. Once at the campground, walk up the creek a little bit and take in the grandeur and isolation of being here. Less than one-half of one percent of winter visitors will experience this moment.
After you’ve had your fill of the view near the campground, you have two options. You can either return the way you came or walk through the campground and then walk through the woods back to the trail. The second option should only be attempted by those with experience in route finding, as you’ll need to eventually find your way back to the road. It isn’t the most difficult task, especially since you’ll mainly just stick as close to the creek as possible until you see the large building by the second gate.
Once you are back on the road, walk back toward the parking area, carefully scanning for animals at every opportunity. If you are doing this trek in the early morning or late afternoon, stop every so often and listen, as you may hear coyotes or even wolves howling in the distance.
NEXT WEEK
In the next episode, I’ll return with all of the information you need to have a good week in the park, including wildlife, weather, and trail updates.
Until then, book a tour with me, pick up a guidebook of mine, and happy trails!
