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This week in Yellowstone National Park, from January 15th to January 21st, 2026, I update you on the Norris Geyser Basin, suggest you trek along a canyon rim, tell you about the first documented winter expedition in Yellowstone, and give some tips on how not to plan your upcoming trip. 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
The Norris Uplift Anomaly
Via the USGS Caldera Chronicles
Scientists have noticed that the ground near Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone has started to rise again slowly. This began around July 2025 and is a repeat of a similar event that happened between 1996 and 2004. Using GPS instruments and satellite radar, researchers measured about 2 centimeters (less than 1 inch) of uplift over the past year. Overall earthquake activity in Yellowstone has been low. Still, there was a small increase near this area later in the year, including a group of small earthquakes, the largest being about magnitude 2.7. Scientists think this ground movement is caused by normal underground activity, such as magma or hot fluids moving deep below the surface. The USGS stresses that this does not mean a volcanic eruption is coming; this kind of movement is common at Yellowstone and is carefully monitored.
EXPERIENCE OF THE WEEK
Five Minutes in Silence on the Soda Butte Creek Bridge
It is another week, and I am again recommending you get out of your car and take a short jaunt outside. I know. How dare I do that?
This week, the adventure is even shorter than last week’s Pebble Creek Canyon adventure. While short in distance, the Soda Butte Creek Bridge is yet another iconic spot for many of us as a quick stop, and one I want to share.
The bridge is the starting point of the Lamar River Trail, and while I will be talking about that some week in the future, for now, I am just asking you to get out of your car and take the first quarter mile or less of the trail. You’ll find the trailhead at the big parking lot with signs, not the one with the pit toilets, but the one between the pit toilets and the Soda Butte Cone. Even the view from the parking lot is good. Last week, I watched moose and bison roaming the prairie, all while an eagle swooped and soared above me. In the distance, I scanned the cliffs of the western flank of Mount Norris for any other wildlife, but I didn’t see any. I wasn’t alone here. Dozens of people were out with their cameras and spotting scopes, watching the moose and bison. A few were looking at the dippers and mallards on the slow-flowing creek. A few people walked along the road for a different angle of the moose in the distance, but nobody walked down the small hill to the bridge. Well, nobody except me.
I took the short jaunt down in the snow to the creek and stood on the bridge for a few minutes. I watched a few dippers along the icy creek, I saw some mallards swim below me, and I looked out and saw the moose in the distance. I also saw the snow-covered peaks toward the northeast entrance towering above the landscape in the late daylight.
I know that this is a fast, roadside experience, but I know a few dozen people who tell me that this is their favorite spot in the park. I use it as a reset, a place to stand in the silence, away from everyone, listening to whatever sounds the park wants me to hear that day. Sure, you can continue to hike the trail, but sometimes, it is these little stops that help to remind all of us that a beautiful spot in nature, full of bliss and serenity, can be found just out of sight from a bustling area.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Do Not Use ChatGPT (Or A.I. Overviews) to Plan Your Yellowstone Trip
If you’re using ChatGPT or some other A.I. tool to plan your Yellowstone trip… we need to talk. On FB posts and Reddit threads, I have been seeing an uptick in people planning their Yellowstone vacations with ChatGPT. I get the ease and trust of doing this, but ChatGPT is severely lacking in information and accuracy. Just a heads up, I will not be discussing the moral issues or environmental issues tied to AI use in this section. Also, I am just saying ChatGPT instead of A.I. from here on out.
ChatGPT doesn’t experience seasons, it has never been to the park, nor does it use up-to-date information well. It doesn’t wake up and scan the latest news or road conditions and say to itself, “Oh… well, that changes everything.” It just keeps confidently suggesting things that are technically possible to do inside the park, and often will recommend completely inaccessible things. It has all the confidence in the world to find something online to answer your questions, with none of the media literacy to choose from what is actually right or wrong. It will tell you to hike trails that are closed, recommend areas that don’t exist, or try to guide you on an experience that is much more difficult than it suggests.
Which brings me to point number one: conditions change often. Sometimes hourly. Yellowstone doesn’t care about your itinerary. For fun, I asked ChatGPT what conditions could change that would impact a trip in Yellowstone. This is what it said:
“Conditions in Yellowstone can also change day by day. A trail that is safe one week may be impassable the next due to drifting snow, ice, wildlife closures, or geothermal activity. AI works on patterns and summaries, not real-time ground truth. It doesn’t know if bison have decided to camp directly on a road for three days straight, something that happens more often than people realize.”
Like nearly everything ChatGPT currently does, it starts decently and then arrives at an absolutely bonkers conclusion. Bison never camp on the road for three days straight and close roads.
Speaking of wildlife advice, ChatGPT is excellent at saying things like, “Lamar Valley is a good place to see wolves.” Which is true in the same way that saying, “The ocean is a good place to see fish” is true. Wildlife watching in Yellowstone is about timing, weather, patience, and luck. It’s not about pinning animals to a map like they’re attractions at Disneyland. ChatGPT gives you the right answer for the wrong moment. Also, suggesting Lamar Valley or Hayden Valley is a gross oversimplification of where you may see wolves. While the advice is better than nothing, those hoping for real wildlife updates will need more than base knowledge. That is where this podcast, my book, other tour guides, or other online resources that ChatGPT doesn’t have access to are key.
ChatGPT also oversimplifies how to stay safe in the winter elements when in the park. ChatGPT loves phrases like “dress warmly” and “be prepared.” That’s adorable. There’s a big difference between being “warm” and understanding how sweat management works at seven thousand feet in January when it’s ten below zero and the wind is blowing. There’s a big difference between advice like “bring food and water” and knowing how much to bring with you or what is a good idea to have with you. As a hiking guide and someone who loves winter in the park, I will happily answer your questions.
Another issue I have with it? ChatGPT creates checklists well. But Yellowstone is not a checklist spot. It sure seems like it for most when planning their trips, but to experience anywhere with a “been there, done that” mentality is selling both yourself and the region short. AI tends to flatten these experiences into neat schedules that don’t reflect how the park actually works. You don’t “do” Yellowstone in two or three days the way an itinerary suggests; you adapt to it and work with the park.
Despite the popular opinion of having a detailed timeframe for the park, Yellowstone doesn’t work like that. Daylight matters. Crowds matter. Weather matters. Sometimes the best day you’ll have is staying in one valley for six hours watching nothing happen, until suddenly it does.
Rigid plans don’t thrive here. Flexibility does. And ChatGPT is not flexible; it’s confident and structured. It does not allow for nuance.
Now, to be fair, ChatGPT is not completely useless. It can be a good tool for background learning. It’s good for understanding what something is and for inspiration. However, using it as your primary Yellowstone planner is like relying on a Wikipedia article as your backcountry map. You’ll feel informed right up until the moment you’re very, very lost.
Yellowstone rewards people who pay attention to conditions, to guides, to locals, to rangers, to recent reports. It punishes people who assume the park will behave the way the internet told them it would.
If you’re planning a trip to Yellowstone, feel free to use ChatGPT or something like it. Just know that ChatGPT scrubs older websites and regurgitates the data, rarely checking for accuracy. It sees the keywords from your questions and puts together an answer. It is the same as reading numerous websites, but it does it on a faster scale. As I said before, though, it doesn’t have the media literacy to differentiate between outdated or inaccurate information and actual good advice.
RANDOM YELLOWSTONE FACT OF THE WEEK
The “First Winter Expedition” of Yellowstone
The Schwatka–Haynes Winter Expedition of 1887 stands as one of the most ambitious and least comfortable journeys ever undertaken in Yellowstone National Park. At a time when Yellowstone was largely considered inaccessible in winter, this expedition set out to prove otherwise, not for tourism, but for exploration, documentation, and sheer curiosity. What they encountered instead was a brutal test of endurance that would permanently shape the park’s winter legacy.
On January 5, 1887, a group of 13 men departed from Mammoth Hot Springs, then the only reliable winter outpost in the park. The expedition was led by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, a U.S. Army officer and Arctic explorer best known for his long sled journeys in northern Canada and Alaska. Alongside him was Frank Jay Haynes, already a well-established photographer whose work with the Northern Pacific Railroad and Yellowstone had earned him the title of official park photographer. Haynes was not simply along for the ride; this journey was, in many ways, about his mission to document Yellowstone in winter for the first time.
The men traveled using Norwegian skis, Canadian web snowshoes, and heavy toboggans loaded with supplies, food, tents, and Haynes’s fragile photographic equipment. Every mile required breaking trail through deep, untouched snow. Temperatures routinely dropped well below zero, and historical accounts suggest lows as extreme as −50°F during the expedition. Even for men accustomed to hardship, the conditions were relentless.
Within the first two days, the party reached Norris Geyser Basin, an impressive accomplishment given the terrain and snowpack. But the cold and altitude quickly took a toll on Schwatka. Suffering from illness and exhaustion, he made the difficult decision to turn back toward Mammoth with part of the group. His withdrawal could have ended the expedition entirely. Instead, it marked a dramatic shift in leadership and purpose.
Haynes, driven by the singular goal of capturing Yellowstone’s winter landscapes, pressed forward with three companions. From Norris, they continued south and west toward the Lower and Upper Geyser Basins, hauling sleds through deep snow while navigating by memory and instinct. Haynes carefully staged and exposed glass photographic plates in the extreme cold, documenting geysers erupting through snowfields and steam rising into frozen air, scenes no one had ever photographed before.
By January 20, the group reached the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where Haynes photographed the frozen Lower Falls and canyon walls. These images would become some of the most historically significant photographs ever taken in the park. But the most dangerous stretch of the expedition still lay ahead.
As the men attempted to travel toward Yancey’s Pleasant Valley Hotel near present-day Roosevelt, they were caught near Mount Washburn in a violent winter storm. For three days, they were trapped in whiteout conditions with limited food and shelter. They dug a pit in the snow and huddled among small trees, riding out the storm in what was arguably the expedition’s most life-threatening moment.
When the storm finally broke, the men skied roughly 12 miles to Yancey’s, exhausted but alive. After a brief rest, they made their way back north, finally returning to Mammoth by late January. In total, the journey lasted 29 days and covered nearly 200 miles of winter wilderness.
Haynes returned with 42 winter photographs, the first known photographic record of Yellowstone in mid-winter. These images not only documented the park’s frozen beauty but fundamentally changed how people understood Yellowstone, as a year-round landscape rather than a seasonal curiosity.
The legacy of the expedition extended far beyond those photographs. Haynes went on to build a photographic empire in Yellowstone, with Haynes, Inc. operating park photo shops for more than eight decades. His winter images helped spark early curiosity about winter travel in Yellowstone, laying the groundwork for today’s snowshoeing, skiing, and snowcoach traditions.
The Schwatka–Haynes Winter Expedition was not comfortable, efficient, or safe by modern standards. But it remains one of the most important chapters in Yellowstone history, a story of grit, obsession, and the determination to see the park as it truly is, even at its coldest and most unforgiving.
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 January 7th, the snowpack is around 120% of normal for this time of year. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it’s true.
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
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
Yellowstone River Overlook Trail
Normally, I wouldn’t be recommending this trail in January, but with the low snowpack in this area, it is kind of a perfect trail for this week. I do want to quickly mention that this is not a trek for everyone and requires some snowshoe experience, even in the lighter snow totals, as well as a little route-finding experience. I also should mention that I do offer this as a snowshoe tour and highly recommend booking it with me. Yes, you could do it on your own, but there are some cool things I point out that very few people know about. Finally, before I dive into the trek, if you’d rather do the easier version of something similar to this, check out the road walk up to Calcite Springs and Tower. It is in the same general area.
Alright, here we go. For those hoping for the more wild and rugged trek, you are in luck with this one. There are two starting points for this, but for simplicity, I will tell you to start at the pullouts near the currently closed-off Yellowstone River Picnic Area. The picnic area is currently closed because of the construction project in the area, but since they are not working on it right now, parking at the pullouts nearby is allowed. If this changes, I will let you know.
Now that you have parked, there is an obvious trail and a not-so-obvious trail. Because you are listening to this, you already know which one I will tell you to take. Skip the signed trail and instead, head through the parking area and head up the gradual slope leading uphill. There should be a boot path leading the way. As you steadily climb, you’ll start approaching the edge of a cliff overlooking the Yellowstone River. From here, you can either just call it a day and go back, or you can actually do the hike. The goal for the hike is to follow the cliff edge upstream, to your left. The path will initially be a little steep, but that is short-lived and levels out pretty quickly. Once it levels out, you’ll find a more used boot path, still working its way upriver. The river views start increasing, and by the time you meet the junction with the real trail that started at the trailhead I told you to skip, you are walking on a gorgeous section of trail with views all over. To the NE, you’ll see snow-covered peaks, to the east, you’ll see the canyon and the river below you, and if you are lucky, you may even see bighorn sheep, as they hang out along this trail often.
At less than a mile, you’ll reach one of my favorite views, Bumpus Butte and the bend of the river at Calcite Springs. Take in the view, smell the sulfur, and consider whether you want to keep going or turn around. If you keep going, you’ll have about another mile, passing amazing geological features, and eventually getting to the junction with the Specimen Ridge Trail. Here, if you walk to the canyon rim again, you’ll see the Yellowstone River near Tower Fall. I can’t recommend this enough. Once you have had your fill of wilderness splendor, turn around and head back the way you came.
In total, this trek is about 3.4 miles round trip with about 500 feet of elevation gain. Along it, you’ll have amazing views and some good wildlife potential, from bison and elk to bighorn sheep, foxes, coyotes, and birds. While I could literally talk the entire episode about this trail, I wanted to just give a brief summary for you and hopefully inspire you to either do it on your own or book a tour with me on it. If you want more information on this trail and more in the park, buy a copy of my hiking guidebook to the region. I give a lot more detail there.
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!
