Black bears roving nature results in most of their time being spent in open meadows, bordered by trees. Such terrain accommodates wildlife watchers who look for bears from the road. Though the 1988 fires in Yellowstone impacted a large part of the animal's terrain along park roads, more bears might now be seen near burned-out drainages, which have blossomed over recent years with luscious vegetation and abundant rodent invasions. Also, to see black bears, visit the Blacktail Plateau region, between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower-Roosevelt Junction. Scan the meadows as you drive along the road between Tower and Antelope Creek, south of Tower Falls and everywhere in between.
Grizzlies have a greater capacity to range than black bears.
They're usually seen in the high country, in places like Tower, south through the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake and Fishing Bridge, to the East Entrance of the park. Mt. Washburn and the Lamar Valley are also good places to see grizzlies as well as throughout the northwest region of Yellowstone. Black bears are relatively docile animals, particularly when compared to grizzly bears. Also, visitors are warned to never feed either species of bear while visiting Yellowstone. There is enough habitat and food for the black and grizzly bears in Yellowstone, an area that encompasses 2.2 million acres.