The Ultimate Guide to Photographing Moose in Yellowstone & Grand Tetons: Where, When, Why & How
- Eric Beuning
- Jun 7
- 12 min read
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are two of the best places in the lower 48 to spot moose. Yet they’re not the kind of creatures that happily step out of the thickets and pose for a photo.
My late father adored watching moose and bears in Yellowstone and kept meticulous notes about where he spotted them. Over the years he and I took several guided tours and connected with locals to help us dial in the best chances for spotting moose in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
As part of the legacy series of Yellowstone articles, I’m writing in his honor, I wanted to bring you some of our top hotspots for finding moose.
Now I’m not going to title an article The Ultimate Guide to Photographing Moose in Yellowstone & Grand Tetons, just because it has good SEO quality. There’s a lot of information to go over, and I understand that not all of it will pertain to you.
So, I put in handy anchor links that you can use if all you want to do is read up on:
Moose Safety
Safety first is no joke when it comes to moose spotting. Especially if you’re dealing with a bull moose anywhere close to the rut or female cows with calves in the spring.
Moose might look calm and majestic, but they are unpredictable and can become aggressive if they feel threatened. Like that dude in 1997 who I watched narrowly make it back to his car after flashing a disposable camera a few times when he was too close to a bull moose in Soda Butte Creek.
Always stay at least 25 yards away and never try to approach or feed them. Use long-range viewing tools like binoculars or a spotting scope to observe safely from a distance. Check out our recommended gear here to enhance your viewing experience while respecting wildlife boundaries.
If you’re not in your car when you come upon one, be mindful of your escape route. If it does charge you, be aware of the nearest cluster of trees to keep between you and it. That dude in 1997 played a terrible game of ring around the rosy but it’s ultimately what saved his life.
My dad wrote a fascinating play-by-play of the incident in his notes that stands as a stark reminder of just how powerful these creatures are.
The Best Time to Spot Moose
Moose are most active during dawn and dusk, especially in the spring and again in the fall from late September through October. Spring offers great viewing as moose descend to lower elevations to feed on fresh green vegetation.
Fall is the rutting season. Bulls are more active, vocal, and visible as they seek mates. However, their natural testosterone levels are maxed out, and they can become aggressive. So, this is definitely the time to view them through a spotting scope with a smartphone adapter instead of on a footpath!
Moose Photography Tips
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned about photographing Yellowstone moose, and one lesson I constantly forget, it’s positioning myself for the light and scent. Now, I understand that’s not always possible. Especially if you’re on a self-driving wildlife tour.
When you’re on foot, hiking, or planning a moose photography tour, it helps to plan it out, so you’re reaching the target habitat with the sun at your back. Not only does this do a better job of illuminating the moose you’re visually hunting, but it also makes it easier for you to see moose hiding in willow thickets or bogs. When the light is in your face or sharply to the side it causes you to squint, which decreases your peripheral vision.
Also, consider your scent. If the moose catches wind of you it could move or change behavior. This makes it harder to shoot or gives you unnatural photos in the end.
Beyond accounting for the blowing of the wind, you also have to factor in the way moves with thermal changes. In the morning odors move up elevation with the warming rays of the sun. This will increase the chances of a moose upslope detecting your smell. Vice versa, if the moose is below you in elevation it will help hide your scent from them.
The reverse happens as sunset approaches. Cooling air moves down-slope. So, if the moose is below where you’re standing it might pick up your smell.
When you take these two factors into account, it becomes a little trickier to set yourself up in the right place, at the right time, and in the right habitat. However, having the sunlight at your back trumps scent protocol. Especially if the ambient wind already isn’t in your favor.
Tips for Photographing Moose with a Digital SLR
Photographing moose with a digital SLR camera like the Canon EOS Rebel T7 or the Nikon COOLPIX P950 requires control and clarity. Since you’re usually photographing these majestic beasts at a distance, it might help to start with a telephoto lens of 300mm or longer.
I’d also recommend using a fast shutter speed (1/500 or faster) to freeze movement. You can then snap multiple shots in succession and go back later to find the one that’s best. especially if the moose is walking or browsing.
Set your ISO to match lighting conditions. Higher in early morning or dusk, when moose are most active. You might want to also try shooting in aperture priority mode with a wide aperture of f/4 or f/5.6. This will blur the background and make your subject pop.
Use continuous focus mode like AI-Servo or AF-C to track movement. Mounting your camera body on a monopod or tripod with a gimbal head for stability will give you better control.
Tips for Photographing Moose with a Smartphone & Spotting Scope
I think it’s far easier to photograph moose with a spotting scope and smartphone adapter than it is trying to fake that I’m a professional wildlife photographer with a digital SLR. The trick here is to get a spotting scope that has a smartphone adapter, and was designed to work easily with a phone cam.
I’ve also learned the hard way that you need to have the smartphone connected securely to the spotting scope. Then test that the two are indeed working smoothly and leave them set up.
I have admittedly had times where I didn’t have the two connected at the start of the moose photo hike. Then invented swear word combinations that would’ve gotten me kicked out of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory, trying to connect them two and get them perfectly in focus.
I think your best option is to set them up at the start of your wildlife photography tour and leave them connected. Then use a pair of budget-priced binoculars to glass the habitat with the sun at your back and the wind in your favor.
When you spot a moose, deploy a monopod or tripod to stabilize the spotting scope. This will also let the software in your phone’s camera do its techno-autofocusing magic more efficiently to give you the best chance of a clear photo.
Best Moose Habitat in Yellowstone & Grand Tetons
My father used to joke that moose are the hippos of North America and that on hot days they go to a swamp somewhere.
In my own experience, I think he’s right about that in the summer. It seems like I’ve always seen them in a pond, shallow lake creek bed, or on their way to one.
I think this is more about their habitat and what they want to browse in the season. Rather than some sort of desire to ease their bulbous weight by floating in water.
Moose Diet Through the Season
Moose in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons change their diet, and you might be able to use that to help find them in either of the national parks.
Spring Moose Forage
As the snow begins to melt in the lower elevations of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, moose start to emerge from their wintering areas. In early spring, their diet is limited to what’s first available: woody vegetation, such as the twigs and bark of willow, aspen, and dogwood.
As spring progresses and plants green up, they begin feeding on new shoots, leafy branches, and fresh aquatic vegetation, which becomes more abundant in thawing marshes and stream edges.
You’ll often find areas where the tips of willow and aspen branches have been nibbled away. This tells you that there is or was recently a moose in the area.
Summer Moose Forage
During the summer in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons moose feed extensively on aquatic plants like pondweed, water lilies, and horsetails found in shallow lakes and wetlands. Willow often grow in these areas as well, which further invites the moose to take up residence for multiple days at a time.
These plants are rich in sodium, which moose need in their otherwise low-sodium diet. On land, they browse lush shrubs, grasses, forbs, and young tree shoots, particularly in riparian zones and along meadows.
Fall
In autumn, vegetation becomes tougher and less nutritious. As a result, Moose shift back to a more woody-based diet, relying on willow and aspen twigs and bark. They also consume fallen leaves and remnants of herbaceous plants. This period is critical for building fat reserves to survive the winter. Their movement also becomes more focused on rutting behavior, and they may forage less intensely during peak mating times.
Best Place to See Moose in Yellowstone National Park
While not as common as bison or elk, Yellowstone’s moose population thrives in its wet, marshy areas in the Hayden and Lamar Valleys
Willow Park Moose Spots Near Obsidian Creek
Willow Park is in the western section of Yellowstone’s upper loop and sometimes holds large bull moose. My late father believed that these are the lone males who are fading into old age. The area is secretly riddled with small creeks, pothole swamps, and oxbows of Obsidian Creek.
The only places to park and look through a spotting scope or binoculars is at the Willow Park vault toilets or the parking blister a few hundred yards to the south. You might be tempted to wander out into the marshlands, but it’s a bad idea, as there are likely moose and the chance of bison hiding in the brambles.
Where to Find Moose Near Yellowstone’s Soda Butte Creek
Soda Butte Creek in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley is sporadically littered with braided streams and willow thickets that moose love to hang out in during the summer months. My father and I both consider this area one of the best opportunities in the park to spot moose.
Moose Gem Spot: Specimen Ridge Trailhead
The Lamar River trailhead sits on Soda Butte Creek and has some secret hotspots for seeing moose. A lot of people park up at the short cut stock parking lot just to hike to the Lamar River itself.
Yet it’s the area of Soda Butte Creek between the Lamar shortcut parking lot and the official Lamar River trailhead parking that’s magnetic for moose in the summer.
Moose Gem Spot: Unnamed Lake North of Specimen Ridge Trailhead
Straight north of the Specimen Ridge Trailhead is a small pot hole lake that my father claimed, “Always has a moose.” After running away from it in 1993 when I got too close, I believe he’s right.
There’s a game trail west of the Specimen Ridge Trailhead that will take you north toward the lake. Along the way there’s a little bit of a knoll to the east, where you can use a spotting scope to look for moose. This keeps you from blundering up on one that’s partially submerged in the south bank of the lake. You can use what you see from the knoll to determine if and how you want to safely move closer.
Trout Lake’s Moose Creek
On the eastern fringes of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, Trout Lake offers an easy, picturesque little hike with a chance of spotting moose on the north end. My dad’s notes mentioned several times when he saw a moose in the northeast corner of the lake where the small stream feeds into it in Late June, July, and early August.
Trout Lake also attracts bears in the spring and early summer. It’s also a gorgeous little alpine lake that often reflects the mountain on its mirror-like surface. So, while you have to be bear-aware and moose-wary, it’s an easy hike that leads to a feast for the eyes.
Moose Around Pebble Creek Area of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley
Just to the east of Trout Lake in Yellowstone’s Pebble Creek area of the Lamar Valley is also attractive to moose. Especially as summer starts to fade toward fall.
My father’s notes mentioned seeing moose here in late August and September, browsing on woody forage. that it was the same moose that were living earlier in the summer at Trout Lake.
With a combination of open meadows with stream access, it’s easy to see why moose would be attracted to Pebble Creek. My father’s notes also mentioned early morning sightings of cows with calves are common here in spring and early summer.
Moose Near Yellowstone’s South Entrance and Lewis River
The Lewis River corridor connecting Yellowstone to the Grand Tetons is an often-overlooked moose hangout. Moose may be seen feeding in the shallow riverbanks or crossing the road. It’s definitely somewhere you want to be warry when driving at night.
Moose Around Dogshead Creek
My father’s notes mention seeing moose at Dogshead Creek “Back in the Day” on the northeastern shores of Lewis Lake. However, this is a haul through some serious swamp. It both makes sense that moose would be there and also makes me wonder why and how my dad got there!
Swan Lake Flats South of Mammoth Hot Springs
While this area is better known for elk and bison, this area occasionally produces moose sightings at the tree line near wet areas. There’s a marsh on both sides of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop Road, which can sometimes hold moose in the morning before they retreat into the water or the tree line.
Where to See Moose in Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton offers far more frequent moose encounters thanks to its thick riparian zones and willow flats. If Yellowstone offers glimpses, Grand Teton puts moose on display. My father would occasionally sneak down to the Grand Tetons when he couldn’t find lodging near Yellowstone and was rewarded with seeing moose.
Moose-Wilson Road
Arguably the best moose-watching location in the Grand Tetons, this narrow, forested road between Moose and Teton Village runs parallel to creeks and dense willows where moose love to feed in late spring and early summer.
If you're on the road at dawn or dusk, drive slowly and you might see one just yards from your vehicle. Slowly being the operative word here as my father nearly hit one with his GMC pickup truck back in 1984 as it popped out of a ditch.
Oxbow Bend
Just east of Jackson Lake Junction, Oxbow Bend is another well-known moose spot. It’s also famous for the sunrise reflections of Mount Moran. So, even if you don’t see a moose, you’ll be treated to a visual feast.
If you’re lucky, there’s the chance of getting a sunrise pic of the mountain with a moose wading in the water or feeding along the Snake River’s edge. However, this is a big open area. Don’t be surprised if the moose are far off and you’ll have to snap a pic with a telephoto lens or a spotting scope with a smartphone adapter.
Willow Flats Overlook
As you can imagine, this massive area of willows draws both moose and wildlife photographers who want to catch a shot of them. My father’s notes mention that it’s best to show up in late afternoon with a picnic supper, then wait still into the early evening for the best chance at a moose sighting.
Taggart and Bradley Lake Trailheads
If you’re interested in hiking for a moose photo, or you want to make the trek to Grand Teton’s Delta Lake, Taggart and Bradley Lake offer some good opportunities. Your best chance of seeing moose here is in the early morning hours. If you leave with the first photon of predawn gray, you can get to Taggart and Bradley Lake in time to see a moose.
I’d plan to hike hard to the lakes area. Then settle in for a light breakfast of protein bars while glassing for moose along the shoreline. If you don’t see anything after an hour or so, continue on to Delta Lake. Depending on how the rest of your day goes, you might pass back through the area at dusk for another chance of spotting a moose.
Pacific Creek Road
Less traveled and wilder, this road leads to Two Ocean Lake and features wet meadows and streams, which are ideal moose terrain. It’s also less crowded than Moose-Wilson Road, which gives you time to set up and enjoy some elbow room.
NOTE: I’ve never had a time walking through the grassy areas along Pacific Creek Road that I didn’t come back festooned with ticks.
Final Thoughts
Whether it’s a bull moose browsing the willows of Yellowstone’s Soda Butte Creek or a mother with calves along the shoreline of the Snake River spotting moose in the wild is an unforgettable experience. Yet it’s one thing to just get lucky in the Lamar Valley or see a moose on the roadside in the Grand Tetons.
If you want to get a great moose photograph it helps to understand the timing of the season and the time of day. In spring moose will browse young shoots, in the lower elevations below the snow line. By summer, they’re more like hippos, and you’ll often find them in the water, in places where willows or nutritious green vegetation thrives.
Your best chance of photographing a moose at a safe distance is in the morning, near one of the various hot spots mentioned above. Ideally, you want the sun at your back, which will give you a better field of view and a better chance of seeing a properly lit moose.
Whether you’re using a traditional camera, digital SLR, or a spotting scope with a smartphone adapter, you want to mount it on a tripod. I think it’s easiest to use a modestly priced pair of binoculars to find the moose, then take the picture with your tripod-stabilized camera of choice.
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