Road Trips to See Wildlife

The great outdoors reveals the rich diversity of nature.

No lions, no tigers, at least in North America — but what about bears? Absolutely! Other wild animals also tolerate our curiosity, and even sometimes pause to watch us watching them.

On road trips in Alaska or Wyoming, you’ll have a good chance of observing brown bears. Birders flock (sorry) to the Midwest to see bald eagles and sandhill cranes. In Florida, you can commune with manatees in their natural habitat. Bison, sometimes referred to as monarchs of the plains, hang out in a popular national park. Drive to the edge of many a coastal town, hop aboard a boat, and instantly you’re a whale watcher.

All these journeys allow you to spend time outdoors, and that makes social distancing easy. Pack weather-appropriate clothing, binoculars and your camera. Then, rent a car and head out.

Fish with Bears

Just kidding — but maybe you can pick up angling tips while watching 2,000-pound brown bears fish for salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Alaska. Want a good picture? For tips on nature photography, consider Dave Hunter’s advice. “Interest, energy and curiosity are better than the largest of lenses,” he says.

At the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, just a block from the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park, the staff will answer your questions, introduce you to some critters and provide tips on where to look for bears (and wolves) inside the park.

Bison for All Seasons

Often filmed at Yellowstone National Park, bison are the largest mammals in North America, and some 4,000 of them live in the park.

Though steam from a geyser froze on this bison’s face and coat one winter day in Yellowstone National Park, the animal didn’t seem to mind posing for wildlife photographer Derek Jerrell. 

If you’d like to photograph baby bison, travel to Yellowstone National Park between March and May, when most calves are born. The wee ones, which arrive weighing 25 to 40 pounds, stand just minutes after birth. A few hours later, they run circles around mom.

Watery Wildlife Encounters

When a 1,200-pound manatee swims in for a snuggle in Florida’s Crystal River, what do you do? Some vacationers fall in love with these “unapologetically plump” creatures and make plans for future road trips to do it all again. Experience this unusual encounter by driving an hour north of Tampa.

Quick, what’s the biggest fish in the world? The right answer is the whale shark, and you can snorkel alongside these 40-foot-long behemoths in the Sea of Cortez. Whale sharks can be found in the “World’s Aquarium,” off the coast of La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, a Mexican state on the Baja California Peninsula. And no, they don’t bite.

For some, the greatest show on water is whale watching, a spectator sport available off both coasts of the U.S. and Canada, in Hawaii and in Mexico. Whale-watch boats operate in sync with the giant marine mammals’ migration routes, so success at spotting a spout is likely.

Big Birds

Every spring, 80% of the world’s sandhill crane population congregates along the central Platte River near Kearney, Nebraska. The big birds chatter, they squawk and they squeak, and every birdwatcher and nature photographer witnessing the cacophony treasures the experience.

Some 3,000 bald eagles gather every winter in the open waters and floodplains of the Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi rivers in the Midwest. They come for the fish, with an occasional side dish of waterfowl. You can watch it all from several convenient viewing spots.

Conservation photographer Morgan Heim also seeks out the national bird at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, a state park and wildlife refuge in Haines, Alaska, about 70 miles north of Juneau. There, every winter, it’s not uncommon to see an eagle soaring over the water with talons extended, fishing for salmon, or sitting in a tree with 40 or more fellow raptors.

Whichever road trip you choose, when you’re out watching wildlife, protect yourself and the animals by following legal guidelines. Approaching too close can be dangerous, as all wild animals are unpredictable.