One of the biggest highlights of traveling across the country from state to state and coast to coast is the incredible wildlife we’ve seen. It wasn’t unusual for us to see deer, fox, coyote and turkeys in our back yard in Ohio. But after we sold our house and most of our stuff to travel full time in our RV and grow our small business, we set out to see even more wildlife in our national parks, forests and coastlines.
We’ve seen and shared many of our wildlife sightings from our year-long road trip but we thought we’d compile a top ten list of our favorite wildlife sightings. Now, depending on where you’re from, this wildlife might be as exciting and unusual to you as it was to us, or maybe it’s as common as a deer scampering through your backyard. Either way, we hope you enjoy these beautiful and wild creatures as much as we did. And so, in no particular order, here are the top ten wildlife sightings from our year-long road trip:
Sea Lions
They bark, they swim, they flip and they flop. Then they pull themselves up on the dock to sunbathe. The harbors in both Crescent City, California and Gold Beach, Oregon had dozens of sea lions who just love hopping up and out of the water to talk.
Wild Horses
Horses are by no means uncommon, but WILD horses certainly are. These wild horses live in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, near Medora, North Dakota. It was an exceptionally windy day, and they seemed perfectly happy hanging out and letting the wind blow through their manes.
Bighorn Sheep
We saw a LOT of road signs throughout our road trip warning of bighorn sheep crossings. And yet, we never seemed to catch sight of any of these famed road sign sheep. That is until we visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico. On our way out of the park an entire family of desert bighorn sheep bounded alongside and bounced across the road in front of us. They were so cute!
A photo posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on
Alligator
In Florida just about any body of water is apt to have alligators. We found this to be true even when driving down the road and seeing small bodies of water alongside with an occasional spine or head popping out of the flat, smooth waters. We got a little closer view while visiting Myakka River State Park, not far from Sarasota, Florida. In particular, while atop a boardwalk viewing deck we saw this hungry gator chomping on some minnows.
Bison
Bison are huge. HUGE! And so incredible to see in person. We got our closest bison encounters at Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and also in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. We happened upon a herd in Grand Teton while driving, and pulled over to watch them graze. We were thrilled to see so many! But the very next day an even larger herd was crossing the road as we drove through Yellowstone. Wildlife jam! Everyone yields to the wildlife, so the road backed up with cars and campers, but I don’t think a single person minded one bit…we all snapped pictures and let them take their time crossing the road.
Our most “personal” experience with bison was actually at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. With far fewer visitors than Yellowstone, we got up before sunrise and got to the park just as the bison were starting their day. We were the ONLY car on the road when we encountered a herd of bison grazing as the sun came up.
Elk
In Humboldt County, in Northern California we crossed paths with this herd of Roosevelt Elk several times. They call the Redwood National and State Parks home, and don’t seem to be bothered by traffic or gawkers. They’re wild animals though, so we kept a safe distance and waved hello.
A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on
And in Estes Park, Colorado, near the eastern entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw an enormous elk munching away on some spring blooms. The California elk were babies compared to this giant!
Whale
There’s a lot of reasons we love the Pacific Northwest. Mossy rain forest, driftwood laden beaches, and magically rainy weather are a few. Seeing a WHALE is a new reason. Just off the coast of Cape Flattery, the northwestern most point of the contiguous United States we were enjoying the expansive views and wave clapped sea stacks when WE SAW A WHALE!!!
A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on
Antelope
“Hoooome, hooome on the raaaange! Where the deeeeer and the antelope plaaaaay!” I’d be lying if I said we haven’t sung this line several times on our road trip. How can you not when antelope are the dominant creatures covering the countryside? We’ve seen antelope a lot, especially in Montana, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, where they seemed more common than deer.
Roadrunners
The southwest was FULL of these speedy little birds. Roadrunners were a staple while we were in Arizona and southern New Mexico, and they’re not nearly as antagonizing as the Looney Tunes version.
Slugs and Snails
Slugs and snails? Yup. Slugs and snails. Kinda gross and slimy, but banana slugs are all over the rain forest in Olympic National Park, and one of our northern California coast trails had so many snails, in so many colors, we could hardly walk without hopping around to miss walking right on top of them.
Bear
I always joke that I’ll never see a bear as long as I’m with Matt. He’s cursed. Everywhere we SHOULD see a bear, we don’t. Every time someone ELSE sees a bear, we don’t. We booked a bear sightseeing trip in Alaska a few years ago and it was cancelled due to weather. We hike trails known to have bears, and cross paths with other hikers exclaiming how they saw bear ahead at the river, and we don’t see bears. I was beginning to think it would never happen for us. But of all the places we’ve been, we FINALLY saw a bear in the least likely place I would have ever expected. Texas. Big Bend National Park was the site of our bear sighting!
Pretty amazing wildlife, right? No matter where you are in the country, there is wildlife to witness and appreciate. So, wherever you may be, and wherever you may travel, slow down and take the time to watch and appreciate the animals we share this beautiful planet with.
Cheers!
Kristin
P.S. Did you notice? That was 11, not 10. Oops!
Stubs says
Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!1