My Top 5 Land Wildlife Spots From Our 50 State Road Trip Across The USA

But, not every animal we had the opportunity to see, interact with, or photograph was in captivity. Many were wild animals that we encountered in National Parks, rest areas, or just driving down the road. While my last two lists have been in order from #5 to #1, these spots are listed in order of animal size for funsies since not every one of these experiences can be replicated easily. However, if you’re in these areas there’s a good chance you’ll get lucky for just the photo you want of land-based wildlife.

Pika in Alaska

Elusive, but not impossible to find, photographing pika is one of my favorite wildlife memories on the road trip. I’d had it on my list to find pika in several possible states, but when we arrived in Denali National Park in Alaska I saw that our hike was in an area that pika are known to live – talus fields and rocky slopes in alpine regions.

Pika are tiny balls of fur that are quick and have excellent camouflage. The best way to find them is to sit still and listen. When you hear their tell-tale squeaks, you can usually hone in on where they are. I spent a few minutes after our hike and saw a couple, but came back the next morning, early – like 4 or 5 am – to try and have the place to myself (which I did) to see them. I was not disappointed.

Prairie Dogs in South Dakota

Fortunately, this is wildlife that you can encounter in many areas across the midwest, south, southwest and west of the United States – and I did! It didn’t matter if I’d seen them on one road side, I wanted to stop all the time. I loved that sometimes I’d just be sitting at a traffic light and there they’d be.

But it was especially fun to get up close and personal at the Badlands Ranch Store. They provide bags of peanuts for purchase and you can just find a good spot to sit and wait for the prairie dogs to come and have a snack next to you.

Bears in Minnesota

Now, you might see this inclusion and say, but Shae, you already did captive sanctuary animals in another post – what’s up!? Ah, yes, I did a photography experience in Orr, MN at The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary, but the difference is that these are all completely wild bears. There aren’t any fences to keep them in or out. They come and go as they please. The only difference is that they’re safe from hunting with the “magic circle” of the sanctuary and they get some snacks provided to support their natural diet.

The sanctuary explains that these bears exhibit different behavior within the magic circle of the sanctuary and seem to not have the problem that usually occurs when you feed wildlife, especially bears, and they’re very shy of people once they cross the invisible barrier from the sanctuary ground back into the area. You’re even encouraged to honk at them when you encounter them outside the sanctuary grounds to keep them wild.

My dad gifted me an early birthday gift that year to go photograph the black bears of Minnesota. It was an incredible day and I loved every second of it.

Bears in Canada and Alaska

The drive up through Canada turned out to be one of the ideal spots to see black bears, and the occasional brown bear or grizzly bear. Remember, black bears can have brown fur, all brown bears aren’t grizzlies, but all grizzlies are a variety of brown bear.

We’d *hoped* to see bears catching salmon at the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site in Hyder, Alaska, but we were about a week too early for the salmon run. But we did see one wander through and eat some berries.

We stopped again and again to see wild bears along the route and one even came very close to the car. Always remember that a fed bear is a dead bear. Do not feed wild bears (exceptions exist like the sanctuary above) because it creates dependency on people and alters their behaviors. That puts them in closer proximity to humans and can end up in tragedy for both people and bears.

Bison in North Dakota

Bison were animals that were plentiful to see within the National Parks (Custer State Park was another amazing spot) and occasionally by the side of the road on farms. But one of our favorite days seeing them was at Theodore Roosevelt National Park where there were red dogs (bison calves), many bison close to the road for great pictures (and to observe them close-up), and we saw them making their way up a cliff face which was just breathtaking.

Moose in Colorado, Washington and Alaska

I’m giving moose an honorable mention because they can be elusive. We were fortunate to see them occasionally, one of the best opportunities being a mother and calves in Alaska. Remember to ALWAYS give moose a lot of space – more than you think you should – because they can be very dangerous. The first time we saw real, live moose was by complete luck in Colorado. We tried to find them in Maine but were unsuccessful – we just saw hooves jumping into the shrubs. I saw smaller moose in Washington at a wildlife refuge near Spokane. But, Alaska really is the place to see them.