‘Yellowstone rush hour’ blocks driver on snowy road near the national park, video shows

A photographer heading to Yellowstone National Park to take images of wildlife was pleasantly surprised when she came face-to-face with a massive herd of bison.

Photographer Cindy Jones was going to the national park on Jan. 14 when a large herd of bison blocked the street, creating a “Yellowstone Rush Hour.”

“I have seen a small group of bison walking down the roads in Yellowstone, but never a large herd like this one,” Jones told Storyful. “The bison try to conserve their energy in the winter and often will use the roads to travel instead of the deep snow.”

The herd was big enough to fill up the entire road, video showed. The bison kept getting closer and closer to Jones’ truck until the herd split down the middle to move around it. Bison came within feet of her truck, video shows.

“I was in the park to photograph wildlife and was thrilled and excited when I saw this herd walking directly toward our truck with no other cars in the way,” Jones said, according to Storyful. “I usually take still photos with my Nikon D850 but made a very quick decision to shoot this on video out of the truck window because I thought it would do a better job capturing the large number in the herd and their behavior walking together.”

There are more than 4,680 bison living in Yellowstone, according to the National Park Service. They can be spotted year-round in Hayden and Lamar valleys.

They’re huge animals and can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Bison can also be aggressive and run up to 30 miles per hour, according to the National Park Service. Park visitors should never approach bison.

This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 1:58 PM with the headline "‘Yellowstone rush hour’ blocks driver on snowy road near the national park, video shows."