— Elk at Yellowstone National Park are frequently seen at Gibbon Meadows, Elk Park, and Lamar Valley during the summer months. From a safe distance (with zoom lenses), we observed a small herd in the summer of 2009. During the summer months, Yellowstone is home to an estimated 10,000 – 20,000 elk. Those numbers decrease dramatically in the winter to under 5,000, according to the National Park Service.