Bear Tracks

Occasionally the subject of bear tracks come up and the question is often raised on just how to tell the difference between the tracks of a grizzly and those of a black bear.

Size of the track in itself isn’t always a good indicator because of the wide range in sizes that can occur in the two species. Often a large black bear will have the same size track as that of a medium grizzly. Age and sex of the bear is another factor that creates similarities in track sizes.

Although a grizzly bear generally has longer claws than an equal size black bear this isn’t a reliable indicator either.

The method described below is the easiest, most reliable one I know of.

A grizzly bear track outline is, in general, less rounded across the toes, especially on the front paws. If you draw a line straight across the base of the toes from the inside to the outside toe, just touching the front of the pad, in the case of a grizzly track, most, if not all, of the inside toe will be above the line. With a black bear track most of the inside toe, sometimes even all of it will be below the line.

The pictures below should help illustrate the differences.

Two Different Pictures of Black Bear Tracks (Same Bear)

Grizzly Bear Track