“Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone: More Than Just a Nature Show?”
This Isn’t the Return to Yellowstone I Imagined for John Dutton.
Whenever I hear Kevin Costner and Yellowstone mentioned together, I’m immediately on high alert. Usually, the Horizon director is out in the world either criticizing the final season of Taylor Sheridan’s hit show or acting indifferent about Sheridan writing his character off the series. But this? I honestly don’t know where to start. John Dutton would be rolling in his grave because Kevin Costner is back—but not in the way we expected. He’s starring in a new nature documentary series.
The first teaser for the upcoming Fox Nation project, Yellowstone to Yosemite with Kevin Costner, shows the actor quietly mumbling to himself while hiking through stunning wilderness. “I didn’t set out to change America,” he says, “but that’s what ended up happening.” I have no idea what he means by that. I expected a classic nature documentary with shots of snakes battling or cow herding, but this looks more like an outdoor vlog. Unless each episode opens with, “Hey guys, welcome to my channel,” Yellowstone to Yosemite feels like Costner’s personal nature diary set in Yellowstone National Park.
Fox Nation describes the series as a historical “voyage.” According to the official synopsis, Costner will explore “the region’s rich Indigenous American legacy, the unexpected arrival of outsiders in 1850, and how John Muir became a passionate advocate for our wildest places.” But that’s not all. He’ll also discuss how Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts led to the creation of a more organized National Park System, including 150 National Forests, 5 National Parks, and the protection of 230 million acres of land.
If Yellowstone to Yosemite resembles his earlier work, expect a Ken Burns–style documentary that blends American history and wildlife scenes with random Costner musings. In his previous series, Yellowstone One-Fifty, Costner moved from typical nature shots—wolves hunting, bears hibernating—to intimate, fireside chats with viewers. No sweeping orchestral scores, just the crackling campfire, Costner’s voice, and the peaceful sounds of nature. It instantly reminded me of Jeff Bridges’s mindfulness podcast Sleeping Tapes, where Bridges whispers you to sleep. In many ways, Yellowstone to Yosemite feels like Costner’s version of that.
“Sometimes I think about the spirit of the great explorers,” Costner says. “What it takes to be the first to do something, to journey into the unknown…” Yeah, Kevin. Far out.
