Camping in Yellowstone National Park

[Dave Baston]

Hi everyone!
My wife and son and I are planning a 10 day camping trip to Yellowstone National Park over the July 4th this summer. Any place that you would reccomend? Tips on seeing wildlife and more? Thanks for your help!

Dave in Michigan
1978 Trillium 4500 Deluxe

[jack maloney]

Personally, I wouldn't camp in Yellowstone Park - the popular campgrounds are usually packed, campsites are too close together. We've always done better camping in Forest Service campsites just outside national parks, where life is generally more peaceful and sites are better separated and roomier. Cheaper, too!

I highly recommend the USFS Eagle Creek campground, just a couple of miles outside Yellowstone's East Entrance. Lovely, uncrowded, quiet, and on the banks of a pretty good trout stream. Eagle Creek CG does not allow tents, popups or softside RVs, because of local bears. But your Trill will be just fine and every campsite has its own bearproof steel food box. Also, there is a dude ranch just down the road that puts on a great chuckwagon dinner!

From Eagle Creek, you can drive into Yellowstone NP in the morning, spend a day fighting traffic in America's most over-used national park, and get back to your nice forest campsite in time for a relaxing supper and sundowner.

[pjanits]

We stayed at the West Yellowstone KOA. They had no bear issues and it was very nice.
We chose them because some of our group( bunch of folks from work) did not have any camping equipment and rented the little cabins.
I would go there again.

[Chris Z]

We also stayed at West Yellowstone KOA. Kinda pricey but was real nice for the kids. They had all the amenities including even an INDOOR pool and hot tub. Depends on what you want. I would've just as soon stayed at one of the primitive campgrounds inside Yellowstone just to enjoy nature but was out voted.

[CindyL]

We stayed in Yellowstone at Fishing Bridge RV park. Yes, it was tight, but we were only at our Burro for sleeping, so no biggy for us. It has showers and bathroom facilities, electrical hookups and water too, I believe.

We did not see bears or wolves. Word was, while we were there, that they were on a gravel drive above the town at Mammoth Springs. We did not want to drive that route in our new Eurovan, so we contented ourselves with seeing what we could while we toured the sights.

CindyL

[Byron Kinnaman]

A couple years ago we camped in the park. At that time we still camped in a tent. Midweek in late August there no problem getting a camping spot. We didn't see a bear. We did see coyotes and bison.

As it got closer to the week end there were more people. Around July 4th I would imagine that the park will be pretty full.

The best time to see things is very early in the morning, before everybody gets up. We watched Old Faithful from the lodge while eating breakfast. There was about 3 people outside watching. Two hours later there were a lot more people around.
We walked through one of the gieser basins at supper time. Again no people around.

I would have done like Jack talked about if it looked full inside, stayed outside the park.

Have fun, take lots of pictures. We took about 400.

[Adrian W]

We have gone twice to Yellowstone, with the distances to be covered and so much to see, camping outside the park would take up to much time and gasoline. we have always stayed inside of the park. They are large and cramped spaced but most of the time you will be out and about seeing the places you have come to see. You are going to love it. A really nice place. We are looking forward to going about a 3rd time.
AW

[Dave Baston]

Thanks again to everyone giving me their responses so fast. It will not be a straight forward decision where to stay now, but leaning torwards staying within the park for gas savings and potenial extra stress of dealing with the traffic everyday if we stay at a site outside of the park. Have a super rest of winter, I'am headind to bed it's 12:40 A.M. here in Michigan and about 16 degrees.

Dave in Michigan

[Bill MacDermod]

Dave, we went all thru that area this summer and the scenic drive is half the fun, my suggestion would be to enter the park from the Northeast Gate by taking Rt 212 also known as the (Beartooth Hwy) from just southwest of Billings Mt off I 90. You will go thru a town called Red Lodge, Montana which is a nice stop in itself. Stop often on the Beartooth for pics. Its got to be one of the most scenic drives in the USA. Upon our arrival we stayed at Mammoth Hot Springs a couple of days for the upper loop, and then moved to Grant Village to do the bottom loop and the Grand Tetons

[Tirah]

Hi everyone!
My wife and son and I are planning a 10 day camping trip to Yellowstone National Park over the July 4th this summer. Any place that you would reccomend? Tips on seeing wildlife and more? Thanks for your help!

Dave in Michigan
1978 Trillium 4500 Deluxe

My mom and I tent-camped in Yellowstone's campground (I think there's only one inside the park??) about fifteen years ago. Like some other folks said, it gets crowded in there. The sites were not wilderness-style...more like a grassy KOA. They also had very strict rules about where you can dump wastewater (like for dishes), because of the bears, and the bathrooms were always packed with people. The cool thing is that you can hear all the wild animals howling from within the park at night, though.

Yellowstone is a huge park, so I'll bet there are other places to camp there in an RV (particularly boondocking) besides just the modernized tent-camping area.

We camped in the Grand Teton park after Yellowstone, and that was great. The park was completely empty, and the campsites were really private, scenic, and quiet.

I'm envious of your trip- I want to go back there again soon!

Have fun and have your camera ready- everywhere you look there will be gorgeous photo opportunities!

[Byron Kinnaman]

My mom and I tent-camped in Yellowstone's campground (I think there's only one inside the park??) about fifteen years ago.

I think there's 12 campground inside the park. At least that's what's listed here.

[Nancy]

I have to agree with Bill. The park is just so big that it would be ideal to camp both north and south, or somewhere in between to best use the park. So what if the campsite is less than perfect. After hiking and exploring all one will want to do is crash in their beds.

We have not camped at Yellowstone but have stayed outside the park several times. It just takes too darn long to drive and mess with traffic from one side to the other.

Hwy 212 is really, really neat. Since I come from the north it is an easy access for us, but i can see where it might be more convenient for you to come in further south. I asked my husband if he remembered Hwy 14/16 and neither of us can remember it. We do remember 212. It was even written about by Charles Karault (sp).

Thanks Byron for the link to the parks. There is more information from that site.

One of the reasons we got a trailer was that once after touring Yellowstone for the day we headed east and could not find lodging. We had to drive all the way home to Minnesota without a bed. Now I take my bed with me. This could be why we don't remember Hwy 14/16. We were just too exhausted? The construction was just too annoying?

Nancy in North MN

[james kent]

Wife and I camped in Yellowstone in 2001. Awoke to see two huge bull elk wandering amoung the tents. Sure wouldn't want to frighten them. Their antlers are tremendous weapons. Awsome creatures.

[Victor Benz]

We stayed in Yellowstone towards the end of last September, at Fishing Bridge, and at Colter Bay in Grand Teton. Both were great, but surprisingly full. Fishing Bridge is a paved parking lot, and we were surrounded by large bus-like moterhomes, but since we were out all day, it was OK. One thing to check before you make you decision is "Where is the road construction?". While we were there, the East Entrance, the road from Fishing Bridge to Cody Wyoming, was under construction right at the park boundary. Even at the time we were there, we ran into some very long lineups. There was also some construction within the park. I am sure this section will be under construction for a couple of years yet. I believe the Park website has road construction information.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/
click on the interactive map. Road details show construction areas.

Vic

[Randya]

Camping is tight in yellowstone, first come, first served. If you can camp outside the park, and go on day trips.

THe east gate from Cody is a mess, highway construction, but the best camping is on that highway. The North Fork. Another alternative is go north of Cody to dead Indian, long hual but beafutiful drive, go through Sunlight Basin to Cook City, lots of places to camp there and not near as busy as the North fork. Thats how we go in and out of the park until the constrcution is done. Longer drive but just as beautiful.

As for wildlife, you see thousands of Bison but that is about it. We went three times this summer, I do lots of photography and have done so for 15 years. On all three three trips not a single elk or moose. My only conclusion is the 300 or so wolves in the park have to eat,. And a Bison is to tough to tackle when you have or had lots of elk calves.

[Victor Benz]

Forgot to comment on the wildlife. We first went to Yellowstome at the end of April 2006, when we picked up our trailer in Belgrade. Although we were there only for the day, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of mule deer, many elk, moose, and bison, several small herds of pronghorn and some groups of mountain sheep. We even saw the wolf pack at SLough Creek. Also in the park at the time we saw several pairs of sandhill cranes. Only a small portion of the park was open at the time, Mammoth to Cooke City and Mammoth to West Yellowstone. We could only get as far as Old Faithful towards Lake Yellowstone. It was truely an amazing day trip.

When we returned in September, we saw large bison herds, but that was pretty much it. Much more variety in Grand Teton, with moose, elk, and mule deer.

Vic