Yellowstone campgrounds

[Ami P]

We are planning a trip to Yellowstone next summer and I am looking to find the best dry campground location for a 2-3 day visit. We are planning stops at the Grand Canyon and four or five famous Utah National Parks during a 16-day trip.

[CindyL]

Hey, Ami, nice-looking unit. Looks a bit familiar though. Wonder where I have seen a trailer like that before?

When we stayed at Yellowstone, we had to stay at the Fishing Bridge RV park, as the other campgrounds were not for hard-sided trailers (although the hubby might have restricted his looking to a certain part of the park). So, here was our 13' Burro that we had at the time, amid the big guys.

Fishing Bridge was nice with all the amenities you need.

CindyL

[Per Walthinsen]

"Hey, Ami, nice looking unit." Looks semi-familiar to me.

Several years ago we stayed at Grant Village, on the lake but in the South-west corner. No problem with the trailer, in fact there was a laundry, propane, store, etc. obviously meant for RVs. Nice place, but there were no hookups as I remember.

[Bill MacDermod]

2 years ago we spent 3 or 4 days in Yellowstone and stayed at Mammouth for the whole time and decided that if we ever go back we would revise those plans. If you look at Yellowstone you will notice that t ishe roads are basically shaped in a figure 8. We thought of staying at Mammouth to do the upper part then moving to Grant to do the lower part then you would also be in a good position to make a trip to the Tetons from Grant also. If your attacking the place from the North (Montana) go through Red Lodge Montana and use the Bear Tooth Highway, Rt 212 its spectacular, that will take you through the Northeast Gate of Yellowstone. If you enter from the south leave by the Beartooth. As I remember it all the campgrounds inside the park are basically roughing it. no electric, individual water or sewer, water spickets were in certain locations for everybodies use, some folks hooked up to them (not supposed to) and they'd get ticked when you unhooked them to get a pail full. Its a great take and you will enjoy it.

[CindyL]

Ami:

Hubby said I got it a little wrong. We were looking for water and electricity, so that is why he picked Fishing Bridge, but he says that other folks have said that others might be equipped for that too.

And Per, your unit needs a diet to look like ours.

Cindy

[Adrian W]

We stayed at Grant Village, the last time we were there, it is huge but nice campground. At the time it was all without hookups...my son stayed at Canyon and it was very nice, smaller, some without hookups, maybe all. I would believe I would try it next time. The Nat'l Park web site list what each has and has not, number of sites, hookups or not, etc. There was another one on the west side, I would consider, Norris. The first time we stayed at Bridge Bay in '86. I believe only Fishing Bridge RV has the hookups.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/camp...yellowstone.htm

The ones without a Dump Station, I mark off for us. And would like Flush toilets as well, but can go without. Some are harder to get huge RVs into, maybe nice for our little guys and less crowded.

To see the Park, there is a lot of driving.

AW

[Tracy & Gaenor Howe]

We stayed at Madison Campground. No hookups, but nice sites, close to the amphitheatre and with a fantastic stream at the bottom. We spent a whole afternoon wading upstream and floating back down. Yellowstone also has the BEST firewood I have ever used (and I'm a Girl Guide leader!) Lights easily, burns hot & clean. Really worth buying.

[nick piccott]

We are planning a trip to Yellowstone next summer and I am looking to find the best dry campground location for a 2-3 day visit. We are planning stops at the Grand Canyon and four or five famous Utah National Parks during a 16-day trip.

we stay in the yellowstone park and it was great we also took the bus tour of the park it was great it started at 9:00 am and finished at 7:00pm they took you all over the park tour guide new all the history of the park.you rode on a 1950 bus fully restored .have a great trip .

[Robin G]

Ami, Hey your going to Yellowstone and not coming thru Colorado to show me your trailer?!?! What's up with that? We stayed in West Yellowstone so can't help you with in-park campgrounds, just wanted to tell you to Not leave Yellowstone out of the Cody Wy exit/entrance.............. Enter thru that way if you want, but if you want to keep your wits about you do Not exit that way. Scared the bejeebers out of me.......................... Major downnnnnnnnnnnnnn hill winding road. I lost my stomach about the first 2 minutes into it. Couldn't turn back at that point. The worst part is you can see where you will die if you screw up and loose control . I have drove many winding major grades around the west, and I can honestly say that one scared me the most! I rate it on the feel your heart in your toes factor, like driving Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park in a 18 wheeler. LOL Actually it's not funny nor was it fun ..................... Robin





And agree with doing a guided tour, they are wonderful! The tours are great cause if your the driver you spend so much time watching for traffic and wildlife that you don't get to see and enjoy everything. Yellowstone has started re-habbing their tour buses from the 30's, more than likely they will be called the Yellow Bus Tours or Jammer Tours. (Glacier has the Red Bus Tours) the drivers are a wealth of information. They know everything about the Park, and can show you things most people miss. Enjoy!

[BOBSMITH]

Ami:

Hubby said I got it a little wrong. We were looking for water and electricity, so that is why he picked Fishing Bridge, but he says that other folks have said that others might be equipped for that too.

And Per, your unit needs a diet to look like ours.

Cindy

Only Fishing Bridge has hookups. At all of the others there are NO HOOKUPS. So if you want water and electric, you have to stay at Fishing Bridge.

But do yourself a favor and buy a Honda generator. Then you don't have to worry about staying only where they offer electric.

[Alistair Camelford]

Yellowstone...totally agree about the Northeast exit...Beartooth Pass scared the livin' whee out of me in an old VW aircooled poptop 25 years ago. Made the mistake of thinking a "pass" followed a river valley (not a mountain top!)
Don't want to think about doing Beartooth towing the Road Toad!
We stayed in Canyon CG and used most of our firewood for levelling the tires on the VW!
That being said, it's a marvellous camp! We mountain biked through trails to "paint pots" and even ended up in the middle of a bison herd. The old bull looked at my handlebars and I realized the bars looked suspiciously like a set of antlers! ( we beat a hasty retreat!)
Have a great trip!
Alistair

[Greg A]

Just spent a week in July at Grants Village and loved it.
We requested the "I Loop" on the lake and they gave us the best site in the place. I Loop is the very last one the deepest in, so you don't have a bunch of traffic coming around. Sites are huge pull-thrus and we even had a sitting room on the lake.
I'd go back to Grants, which is at the south end of Yellowstone Lake, in a heartbeat or to Madison if you wanted to be right in the center of most the park geysers, and side trips, etc.

[April Wilcox]

We stayed at the Tetons camping area a couple of years ago, but we were tent camping so I couldn't tell you if there were hook ups. That is a beautiful area, with a glacier that is shaped like a guitar on one of the mountains. It was a bit of a drive to get into Yellowstone from there though, and we only made it 1/4 around the main loop before turning around to go back to camp. It was raining hard that day, so we couldn't get out and enjoy the sights. Definitely gorgeous on the south side though!

Happy Travels!!

[Robin G]

Yellowstone...totally agree about the Northeast exit...Beartooth Pass scared the livin' whee out of me
Alistair

LOL................... Though it's not funny, I soooooo know what you mean! Robin

[lynneh]

Peter and I just got back from a week of dry camping (i.e. no hookups) at Yellowstone. We stayed at three different campgrounds for 2-3 days each then moved on to the next.

Norris Campground was our first stop. It is first come first serve, i.e. non-reservable. Flush toilets and dishwashing station, firewood and ice sales, but no showers or nearby stores. We stayed in B loop. C is very hilly, I think A loop would be the nicest due to the views and nearness to the meadow and creek. Norris is centrally located in the park. We had our first bison sightings there.

Next stop was Grant Campground. This campground is at the south end of the park and has good access to the geyser basin and lots of great hiking. The village (about 1/2 mile away) has groceries, food service, gas, ice cream (!), gifts, showers and laundry. We stayed in B loop because we wanted to use solar to power our lights, water pump and furnace fan. A,B, and C are the sunniest and nearest the entrance. Grant Campground sites can be reserved.

Our final stop was Mammoth Campground at the north end of the park. All sites are very sunny and rather close to the road. We got a nice site with a small shade tree away from the road. The Scamp maneuvered nicely into this tight site which the big units couldn't navigate Being Fall, we had elk wandering through the campground on a regular basis including a HUGE 12 point bull. Mammoth has the village services (groceries, gas, food, etc) nearby except for showers which are in Gardiner about 5 miles away.

I would have liked to stay in Canyon Campground on the east side of the park. It looked like a great place but it closes shortly after Labor Day. We went there to hike the north and south rim of the canyon -- awesome! Services are very similar to Grant Village / Campground.

Here are the web sites that I used to plan out which campgrounds we wanted to stay at and which to skip:
Overview Map: http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/camp.htm
Campground Details: http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/camping.htm
Scroll down this 2nd webpage to see a nice table comparing the services of each campground and then read the details below that. Ignore the dates of opening and closing -- those are from a couple years ago.

Hope that helps! <strike> If </strike> When we get back for another visit I'd like to stay at Canyon Campground and at Madison as well.

--Lynne

[Ami P]

Hi Robin,
Thanks for the heads-up on the winder. I'll be sure to avoid it. Our plans are not finalized so far, I have a concert season to perform.
Ami and Alana