Transit through Yellowstone? South ent to west ent

aslakson wrote:

I would come through the south entrance up to Grant Village and then through to West Yellowstone Via Old faithful

Ditto. Done it several times. Depending on the time of year, there may be heavy traffic . . . but that's Yellowstone.

al

I went south on that route about four years ago and got stuck behind a grouchy old male buffalo. We followed him for almost 20 minutes until he decided to move to the shoulder. I would go that way again with no problems. There are a lot worse places to get stuck in traffic.

CloudDriver - You're welcome. Brooks Lake is beautiful but a drive back. The road is a good packed dirt road and wide in some spots to pull over to make room for oncoming traffic. Sites are varied and smaller than Falls, so for us with our FW, we prefer Falls. When we went to Falls last September, they were having problems with the water system, so none was available at the pump. Due to that, the fee was reduced a little. We carry enough at all times and are conservative so it wasn't a problem for us.

ReneeG - Thanks for posting your pictures of Falls campground. It was still closed by snow when we stopped there two years back to see the waterfall. We also wanted to try Brooks Lake Campground, but that was closed by snow as well. Maybe this year's trip.

So many great places to visit - just not enough time!

Aww Guys...stop posting those awesome pics. We want to be back there!

Hey CloudDriver - Falls is our favorite campground. It has an Electric loop that's great, but the dry loop is good too with many sites to fit our rig.

Loop A Electric loop pull through -
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Another site in Loop A


A view of Loop A
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In our experience, you will not need to be in any hurry to get to Gros Ventre by 11:00 AM on May 30. That date is the end of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, so the holiday campers will be leaving to go back to work. We have been at Gros Ventre many times over the years and never had any problem getting a site on any day through the end June.

Most recently, we drove over from Lander on Saturday, May 31, 2014 and found only about 20 other sites occupied in the entire campground. We likely arrived late afternoon as we aren't early risers and I know we stopped for an hour or so to explore the waterfall at the Falls Campground near the top of Togwotee Pass.

Take your time - the drive from Dubois over the pass is beautiful.

Also, I can confirm that there is one loop with electric at Gros Ventre.

Upper portion of the waterfall at Falls Campground.

As for Gros Ventre. Last time we camped there we had a 32' TT and fit fine. There are various sites and my understanding is that they now offer electric sites. Notice the fifth wheel in the back.

Gros Ventre - row style, back in.



Our site - Gros Ventre - wide - this is a 32 foot TT




disregard the formatting notes. Something funky with pulling in photos, but at least the photos showed up.

Looks like we'll be going through YNP then. Would like to know more about Gros Ventre with 29ft fiver. Arriving precisely at 11am seems the wisest to get a spot. We can cut short out Dubois time and arrive on Monday May 30 and depart Wed Jun 1st. My rig is set up to dry camp (plenty of water and 4 6v batteries w/ 400W of solar). Thoughts?

You ARE going to spend some time in Grand Teton National Park aren't you? From Jackson you'll be driving right through it. It would be worth your while to stop and explore this beautiful park. Gros Ventre campground in the park is fairly close to Jackson. It has 300 non-reservable dry camp spots which rarely fills. In June - it won't. Further along toward Yellowstone is Colter Bay campground - the same, 300 non-reservable sites. Right next door is Colter Bay RV where you might snag a spot if you want full hookups. The hiking is fantastic in the Tetons and the scenery is like a miniature Alps - quite different from Yellowstone.

Then continue north through the south entrance of Yellowstone. If you start out from the Tetons early morning you'll see many more critters and the traffic will be light. It's quite an experience.

Definitely go thru Yellowstone. BTW, I'd rather deal with YNP traffic than Jackson (city) traffic any day, especially towing. Jackson is congested, crowded & busy. The park (i.e. YNP) is congested in a few spots, and you'll make relatively slow progress but the scenery & wildlife (and yes, tourist-watching) are worth it. Speed limit is 45, and there will be unscheduled stops periodically for elk/bison/bear "jams", but it's all ok. Enjoy.

The drive from Dubois to Moran Jct is also quite scenic. :)