August Crowds?

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
How about Banff, and Jasper? Maybe a trans Canada park tour.

I'd recommend Peter Lougheed Albertan Provincial Park, but it is already booked for the water/power sites. They have a 90 day window on the campsites and each day they open at midnight on their website. I got up on the morning of the day the sites open 90 days out and got the VERY LAST water power site available in Boulton Creek campground.

Don't even try the sites down in the Bow Valley. But then again, you don't need to. Imagine Glacier NP. Pretty much and no one knows it, but Glacier is the southern end of the same geography all the way up to the Banff Jasper area. And Peter Lougheed is like the hidden gem of the whole thing. They did some development about forty years ago (one area) and then voted to not allow anymore development. It is wonderful and the Albertans know how to do a park right.

Honeybee8888 wrote:
Thanks to those of you with the positive responses. For those of you who think I'm a year too late, or crazy to travel without reservations-- oh well. I suppose you think I'll have more fun in New Jersey in August? Ever seen the crowds at the Jersey Shore?

Toedtoes-- I'm with you! A bad day in a crowded park in August beats staying home any time of year! As long as we are in our RV, we are happy people.

Sounds like you certainly have the right attitude! Good luck and have a blast!

Honeybee8888 wrote:
Busskipper,

Thanks for the detailed itinerary! We too love Colorado, and were at Turquoise Lake just last June! We also were in Ouray in, I think, 2015 and drove the Million Dollar Highway. We also camped at a NFS campground (Big Cimarron Campground; no hookups)-- on August 31, we and our friends were literally the only people there, and it cooled down a LOT at night! You are right, it's a fantastic destination, and may just be our alternative plan. I am going to plug in some of your suggestions and see how it all works out.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Debbie

In addition to Bill's suggestions for Colorado, somewhere along the way, if you haven't already, you could take a detour to the quiet side of Rocky Mountain National Park -- the WEST side. Entrance outside of Grand Lake, there's Timber Creek CG not too far in to the park, it's all first come/first served. Every time I've been over there, on weekend trips, it's never been completely full, there's always open sites. They cater more to the tent camper and popup folks, but I've seen some class A and C rigs there as well. The sites can be a it tight for bigger rigs, but you should be fine with the size of the rig in your siggy.

As an alternative, there's also multiple places to stay around Lake Granby/Grand Lake/Shadow Mountain Lake. Arapaho National Forest, there's a half dozen places to stay. H E R E - Grand Lake Area is the website for ANF. Stillwater, Green Ridge and Arapaho Bay are all spectacular places to stay, views of the lake and mountains from most sites.

donn0128 wrote:
Yellowstone in August? Good luck finding a place to stay within a hundred miles.

OP says they don't need hookups. There's all kinds of dispersed camping options on public land outside the park boundary.

2gypsies wrote:
Here are visitation stats for Yellowstone for various years/months:

http://www.yellowstone.co/stats.htm

Thanks great info.

I've done Yellowstone three times now in August, including the eclipse frenzy last year. The other two visits were on the spur of the moment.

Since you're not a slave to hookups, you shouldn't have much of a problem at all. Just find a one night reservation at any campground in the park, say Madison. Leave your campground at 6am and head to one of the first come, first served campgrounds like Norris. Find a site folks are packing up at, and bingo, you're set for the rest of your stay.

As to crowds, yes it's busier in August than June or September. Just get up early, see the sights, then settle in somewhere for the afternoon. Follow that advice, you'll be fine. I used to avoid August because of all the stories about crowds. Still prefer June/September, but given the choice of going to Yellowstone in August or not at all that year, I'd rather be in Yellowstone.

Idaho and Western Montana and Western Wyoming. Off the beaten path. Or, Northern Utah. Anywhere with altitude.

Honeybee8888 wrote:
Busskipper,

Thanks for the detailed itinerary! We too love Colorado, and were at Turquoise Lake just last June! We also were in Ouray in, I think, 2015 and drove the Million Dollar Highway. We also camped at a NFS campground (Big Cimarron Campground; no hookups)-- on August 31, we and our friends were literally the only people there, and it cooled down a LOT at night! You are right, it's a fantastic destination, and may just be our alternative plan. I am going to plug in some of your suggestions and see how it all works out.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Debbie

Big Cimarron, I'll bet was GREAT, so you know the area, just need to have someone push you back. :)

First half of August will be more crowded but the kids head back to school in Mid August so things tend lighten up during the week in Colorado.

Think you might just Love Lake City and the Surrounds, Quiet - Cool - Beautiful.

Hope I helped "Push" you back to the Colorado I Love.

Let us know what you decided.

Best of Luck,

Busskipper,

Thanks for the detailed itinerary! We too love Colorado, and were at Turquoise Lake just last June! We also were in Ouray in, I think, 2015 and drove the Million Dollar Highway. We also camped at a NFS campground (Big Cimarron Campground; no hookups)-- on August 31, we and our friends were literally the only people there, and it cooled down a LOT at night! You are right, it's a fantastic destination, and may just be our alternative plan. I am going to plug in some of your suggestions and see how it all works out.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Debbie

If you get going in the AM. you can avoid quite a bit of crowding. The line in West Yellowstone usually starts to back up at 9:30 AM. For some reason people have trouble getting their butts on the road early and not hanging out in the Three Bear Pancake joint for breakfast.