Forum Discussion

kodiak_308's avatar
kodiak_308
Explorer
Jul 28, 2015

Campground near Yosemite and Grand Canyon

Plan on making a long awaited trip from Florida Panhandle to Grand Canyon then on to Yosemite and Yellowstone. Looking for recommendations on parks close to Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Have a 41ft 5th wheel. We don't necessarily want to stay in the National Parks but close enough to run back and forth if needed. We plan on leaving the last week of May and are allowing 4 weeks.
  • Yup, sorry. Didn't read.

    Here's where I stay at Yosemite

    http://highsierrarv.com/index.html

    About 15 min from Bass Lake. My favorite lake in the area. But yes, you'll need to drive a bit to get to the popular Yosemite attractions. I'd suggest staying in the park if you've never been there. So much to see, you might not want to spend all your time driving.
  • I feel your pain. Still working here too.

    We did a X-country trip this year to the places you plan and quite a few more. It was 4 weeks plus a couple days. We put 7,600 miles on the MH. Most of those were during the 2.5 days out and 2.5 days home.

    I hated to burn all that fuel in such a short trip, but we wanted to get the kids out there to see as much as possible before they got into the teenage years.

    We did a day trip to the GC, so can't help you there. We left Monument Valley, stopped at GC and overnighted with family in Kingman, AZ. Hated to cut that leg short, but we had a wedding to attend in San Clemente, CA over the 4th of July weekend.

    X3 on Grizzly in West Yellowstone. Great campground, great little town.

    We stayed at Yosemite Ridge Resort in Buck Meadows NW of the park. It was a little too far of a drive into the park, our site was tight, and off level side to side with a soft mix of dirt and stone. What a pain.

    Since we were moving often, I reserved in CGs that looked like easy in and out. This was the only one we "missed" on and really not by much.

    I don't know about other routes into Yosemite, but I was glad we didn't stay in the park when we drove the Toad in. There may be a better route in or more CG choices along the other routes into the park. We chose our CG based upon leaving Sequoia, hitting Yosemite and crossing Nevada to Yellowstone.

    Hey, it's only gasoline and this was, most likely, our only shot of taking this trip until retirement, hopefully, someday.
  • Trailer village at the Grand Canyon was a wonderful campground - sites are close to 70 ft long I could park the Jeep in front or back of the motor home on the pavement
    We had snow on April 17th



  • Got to SOUTH Rim and stay at Trailer Village - even has shuttle stop. Great place!
  • Actually, there is a campground close to Yosemite, about five miles from the entrance, called Yosemite Lakes. We stayed there last spring while tripping from Wyoming to Idaho, Nevada, California (Tahoe, Yosemite and Seqouia), Palm Desert, Zion and Utah. Very convenient to the Park. If you are coming from the south to Yellowstone, you could take a look at the Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton, it's about 45 minutes from the south entrance to Yellowstone on decent roads and is a beautiful place to stay. We go up there about three times a year for about a week at a time. I wouldn't recommend the RV park simply because of the cost, almost $60 per night for full hook-up.
  • Naio's avatar
    Naio
    Explorer II
    In the summer or fall, I recommend the North Rim, not the South. It's higher, so it's cooler and has trees -- and the canyon is deeper!

    I agree that anything outside of Yosemite is too far to drive in.
  • Main problem with North Rim is you see only about 10% of the Grand Canyon.