CG outside Yellowstone

Whatever time you think that you will need to see Y’stone NP you better double it!

Remember that Y’stone Park itself is about 50 miles E/W and 70 miles N/S (2.2 Mil Acres) and the Grand Loop (figure 8) road is about 140 miles around. With a 45mph speed limit (radar controlled) and the thermal attractions and the Bison think that they own the road they will sometimes back up traffic for 1/4 mile or more and the altitude (Canyon Area is 7918 ft, Old Faithful is 7365 ft and Mammoth Area is ONLY 6239 ft) it will take a full day for each loop.

When walking take it easy, carry/drink lots of water as it can be very exhausting, then you will only see the highlights. If your luck is like mine I guarantee that Old Faithful will have gone off just minutes before you arrived and will have to wait about another hour and 10-15 minutes for it to go off again kill time by walking around the upper geyser basin. When you are at Old faithful be sure to go into the Old Faithful Inn and look up when inside. When in the visitor center, Inn, Snowlodge etc they will have a sign displaying approximately when the next eruption will occur (+ or – about 10/15 minutes)

We have lived about 110 miles from the West Y’stone entrance for 50 years and go there a couple of times each summer and I still haven’t seen everything yet.

We day trip it to Old Faithful a couple of times every summer just to have lunch in the Old Faithful Inn. (the O/F INN is highly recommended to see)

All the above information to one extent or another goes for GTNP also.
In Jackson

The Bar J Chuckwagon dinner/show in Jackson is high on our list. We see them 3-4 times every summer! Get RESERVATIONS and be there EARLY to pick up your tickets! Tim, their fiddle player has won the Idaho State fiddle championship 8 times and the US open championship 2 times!
http://www.barjchuckwagon.com/Chuckwagon.html

djcjc wrote:
Wife has fianlly decided and so am planning a trip to Yellowstone this summer. Looked at a couple CGs one in Cody WY and one west of Cody. They have full hookups which is what we prefer. Would these work as a base camp and then drive to and thru the park for a few days to see the sites. Have a 33 ft TT and Ram Dually. This is what we did last year camped in Deadwood and drove to different areas of the blackhills for day trips.

If I were you I would think about a 2 night stay at Cody to see the sites there, then would go through Yellowstone NP and find a park in the West Yellowstone Mt. area, think there are around 7 or so within 10 miles of the west entrance with Grizzly being the best in my opinion.

There are also a couple of closer CGs at Garnier, MT, just outside the Roosevelt Arch entrance (Park Headquarters and Mamoth Hot Springs).

FUH, overlooking the Yellowstone River.

A couple of days in each of the five main areas of the park is not enough.