I see on their website that they have some ADA electric' sites. Anybody know details about those? Are they usually full? I know the cg does not take reservations. I would be traveling with someone who uses an electric wheelchair, and needs to recharge it nightly.

Your most reliable answer will come from Grand Teton Lodge Co. at (307) 543-2811.We don't qualify for ADA, but I'm pretty sure that they keep the ADA sites open for Campers who need an ADA site until they fill, or until late in the day when the entire campground fills.From looking at the web site, there are 13 ADA sites with electricty at Colter Bay and 10 at Gros Ventre. There are an additional 26 sites at Gros Ventre with electric that aren't listed as meeting ADA.We always stay at Gros Ventre when in the Tetons - they rarely fill (never when we have been there in June).

I was there late last summer and the campground mostly did not fill. The ADA sites were available. They have at least electric... don't recall if sewer and water included. Nice concrete pad.

Disabled patrons get priority for ADA sites. First come first served you could not make reservations BUT if someone is in the site without a disability they are required to share it or vacate it for you. Contact http://m.gtlc.com/lodging.htmlFor non-disabled they are allowed to take the site if it is the last available but are notified by a posted sign (and usually a host too) about the same.

We were in Colter Bay two years ago on one of our three trips there each summer and used one of the ADA sites when our son and his family joined us for three days. They reserve them for most of the day but will lets people without disabilities use them when they don't fill up around 2:00 or 3:00. Our daughter-in-law has a C-Pap machine so the electric was good to have but there is some type of designation you need to get to just get into the site early, don't know what it is but some kind of disabled pass I think. As far as the site is concerned, they are quite roomy with electric only and are very level for the most part. Not all are paved, but even the dirt/gravel ones are very nice. How long does it take to re-charge the wheelchair? If you can't get into one of the ADA sites, you can run a generator from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm in about half the sites so, after sightseeing, you might have three or four hours to recharge before having to shut the generator off, if you have one.

tsetsaf wrote:Disabled patrons get priority for ADA sites. First come first served you could not make reservations BUT if someone is in the site without a disability they are required to share it or vacate it for you. Contact http://m.gtlc.com/lodging.htmlFor non-disabled they are allowed to take the site if it is the last available but are notified by a posted sign (and usually a host too) about the same.So, if understanding correctly, the non ADA comes in, is given the last availalable site, ADA or otherwise. Later the ADA comes in, no reservation, & the non ADA is kicked out with nowhere to go? Is that how it is?Don't misunderstand me, I am all for helping the disabled but booting somebody out of a campsite because you have extended your day to the fullest & then expect somebody to be kicked out with noplace to go, if necessary, to accomodate you, does not seem quite fair.If the non ADA took the site when other, non ADA, were available, then too bad. Get out. You rolled the dice & lost.

Colter Bay cg (not the RV park), Grand Tetons? | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

2gypsies1
Explorer III
Mar 29, 2015
SwanInWA wrote:
Someone robbed us of the contents of our bear box while we we were making a quick trip to the convenience store nearby. Reported it to the staff and they basically shrugged and said they weren't surprised. We moved to Gros Ventre the next day. Too bad -- it's a really pretty campground. Just be aware and don't leave anything unattended.

...and that's the campground's fault? It could happen anywhere.
Naio
Explorer II
Mar 28, 2015
SwanInWA wrote:
Someone robbed us of the contents of our bear box while we we were making a quick trip to the convenience store nearby. Reported it to the staff and they basically shrugged and said they weren't surprised. We moved to Gros Ventre the next day. Too bad -- it's a really pretty campground. Just be aware and don't leave anything unattended.

Wow, that is awful!
Naio
Explorer II
Mar 28, 2015
jalichty wrote:
The ADA sites run around one loop, with half of them going down one side and the other half coming out the other side. In the middle of the site are simple dry camping sites. I think, if you could get one of the dry sites close to the ADA sites, the extension cord would work or it you got into either of the loops on each side of the ADA sites, the cord might work ok. Actually, there are plugs in the bathrooms in each loop as well. Don't know if they would work for the wheelchair as they are 120, but I'll bet them would.

By the way, smkettner, this campground doesn't have the traditional "camp host" like a lot of campgrounds do. The entrance gate is the camp host and it closes around 7:00 pm most of the time. However, most of the folks who work at the entrance gate are in the campground at a special place on one of the loops. So, a person could probably find one if they looked hard enough.

Thanks, that was very helpful!

Yes, the wheelchair takes 120. We camped together once at another NP, without electricity at any sites, but staff were super nice about letting us plug in elsewhere. Of course, it is a bit difficult to have the wheelchair in a separate place from the person who uses it to get to dinner, the bathroom, and bed :).
SwanInWA
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015
That's true, it could happen anywhere. But in 25 years of avid camping that's the only place it has ever happened to us. That we were gone such a short time and that they dug through our bear box was patricularly unsettling, I think. We left nothing out to attract them.
jalichty
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015
Same thing could happen at Gros Ventre as happened in Colter Bay and you would get the same response. We have never, in about 50 years of going to Colter Bay, had anything stolen from our site or out boat that is on dry land down by the marina overnight. Now watch it happen this year on one of the three trips we will take there this summer.
SwanInWA
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015
Someone robbed us of the contents of our bear box while we we were making a quick trip to the convenience store nearby. Reported it to the staff and they basically shrugged and said they weren't surprised. We moved to Gros Ventre the next day. Too bad -- it's a really pretty campground. Just be aware and don't leave anything unattended.
jalichty
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015
The ADA sites run around one loop, with half of them going down one side and the other half coming out the other side. In the middle of the site are simple dry camping sites. I think, if you could get one of the dry sites close to the ADA sites, the extension cord would work or it you got into either of the loops on each side of the ADA sites, the cord might work ok. Actually, there are plugs in the bathrooms in each loop as well. Don't know if they would work for the wheelchair as they are 120, but I'll bet them would.

By the way, smkettner, this campground doesn't have the traditional "camp host" like a lot of campgrounds do. The entrance gate is the camp host and it closes around 7:00 pm most of the time. However, most of the folks who work at the entrance gate are in the campground at a special place on one of the loops. So, a person could probably find one if they looked hard enough.
time2roll
Nomad
Mar 28, 2015
Extension might work if in the next site. IIRC the ADAs are next to the access road with just one site within proximity. I can't imagine an occupant would deny you from plugging in if asked nice and polite to leave the item there overnight. Otherwise you could ask the camp host etc where to find a plug. I think most people want to help if they can.
Naio
Explorer II
Mar 28, 2015
Thanks folks, for the info! My friend does have a disabled parks pass.

The wheelchair takes about 10 hours to charge, so a genny is not practical. How far apart are the sites? Would it be practical to use a 100' extension cord, if all the disabled sites are full?
westernrvparkow
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015
Veebyes wrote:
tsetsaf wrote:
Disabled patrons get priority for ADA sites. First come first served you could not make reservations BUT if someone is in the site without a disability they are required to share it or vacate it for you. Contact http://m.gtlc.com/lodging.html

For non-disabled they are allowed to take the site if it is the last available but are notified by a posted sign (and usually a host too) about the same.

So, if understanding correctly, the non ADA comes in, is given the last availalable site, ADA or otherwise. Later the ADA comes in, no reservation, & the non ADA is kicked out with nowhere to go? Is that how it is?

Don't misunderstand me, I am all for helping the disabled but booting somebody out of a campsite because you have extended your day to the fullest & then expect somebody to be kicked out with noplace to go, if necessary, to accomodate you, does not seem quite fair.

If the non ADA took the site when other, non ADA, were available, then too bad. Get out. You rolled the dice & lost.
The standard a business has to comply with is they must accommodate the request for an ADA compliant room is "reasonable". It would be "unreasonable" to kick someone out of site if they had nowhere else to go. It is probably unreasonable to even make them move to another site if they are already on site. It would probably not be unreasonable to move a non checked in reservation to another site to accommodate a disabled guest. It is all basically a moot point, since there is no ADA mandates for RV sites. Now a business has every right to set aside certain sites for certain usages, but legally, holding a long site for a motorhome pulling an enclosed car hauler is the same as holding a site for a disabled guest's use. The park can do basically whatever they want. If electricity is a must I would either call and make sure you can get one of those sites or make a reservation at a park where electricity is guaranteed. Leaving it up to chance doesn't make much sense.