Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone

This may be sacriligious, but we enjoy creature comforts almost as much as we enjoy Yellowstone. We always stay outside the park, normally at Gardiner, but sometimes West Yellowstone. We do this because we like to come home after a long day and enjoy a nice meal at a decent restaurant without a 2 hour wait. We like having our cell phones work and enjoy having internet access. We like to be able to drive 1/4 mile to a grocery store and buy stuff at prices that are not totally ridiculous. Yellowstone will always involve a lot of driving, to us the amenities at our base camp are more important than saving a couple of minutes and miles.

West Yellowstone is actually more centrally located to MOST of the parks main attractions.

I hear this repeated a lot on this board and I'm not sure why so many people think this. I was bored so I thought I'd put this myth to the test.

Miles from West Yellowstone/ Miles from Fishing Bridge

Old Faithful Geyser .......... 31.3 miles/39.4 miles
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone............ 39.6 miles/15.7 miles
Hayden Valley............. 47.1 / 8.4 miles
Mammoth Hot Springs............ 48.7 miles/48.6 miles
Yellowstone Lake (nearest approach) ............ 48.6 miles/ .3 miles
Norris Geyser Basin............ 28.2 miles/27.7 miles
Lamar Valley...... 65.2 miles/41.9 miles
Tower Fall....... 55.4/31.8 miles
West Thumb Geyser Basin...... 48.3 miles/20.5 miles

So I guess West Yellowstone is actually more centrally located to ONE of the parks main attractions, it is 8 miles closer to Old Faithful.

About the only regret you will have is that 4 days isn't nearly enough time in Yellowstone. You will be able to see most of the highlights, but to truly see and enjoy the park one needs 1-2 weeks. Enjoy your stay and begin thinking about your next trip to Yellowstone.
Fishing Bridge RV is not a place to just hang out at your camp site. It is a little tight but most don't have any problems. Most of your time will be spent away from the campground. Plan on taking your lunch with you or plan on buying something at one of the visitor centers.

Enjoy your time there,
Keith

Thanks for all the information everyone has provided. It is very helpful and much appreciated. Now, can you all just make time fly so we can hit the road and get there already? Can you tell I'm excited? We have traveled to lots of the National Parks but this will be the first time we have actually camped inside of a park. I am so ready to experience waking up and enjoying early morning in Yellowstone! Thanks again everyone!

You'll find Verizon in some areas of the park and one is not far from Fishing Bridge. No need to drive outside the park. When you arrive, just ask at the Visitor Center for help in locating the best possible areas. Also ask for a park telephone number that your family can call - in an emergency only - and that someone will contact you. It's easy to do.

As far as cold temps - in June in the 20's would be rare but you could have around 35-40 deg. so bring extra blankets! It does warm up fast though during the day. .. and yes, you 'could' have light snow but it would melt fast during the day. You'll have a wonderful time!!

kedanie wrote:

skipnchar wrote:
Nearly everyone who needs cell service leave the park to get it

This statement is about as wrong as you could get. While cell service is not available in the Fishing Bridge campground, there is service nearby just to the east and at Canyon Village area.
To top that off, anyone saying that West Yellowstone is closer to the attractions is once again wrong. It is outside the park and one must drive back and forth through the animal jams each day.
Yellowstone is huge and requires much patience in driving around.

Keith

10-4

Check your private messages :) :)

kedanie wrote:

skipnchar wrote:
Nearly everyone who needs cell service leave the park to get it

This statement is about as wrong as you could get. While cell service is not available in the Fishing Bridge campground, there is service nearby just to the east and at Canyon Village area.
To top that off, anyone saying that West Yellowstone is closer to the attractions is once again wrong. It is outside the park and one must drive back and forth through the animal jams each day.
Yellowstone is huge and requires much patience in driving around.

Keith

Keith is right on all counts! We spent 10 days in Fishing Bridge last August and found Verizon service in several places in the park and not too far from Fishing Bridge. Also, Fishing Bridge is about as centrally located as you can get for touring the entire park. You're going to be driving a lot no matter where you stay but it's certainly much less mileage staying inside the park! Yes, the campground is tight but it's not like you're going to be spending much time there for it to matter!

If you have time I highly recommend that you drive out the Northeast entrance and drive the "Beartooth Highway"! It's a beautiful drive. We left Fishing Bridge about 7am one morning, drove out the NE entrance to the Beartooth Highway, had lunch in Red Lodge, MT and then took back roads down to Cody, WY and entered Yellowstone again via the East entrance. We arrived back at our rig about 7pm. Long day but well worth it! It was faster to go back via Cody than backtracking our drive.

We can't wait to go back to Yellowstone! Awesome park!

Peg

skipnchar wrote:
Nearly everyone who needs cell service leave the park to get it

This statement is about as wrong as you could get. While cell service is not available in the Fishing Bridge campground, there is service nearby just to the east and at Canyon Village area.
To top that off, anyone saying that West Yellowstone is closer to the attractions is once again wrong. It is outside the park and one must drive back and forth through the animal jams each day.
Yellowstone is huge and requires much patience in driving around.

Keith

dahkota wrote:
. Watch out in the early mornings - there are bears. I ran into one at about 6 AM. Open your door and look both ways before stepping out!

I found a sure cure for bear problems. every night I would take a paper bag full of meat scraps, etc., and walk to the other end of the park and throw it under some RV there.
bumpy