Grand Teton Park, Moran, WY

RLGetman: To avoid any steep grades, yes. Just head north for I-90 and follow it to Gillette. I've not hauled a big rig, as the biggest 5er we've had is a 30-footer. With it, and all others we've had, we've just pulled it through Yellowstone and exited the East gate. It's a beautiful drive, and it's done by hundreds of RVers daily. You'd get to experience Cody that way, and maybe enjoy the Buffalo Bill Museum, etc., then take a nice easy mountain drive over the Bighorns on Hwy 16 (Worland to Buffalo). But if you prefer flatlands and interstates, it probably won't take much longer to just go north and grab I-90 eastbound.

AuntE: We dry camp at least 95% if the time and don't have a generator. You won't need A.C. in the mountains, so if you can do without a microwave, hair dryer and electric coffee pot, you can make it on batteries. If you only have one in your RV, this might be a good time to add one. We can get by about 4 days with our two batteries, and much of that use is to run the furnace at night. In the old days, when our small RVs didn't use furnace blowers, one battery could last that long with ease.

kfp673: I'm thinking probably not. Colter Bay is, if I'm not mistaken, inside Grand Teton NP, and I'm pretty sure ATVs are not allowed on any of the trails. If you want to ride them, plan on camping in NFS campgrounds instead. Most have access to ATV trails, logging trails, etc. I'd make sure of access to ATV trails before making reservations, however. I don't ride those noisy things! (Don't like 'em either, to be perfectly honest.)

Can anyone tell me if you can ride ATV or OHV from colter directly to trails? We are considering a trip as well and would love to bring or SXS for some beautiful riding. Thanks

Lauren wrote:
In the Fall of 2011 we spent a week at Grizzly in West Yellowstone and 4 nights at Colter. It was wonderful and we never regretted the way we did it. We were our early and then in the evenings for photo shoots and far less traffic. And to see animals. And sunrises and sunsets. Great places. Enjoy. Be safe.

(For images of those areas you can go to www.LaurenBarbara.com and click on Wanderings on the left and go down to Wyoming. Of course, feel free to look at any other places as well! :-) )

That's exactly what we're doing this summer - Colter & Grizzly. Can't wait!

AuntEthel wrote:
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful suggesdtions! I really like the idea of Colter Bay and then heading to West Yellowstone. Going west was never on my radar, but looks like there are many campgrounds with hookups. We are traveling in a Jayco hybrid so Fishing Bridge is out. If we start in Colter we can take 80 west and then take 90 back with a stop at Mt. Rushmore and everything that part of country has to offer.

I was a little worried about dry camping because I read so many posts that people were using generators. I don't have a generator and have absolutely no idea how to use it! Haha! We are total rookies, as we just took our maiden voyage to Charleston, SC, a mere 1600 mile voyage. So, you can tell we just want to go!

You can stay without a generator but you have to be conservative with the usage of your power. When we took a two week trip to Canada, and in September no doubt, we did not take our generator for two reasons - 1) we were pretty sure we could find hookup sites anywhere we went, and 2) we were trying to save on weight. Well, as it turned out, the hook up sites we wanted were taken and we much preferred the dry sites. Moral of the story is that we were just fine, but we were conservative with our power and charged with our tow vehicle every day.

In the Fall of 2011 we spent a week at Grizzly in West Yellowstone and 4 nights at Colter. It was wonderful and we never regretted the way we did it. We were our early and then in the evenings for photo shoots and far less traffic. And to see animals. And sunrises and sunsets. Great places. Enjoy. Be safe.

(For images of those areas you can go to www.LaurenBarbara.com and click on Wanderings on the left and go down to Wyoming. Of course, feel free to look at any other places as well! :-) )

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful suggesdtions! I really like the idea of Colter Bay and then heading to West Yellowstone. Going west was never on my radar, but looks like there are many campgrounds with hookups. We are traveling in a Jayco hybrid so Fishing Bridge is out. If we start in Colter we can take 80 west and then take 90 back with a stop at Mt. Rushmore and everything that part of country has to offer.

I was a little worried about dry camping because I read so many posts that people were using generators. I don't have a generator and have absolutely no idea how to use it! Haha! We are total rookies, as we just took our maiden voyage to Charleston, SC, a mere 1600 mile voyage. So, you can tell we just want to go!

newk wrote:
I'd recommend a combination of the two above posts. Colter Bay for a few days and West Yellowstone for a few days. Even in light traffic, it's a long, long drive from Colter Bay to the north end of the Park (Mammoth). But if you don't want to move to another campground, commuting from Colter Bay is certainly doable. As Jalichty suggested, leave early and avoid the heavy traffic. I always recommend early sight-seeing. As a bonus, it's prettier just after dawn and just before sunset too.

Good suggestion, Newk.

That is exactly what I have planned. Staying at Colter Bay first and then West Yellowstone. I will be driving through Yellowstone when I move my 5ER. Highway 89 to 14 to 20 avoiding Craig Pass. I am still searching for a way to get from West Yellowstone to the east end of Yellowstone and then to Gillette WY. It seems, to avoid any steep passes, from West Yellowstone, I will need to take highway 191 north to I90 and then east down to Gillette WY. Has anyone else pulled a large 5ER West to East through Yellowstone?

I'd recommend a combination of the two above posts. Colter Bay for a few days and West Yellowstone for a few days. Even in light traffic, it's a long, long drive from Colter Bay to the north end of the Park (Mammoth). But if you don't want to move to another campground, commuting from Colter Bay is certainly doable. As Jalichty suggested, leave early and avoid the heavy traffic. I always recommend early sight-seeing. As a bonus, it's prettier just after dawn and just before sunset too.

Aunt Ethel - why not stay at an RV park at West Yellowstone, MT? It's right outside the West entrance to Yellowstone. A lot of folks recommend Grizzly RV but there are many nice RV parks there and there's even Baker's Hole, a forest service CG 2 mies North of West Yellowstone and it has electricity hookups and water at the entrance to fill up. We go there most years in the early Fall and there's not much traffic. We haven't been there in July so I couldn't tell you how busy it is.