RV Park near Yellowstone

svcheerio wrote:
Thanks for responding Jim Shoe....I have already been over and over all of the info that is available online including this one. What I am really looking for is first hand info from other RV-ers. I really just wonder if the Grant Village stop is necessary as it seems that most sites are nearly as close to Madison (example: Old Faithful) as to Grant. Obviously there would be some hikes and, of course the lake at Grants that you wouldn't get at Madison. But we aren't there to fish or boat so i just wonder if it is worth the stop. But maybe everything is "worth the stop" in Yellowstone. There's nothing like hearing from people who have actually been there.

Another question that I have that you may be able to answer......it seems we will be able to make our reservations online as we are just at 40' with our motorhome and toad. But our son will be over that length. I think I understand that there are some of those sites available but not online? Is that your understanding? I'm pretty sure that's how I read it.
Again, thanks for responding. Any other first hand info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

In my opinion, traveling to Yellowstone with multiple rigs that are very large without having concrete reservations is asking for trouble. Hoping that there are sites available that are not online is standing at the craps table and putting all your money on the "12" It might just happen and you will be rewarded, but you are most likely going to head out of the casino broke. People who have not traveled extensively in the Yellowstone area cannot appreciate the vast distances one might need to travel should places be sold out. More than once have I been in the office at the park we stay in each spring and fall and watched the park's staff call other RV parks looking for space for travelers who just happened by. Often times the nearest availability will be 80 or more miles further away from Yellowstone. Backtracking that far after you just made a 1500 mile trip to get to Yellowstone is not the way to start a vacation. Inside the park, if you don't have a reservation, you will need to be at the first come, first served parks very early in the morning to line up and wait for people to leave. Sometimes you get right in and sometimes you wait for 4 hours and then get told everyone who is leaving has left and you are out of luck. As for oversized rigs, sometimes the rangers and campground staff are co-operative and helpful and sometimes they just tell you to move on down the road. And sometimes you just can't put a 45 foot peg in a 35 foot hole. At Yellowstone the distances are just too far and the risk vs reward of traveling without reservations is just not worth it to me.