RV parks in Yellowstone & Tetons 2016

We stayed at Fishing bridge this last July for 7 nights.

Full hookups and located close enough to Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, Canyon, Tower and Lamar Valley made it the prefect location for us. Very friendly neighbors every night(8 sets of neighbors) made up for the tight spacing but honestly, we did a late breakfast, then a grilled/cold lunch on the road while sightseeing and late dinner back at camper, so extra space would not have been used by us.

Now in retrospective Old Faithful, Norris, Madison, and Mammoth was a haul and might have been better spend coming from West Yellowstone.

If I had to do it over again I would do 4 nights at Fishing Bridge and 3 nights West Yellowstone.

However, I did enjoy getting up early in the morings and having the park pretty much to myself until about 9:30 am everyday, but by 10:00 am everyone was arriving or driving about.

Dean

Don't avoid Grizzly because its outside the park. From the west gate to the grand loop is 15 miles, but you aren't driving through a tunnel. The animals don't know (or care) that they aren't living on the Grand Loop. One spring morning, I stopped for a herd of Buffalo crossing the road, a pair of bald eagles feeding their chicks, a fox and her kits doing the same thing, and an idiot that walked up behind a male deer sporting a full rack of horns during mating season, just to take a picture. Not recommended. Don't treat Yellowstone like you're in a petting zoo. The animals are wild.
Advantages of Grizzly - free coffee on the way to the park each morning. FHUs plus cable and WIFI, you and your next door neighbor can both open your doors at the same time without banging into each other, long pull thru sites, and two grocery stores that compete on price a couple of blocks away. The stores inside the park pay for the privilege. You can visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center on the way to the west gate. Its private and there's a small entrance fee, but its as close to a wolf or a grizzly as you want to be. They also relocate bears from the surrounding area to more remote locations where they have to hunt for wild animals instead of nearby rancher's cattle. The bears also test "Bear Boxes" where you can safely store food inside the park. The bears don't need a key. They just pick it up and beat it on a boulder until it opens.
The Tetons are just south of Yellowstone. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and moose are everywhere. As you're headed south on 191, turn right onto Teton Park Road, then left on Signal Mountain Road all the way to the top. There's a viewing platform at the top. I think you can see about 3 states from there (slight exaggeration). Then continue south on Teton Park road and turn right on Jenny Lake Loop road. There's a turnout 3 miles south that holds about 6 cars. Park and walk over to the edge of Jenny Lake and sit on one of the boulders. Jenny lake has never had a motor boat on it and is as clear as glass. And it feels like you can reach out and touch the mountains, (but don't try it). The view is so beautiful, you'll never forget it. I think my high blood pressure dropped about 30 points.
Don't tell anyone about this. Its our little secret. :)

GeoBoy ..... we did exactly the same. Up and going early and beat the traffic.

BozemanTrail wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:
Do not pass up Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

Don't mean to sounds negative on Grizzly RV Park in West, it is a nice place, but better to stay in the park if you want to spend less time driving each day...

We spent 8 days at Grizzly RV Park and saw all of Yellowstone NP, north, south, east and west Yellowstone.

The Bible of Campgrounds and RV parks

Seriously if you are not using this tool you are not planning right.

Bridge Bay is about 25 miles from Fishing Bridge. I would second or third as to getting out early to get good looks at the animals. Staying in West Yellowstone really would cause you to travel quite a ways each day to get into and see the Park. However, the scenery getting there is great and chances of seeing wildlife are also great. I see you already have your reservations for next year. Get to the parks and have a great time. While in Grand Teton, make sure you take a cruise from Colter Bay around the lake, maybe even a dinner or lunch cruise and have dinner or lunch on Elk Island, almost in the shadow of Mt. Moran. Go see Jenny Lake and the Gros Ventre area. Also, take the Moose/Wilson Road and take in the Laurence Rockefeller Reserve and Phelps Lake. It is the newest addition to Grand Teton. Make sure you are out and around early in the morning and in the early evening to get a better chance of seeing a great deal of wildlife. One evening last summer we were going to Two Ocean Lake and managed to photograph and video a sow Grizzly and two cubs eating grubs about 15-20 feet off the road we were on. Something a person never forgets. Also, try to get into Jackson one day and take a whitewater rafting trip down the Snake River, a great deal of fun and when you get back take in the the Bar J Wranglers dinner and show. It's out toward the Teton Village area and you have to get tickets early as they mostly sell out every day. Not gourmet food, but good food fed to about 600 or more people in less than 20 minutes followed by about two hours of really good wester music and humor by a very talented bunch of guys. Whatever you do, have a great time and enjoy what our wonderful world has to offer.

This is a family blog with the best Iteneraries and routes that I found when planning my trip in 2014.

Yellowstone options

We stayed at Bridge Bay but I believe that's close to Fishing Bridge. There is a great wildlife viewing area about 4-5 miles north on the main road.

Also, the best tip I can give is get out early each day. I was out at first light for photography and swung back by campground to pick up family around 0800. We encountered no significant traffic on the way to our first stop each day and it was the week of 4th of July. We would go to most popular stops early when possible to work in to a decent driving route.

GeoBoy wrote:
Do not pass up Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

Don't mean to sounds negative on Grizzly RV Park in West, it is a nice place, but better to stay in the park if you want to spend less time driving each day...

Do not pass up Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

I just booked 5 nights at Fishing Bridge. Thank you all for your help. Love this forum. Now I just need to book some horseback riding and some rafting. If anyone has some good Yellowstone and Teton itineraries to share that would be great. Merry Christmas. Jesus was born for all of us!