Seeing yellowstone on foot?

You state you want to park your RV and just travel by foot. Does that mean you will not have another vehicle to drive to different areas? Do you just want to walk from your campsite to see Yellowstone?

If so, you will not accomplish seeing Yellowstone. Yellowstone - and the Tetons - are huge. There's no way to see the important areas from your campsite. You are going to have to drive to certain areas.

Explore this Yellowstone site for 'Things To Do' and you will see that you're going to have to drive to do those things. The Tetons and every other national park has these wonderful sites with lots of information.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

frankly, the kind of hiking conditions you want... will be better found in the Tetons Park. Camp at Colter Bay campground in the north or Jenny Lake in the middle (very beautiful).
if you enjoy biking, take your bicycle..there is a bike path all the way into Jackson, etc.

For some hiking in Yellowstone, Madison campground might be best for the west side and Bridge Bay or Canyon for the east side.

Here is a list of online maps of Yellowstone which may be of help.

The Canyon Campground isn't too far from Yellowstone Canyon and the Falls, so walking to those sights may be practical. See the map for Canyon Village in the list above to get an estimate of the distances.

We have been to Yellowstone a number of times over the years and never camped at Grant Village. In our opinion it is just too far from the action. It is adjacent to Yellowstone Lake and the West Thumb Geyser Basin. In our past visits we never saw a geyser at West Thumb, just some hot springs. A day or two at Grant Village would be plenty to cover those sights on foot.

Something like 25% of the geysers in the world are at the Old Faithful area, along with many hot springs. The closest campground to this area is Madison, 16 miles away. There are other thermal areas, some with geysers, between Madison and Old Faithful. A bicycle would be a more reasonable method of travel between these areas.

The non-reservation campground at Norris is only a mile or so from the Norris Geyser Basin.

The non-reservation campground at Mammoth is within a reasonable walking distance (all uphill) to get to the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces.

Thanks, folks!

Any recommendations for two base campgrounds?

A back country hiking/camping pass is required. There is so much to see at YNP you won't come close to seeing everything, but what you will see is absolutely amazing.

Get the book `Tracking the Spirit of Yellowstone' by Bach a seasonal Ranger for many years. He claims that there are areas of Yellowstone that have never been seen by man. As a hiker you will appreciate his memories. Less than $3 from Amazon.

Thanks for the wind warning, western!

I like altitude, and I don't mind not seeing everything. If I were to stay at two campgrounds for 5-7 days each, and sightsee on foot, which campgrounds would you folks recommend?

Or should I shorten my trip and just spend more time in the Tetons? Where I am, of course, also going :).

www.nps.gov/yell has a map with distances. The Grand Loop around the park is 140 miles long. That's a lot of walking. There is no bus service for getting around. That hiking will not be flat land hiking. There are mountains to climb. It is also at elevation, 7500 feet to 8500 feet which will be a factor if you aren't acclimatized. In my estimation, Yellowstone is not a park that can be explored only on foot. One more thing, if you leave awning out while you are gone,, there will be about a 90% chance it will be gone when you get back. Big winds come up very quickly, taking anything that isn't nailed down.

You can walk into the wilderness from most any place in Yellowstone. The exception would be some of the thermal areas where you are limited in your access.

"Will a buffalo (bison) gore you"? It's always possible, but keep a good distance from them and you should be fine. We were enjoying a roadside rest area one day when a bull bison was very upset about something and came charging into the area. He charged towards us, but we were able to scatter into the brick restrooms and avoid a confrontation. He ran off into the forest, and we didn't see him again.

If you are hiking, I'd really recommend you carry and know how to use bear spray. It could save your life if you were to have a nasty encounter with a black or grizzly bear.

Here is some information on wildlife safety in Yellowstone:

Yellowstone Wildlife Safety Videos

Sure you can, YNP is roughly 40 mi east-west by 50 mi north-south. Most of the near sites are at least 10 miles from the Fishing Bridge CG, some are 20 miles or more and that's the crow fly distance. Pack a lunch before you leave. If you camp outside the park you can double those distances.

Bison can be avoided just stay 100 ft or more away from them. Grizzles, especially females with cubs are more dangerous if you cut cross country. But incidents are rare especially if you don't do stupid things.

On a more serious note there are a lot of long trails but you'll need transport to get you to the trailheads.