Tent camping in/around Yellowstone, without generators

Thank you all for your suggestions! I really appreciate your input. We've camped around bears before and have never been bothered. DD wants to go to Yellowstone, and it will be a quicker and more economical trip with the Prius and the tent than trying to drag the trailer up there. We do have bear spray, but I think that if you use the bear boxes and don't have anything smelly in your tent or car, that you won't have a problem.

While you are planning on leaving your generator at home, I suppose, remember to bring bear spray with you or be prepared to buy some when you get to the Park. And remember, you can't leave anything outside a hard-sided enclosure that smells of food, it draws bears as well. Unless, they have the bear boxes or the hangers in the trees. Not trying to scare you, just the facts of life in the Park. Bears are getting more numerous and it's not nice to have one around your food. As far as generators, Colter Bay has about 125 or so sites that are generator free if you would consider camping there and day-tripping into Yellowstone. We camp in Colter Bay, where they allow generators, and when not fishing, we generally take one or two day trips to Yellowstone. Get up early in the morning and get home late in the evening, but the trip is worth it.

I'm with you on this, I detest the sound of generators when I'm camping. For that reason I usually stick to the non-generator campgrounds in Yellowstone. Even though they aren't reservable, they really aren't that tough to get into

Madison Campground has a tent-only loop. It's is set well away from the RV section and spots ARE reservable. I'm not sure if generators are specifically prohibited there - you can call and check - but during the couple times I stayed there no one was using a generator.

Edit: The tent-only loops are really much nicer than the RV loops (where tents are also allowed) at Madison. Request loop H to be furthest away from the RV section.

Madison Campground map.

If you go before late June or after Labor Day, reservations are not required as the crowds haven't gotten bad yet. All you will need to do is plan to arrive at the campground early in the morning and wait for someone to leave. Just watch and you will see which ones are packing up. In July/August, you can still do this, but you will definitely be competing.

Another alternative would be Bridge Bay. While generators are allowed, tents are in a section by themselves and the rvs are over a slight knoll. No guarentees someone in the tent sections doesn't have a generator, but it would reduce the chance.

Unless I'm mistaken, there are also some back country sites which are relatively close to the parking lots. May pay to do a little research.

You could also disperse camp just outside of the park in the adjacent NF.

Just remember, Yellowstone is huge and driving speeds are slow. Unless you want to just pavement view the park, yhou will really need to stay at a couple of different campgrounds. Driving around a loop doesn't leave much time for getting far from the pavement.

"There is no 'G" symbol for Tower Fall campground, Indian Creek, Pebble Creek, Slough Creek, Lewis Lake so it appears that you have many choices. Good luck and have a great trip!"

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately none of these campgrounds are reservable.

From what I've read, generators are allowed from 8 am until 8 at night, and I'd like to eat my dinner outside, not get stressed out from the noise, and not have to wake up because someone's running one, this would be a hard earned vacation and I'd like to sleep in a couple of mornings.

I guess I'm asking for too much.

We've been to Yellowstone many times and I guess I never really thought about it because we use our solar panels rather than our generator. We dislike the noise, too.

However, check out this Yellowstone site:

Yellowstone Campgrounds

You will see the 'G' symbol meaning generators allowed is by some of the campground listings.

There is no 'G" symbol for Tower Fall campground, Indian Creek, Pebble Creek, Slough Creek, Lewis Lake so it appears that you have many choices. Good luck and have a great trip!

I get sick of generators too. I recommend earplugs rather than to miss out on a wonder of the world. Try to ease up on it though I completely understand it can be hard to filter out.

I'd not worry about generator usage in Yellowstone. You'll be VERY busy sightseeing and not hanging around a campground when the reasonable generator run times are permitted. There are a few CG's in Yellowstone that forbid any generators period. I believe they are in the NE area of the park.

Not sure about reservations (check nps/gov/yellowstone for info on which CGs in the park take reservations) but I believe the smaller CGs in the park do not allow generators. The bigger ones do, but restrict the hours they can be run.