Yellowstone and area suggestions..

We've been to The Black Hills, Rushmore and all the other places out west but our favorite (according to our grandson) is Y'stone. We've always stayed at Grizzly because it's close to everything you'd need plus it's only a couple of minute drive to the West entrance of the park. Leave the bikes at home, there's so much to see you'll be driving all over the countryside trying to see it.

thanks ..what a wealth of information.. not only will I use it but I hope others can use it as well....

Another cool stop is the Oregon Trail Ruts near Guernsey State Park (Guernsey, WY). We stayed at Larson Park Campground/RV Park in Guernsey for a night and we were able to see the Trail Ruts, Register Cliff and Fort Laramie National Historic Site (Fort Laramie, WY). We learned more about the Westward movement at Fort Laramie than we did in school!

We have 2 boys (8 & 10 last summer when on the trip) and they were interested enough to not be a pain while we were there. They really liked the Trail Ruts part ... it's amazing that so many wagons went through that they actually cut ruts into the rock and you can stand in them!

Agree about the bikes. We brought the boy's bikes so they could ride around the campgrounds. I think they rode them twice on a 5500 mile trip ... I wouldn't bring them next time.

bobjogone wrote:
Keep checking on reservations in Yellowstone - there's always cancellations

Yellowstone is a parking lot. Fishing Bridge campground where we stayed last summer has them packed in so tight there wasn't room to park my vehicle with my trailer and put out my awning.

Traffic backs up all over the park. There was a 2-3 mile backup for a bear on the side of the road.

There is plenty of beautiful National Forest Land nearby that looks just as beautiful as Yellowstone but without the major crowds.

It has become nothing more than another tourist check item.

I've been to Yellowstone several times (motorcycled, Car, and RV). I would agree that inside the park, bicycle would not be my choice. However, if you stay in West Yellowstone, bicycling might not be bad. I stayed at "Grizzly RV Park". I found it very accomodating in all regards, and it's very clean.

We have gone to Yellowstone 4 time over the years & have never had a reservation.

DesertHawk's Tetons/Yellowstone Recommendations. Click on the link by the same name to get to it. An old post.

Near Bismarck and/or Mandan, ND, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is interesting. FortLincoln.Com

North of Bismarck on US 83, The North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center between Bismarck & Minot at Washburn. Not sure about overnighting, but neat to visit, nice place to take a break. Pretty vista.

Not far from Washburn, which is north of Bismarck, the Knife River Indian Villages Nat'l Historic Site was very interesting.

:) What I have on the Black Hills Area of SD.

We have only stayed in the State Park campgrounds & at a Nat'l Forest CG. Not a lot of places to dump there however.

Never been to this one, but many people give it rave reviews: Rafter J Bar Ranch Resort - Hill City.

http://www.rafterj.com/

There is also a private Horse Thief RV Resort which is also close to Hill City.
http://www.horsethief.com/

Many RV parks in & around Custer as well. RV Park Reviews Custer, SD

Don't forget the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Aug 5-11. A heavy use time in the BlackHills.

We really enjoyed the Glass Blowing Studio between Hill City & Keystone. Black Hills GlassBlowers - Keystone
We saw someone waving at a glass blowing shop when riding the Hill City Tain; we went back to see it, a neat place, friendly people.

Deadwood is northwest of Custer.....lot of History happened there, but is more of a Gaming Center now if into gambling. We stopped once years ago, when out kids were young; I wanted to see where Wild Bill Hickok was killed. We did go to a melodrama while there, but mainly just walk around some. It was just starting to become a gaming center at that time. Not stopped since.

:h Traffic in Yellowstone (as well as Black Hills) can get pretty tight, especially in the pullouts (parking lots) for exhibits & sights. Saw someone take out a side mirror at one. At times they have very large tour buses pull in as well. But with a little patience & a lot of caution, one could see most of the 'drive by sights' without much trouble.

Any of the campgr'ds in the park, such as Grant, Canyon, Bridge Bay, Mammoth, Madison etc., would be ideal. It is a big place takes some serious driving to see the place. Much easier to do so in a more central location. Drop down to the Tetons before you leave, it is neat and somewhat different.

This Site Clicky tells about each campground (down by "Click on a Campground Name Below to Take an Interactive Tour"), if the chart has DS for Dump Station in the Features column it has a dump station. Ha! Grant Village, Canyon, Bridge Bay, Madison & Fishing Bridge have them. One could use Mammoth or Norris (ones a generator can be used) & still dump in one of the other places.

In the Tetons: Gros Ventre Campg'd or Colter Bay Campg'd. We stayed at Colter Bay Campground, the one without hook-ups in mid-June 2010 and once before some years ago. The Colter Bay Visitor Center and Indian ArtsMuseum by the Colter Bay Campground is really neat.

I have heard good things about Gros Ventre Campground...get more animals walking by or close by, etc. Nice views. It seems to be named after me as well, (from French: big belly). Actually, the French used the term Gros Ventre, for a local native population/people which was mistakenly interpreted from their sign language. Instead, the Gros Ventre people call themselves by the autonym A'ani or A'aninin, which means "white clay people," or more loosely "ourselves, our people, us, we," etc. The French is pronounced "Grow Vaunt."

Both Gros Ventre & Colter Bay have dumpsites.

We stayed at Mammoth Campground for 2009 visit to Yellowstone. It has some very large spaces in it, almost any size RV could fit. But can't make reservations, but we have never done so in the four visits we have gone there over many years.

We stayed at Grant in 2010, pretty large campground, all sizes of RVs. Bridge Bay looked like it would be a nice one to stay. We did stay there in '86.

Buffalo Bill museum in Cody on the way to ynp, if you're into western history. Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone as a base. Easy entrance into the park, beautiful cg, bike around w. Yellowstone. Kid friendly activities right in town, all within walking distance.

Personally, I would leave the bikes at home. The places you'll be are very congested and have steep roads. Biking really wouldn't be safe unless you just bike in the campgrounds which many times, isn't safe either. There are so many 'natural, outdoorsy' things to do to keep the kids busy. They can bike when they go home. We've volunteered in parks such as these and believe me, there have been serious biking accidents involving cars . . . and animals.

Friends just got a spot at Flagg Ranch for Yellowstone - it's at the north end of the Tetons, so not a bad spot for both parks. (And since they are just next door to each other, be sure to see both parks.)

Be sure to spend a couple days in the Black Hills if you go there - Mt. Rushmore is just one place to see and it only takes 1/2 hour maybe. :) We have really enjoyed Crazy Horse & spent more time there. Some bike trails in the Hills, I believe

Devils Tower is a good stop between the Black Hills & Yellowstone, not far off I-90. The KOA at the base of the tower has a fantastic view! Little Bighorn National Battlefield is also a good place to spend a day; two good CGs nearby (we've stayed at the Hardin KOA and enjoyed it.) Not much RV parking at the battlefield but I think it could be bikeable. Be sure to sit in on at least one ranger talk (they do them every hour, I think). Each ranger has a slightly different emphasis on what happened, which makes it even more interesting.

Keep checking on reservations in Yellowstone - there's always cancellations