Yellowstone area update

Freecampsites dot net might be a helpful site to look at, if you haven't already done so. When winging it (no reservations), it's good to have a backup alternative or two in mind within easy driving distance.

No reservations for Yellowstone. Going anyway. That’s a strong constitution!

rfloyd99 wrote:
We are headed to Grand Teton/Yellowstone from Spearfish, SD on Friday, 8/6. I'm aware this may be the worst time of year to visit, but that's just how it worked out. I've gotten conflicting reports about crowds and campsite availability lately. We have a 27' TT, and can dry camp if necessary. Staying outside the parks is okay.

Has anyone been there lately?

You don't have reservations? Wow, I would think it would be pretty much mandatory to have reservations at a national park, 6-8 months in advance. We did Yellowstone 4 years ago, started looking in April and the only week we could get reservations was the week of July 4th, everything else was booked up. That was inside the park, I didn't want to deal with the gate every day.

We were there the day before yesterday. I have never seen it so crowded. Every campground was full. We stayed in Gardner, Montana at the Rocky Mountain RV Park. It was excellent.

We were there a few weeks ago, 2 days at the unknown entrance--Bechler and two at Mammoth Hot Springs. Every cg we passed was closed but we only drove the West Yellowstone to Mammoth Hot Springs road and maybe 20 miles east on the north road. I never got a clear look at their cg status board so you should check online.

Crowds seemed to be normal, this is our 5th or 6th visit here. Visitor centers are closed. Mammoth HS traffic awful as usual.

We stayed at an excellent boondocking site 15.5 miles north of the post office at Gardiner off 89. We were doing a drive by mainly my wife wanted to see some critters.

The road to Bechler is ten miles of extreme washboard BTW but the Cave Falls CG is good and the falls and trails excellent.