I just made reservations for 3 nights at Canyon Village and 4 nights at Fishing Bridge. What are y'alls impressions of each of those campgrounds.I know that Canyon Village has no hookups and the sites are in more wooded areas.I also know that Fishing Bridge is "just a parking lot" which is fine by me. I will not be sitting around the campsite wanting to roast marshmallows. We'll either be out seeing what Yellowstone has to offer, or eating a meal inside and going to bed.These reservations are for the 2nd week in June 2015.

They are both well-located, fairly close together.. you can tour the north part of the park from Canyon and the southern part from FB.FB is so often described on this forum as a parking lot and it is true that it is paved. But I was surprised at how many trees surround it. Deer and Bison strolled through. It's not a wilderness disbursed camping environment, but is actually a nicer setting than some NP campgrounds we've seen.Enjoy!

We stayed in Fishing Bridge when we went a few years ago on our first trip. If we were to go again, I'd pick Canyon Village even though it has no hookups. As you expect, we spent very little time in our camper, and I think Canyon Village has a nice central location. Fishing Bridge is handy because of the hookups, but since we spent so little time there, we really didn't need them. It was so chilly at night (down to 32 in July!), there was no need for AC either.

As you already stated, Fishing Bridge is a parking lot with trees. Very tight campsites. We barely had room to extend our awning and the tow vehicle had to be parked across the site instead of head in.But we didn't spend any time there anyway because we were out with the 1,000's of others in the various traffic jams throughout the park. One backup due to a bear sighting was over 5 miles long. Yellowstone is one of my least favorite national parks. Too crowded. We left there and went to the Greys River southwest of Jackson Hole. There is over 60 miles of river and road without a single electric pole and that doesn't count the 100's of miles of side roads. Probably saw no more than a dozen other vehicles during our 3-4 days on the Greys River. There are several National Forest campgrounds along the way with vault toilets and if I recall correctly several had hand pump water.

We were in Yellowstone for ten days in June this year. We stayed at Fishing Bridge and we plan to return next year. FB is tight quarters but no one seems to mind because everyone is out enjoying themselves. It's clean,the staff is helpful and friendly,and so were the happy campers :) We liked that FB is a great starting place for any other place in the park. Sure there were some longer drives but the drive, at least for us,was half the fun! The park was crowded but it's so huge that you can always find space. As for traffic jams...we kept hearing all the nightmare story's about getting caught in traffic jams but it just never happened. Yes, people do stop their cars when wildlife is spotted,but that just gives you a signal to either pull over yourself-to see what critter everyone is watching, or you can drive slowly through the traffic. People don't usually stand in the middle of the road so it is possible to get through the animal jams. I'm sure there are exceptions to this but we sure didn't find it to be the case. You have reservations in good places.Just have a wonderful time!!! Happy Camping.

Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.

Yellowstone-Canyon Village & Fishing Bridge | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

Liltippy
Explorer
Aug 29, 2014
AH64ID wrote:
Liltippy wrote:
CloudDriver wrote:
Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.

Road from Madison to the Thumb and south exit is closed for remainder of season

Not yet, it doesn't close until Tuesday the 2nd, and the south entrance/exit isn't part of the early closure.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/14067.htm

That is true, but we are close to the 2nd. I also know the south entrance / exit isn't part of the early closure, but if in Madison and want to exit south, it is a long detour to the south exit. I will be there in 2 weeks.
Thanks for clarification.
tsetsaf
Explorer III
Aug 29, 2014
Fishing Bridge has full hookups and puts you in the park. It is overpriced and tight. This video shows it as it is Fishing Bridge

Canyon is nicer and puts you close to the prettiest views in the park. The trees are super thick, like camping in a fenced box. Same site has a Video
AH64ID
Explorer
Aug 29, 2014
Liltippy wrote:
CloudDriver wrote:
Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.

Road from Madison to the Thumb and south exit is closed for remainder of season

Not yet, it doesn't close until Tuesday the 2nd, and the south entrance/exit isn't part of the early closure.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/14067.htm
Liltippy
Explorer
Aug 29, 2014
CloudDriver wrote:
Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.

Road from Madison to the Thumb and south exit is closed for remainder of season
katleman
Explorer
Aug 28, 2014
CloudDriver wrote:
Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.
+1

Madison will serve you better for the western half of the park.

Fishing Bridge and Canyon are too close to bother moving from one to another.
Itching2go
Explorer II
Aug 26, 2014
CloudDriver wrote:
Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.

x2 on splitting between either Fishing Bridge or Canyon, and Madison. This is what we did last summer, and it worked out great. Visited the western sites from Madison, and the eastern sites from FB. Saved a lot of travel time.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Aug 26, 2014
Here are some pictures of Fishing Bridge's 'parking lot'. I've seen worse in private campgrounds. Also, these photos are old and many of the sites have been redone. Fishing Bridge is in a nice location.

Fishing Bridge Pictures
AH64ID
Explorer
Aug 26, 2014
We really like Canyon, and have driven thru Fishing Bridge and thought it was awful! IIRC there aren't even fire rings at Fishing Bridge.

You will spend a lot if time out driving around, but the nice outdoor atmosphere for cooking and sitting by the fire is not available at Fishing Bridge. We generally do one nice dutch oven meal a day, and Canyon is great for that. Maddison is also great, just not quite as central.

Just my 0.02.
CloudDriver
Explorer
Aug 26, 2014
Rather then Canyon, I would suggest using Madison campground. The great majority of the hot spring and geyser activity is on the west side of the lower loop between Madison and Old Faithful. It's a much longer drive around to get to these areas from either Canyon or Fishing Bridge, so you can gain sightseeing time by staying closer to the action.
knshook
Explorer
Aug 26, 2014
We were in Yellowstone for ten days in June this year. We stayed at Fishing Bridge and we plan to return next year. FB is tight quarters but no one seems to mind because everyone is out enjoying themselves. It's clean,the staff is helpful and friendly,and so were the happy campers :) We liked that FB is a great starting place for any other place in the park. Sure there were some longer drives but the drive, at least for us,was half the fun! The park was crowded but it's so huge that you can always find space. As for traffic jams...we kept hearing all the nightmare story's about getting caught in traffic jams but it just never happened. Yes, people do stop their cars when wildlife is spotted,but that just gives you a signal to either pull over yourself-to see what critter everyone is watching, or you can drive slowly through the traffic. People don't usually stand in the middle of the road so it is possible to get through the animal jams. I'm sure there are exceptions to this but we sure didn't find it to be the case. You have reservations in good places.
Just have a wonderful time!!! Happy Camping.