Yellowstone-Fishing Bridge or Outside Park

STOP IT! your making me want to go right now! :C

We visited for 5 days last summer and stayed at Bridge Bay Campground which is near Fishing Bridge. It's a massive park so I won't say it's convenient but we planned our routes carefully. I found a guide online from another MB that recommended routes from the different campgrounds. I tried to minimize backtracking but I agreed with the article that some backtracking is fine because the park is so beautiful. I'll see if I bookmarked that link on my laptop.

We stayed in West Yellowstone by default the first night because we had a blowout and got in late plus needed to find a new spare tire that day so our day one started midday from West Yellowstone.

We did try to leave the campground by 0830 each day. (I would go out first light for nearby photos and come back to get family). It is a big time saver if you can get to your first destination before the traffic picks up. Another strategy is it doesn't hurt to go your furthest stop and work your way back.

I'd stick with Fishing Bridge it is at least central to most of the park. And YNP is a very large park. Staying on one edge of the park will waste a lot of your time in the YNP traffic, which has two speeds: slow and stopped. Every time someone spots any critter you will get a traffic stop.

katleman wrote:
Fishing Bridge and Gardiner is about the same distance from Lamar Valley, so I don't see the advantage. Gardiner is really only advantageous for Mammoth, so perhaps leave Fishing Bridge, visit Lamar, on your way to Gardiner, and then visit Mammoth/Norris before you leave.

Fishing Bridge vs West Yellowstone is about the same, driving wise to the main thermal area, but Fishing Bridge is closer to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley. The drive is more scenic to Old Faithful from Fishing Bridge.

Frankly, if you can camp without hookups for a couple nights, I would split the trip between Fishing Bridge and Madison.

Actually, it is 35 miles from Fishing Bridge to the Roosevelt intersection to turn towards the Lamar Valley. From Gardiner it is 23 miles to that same intersection. The route from Fishing Bridge is over Dunraven Pass and you would have climb it twice in a commute from Fishing Bridge. That would make a round trip from Gardiner easily an hour or two shorter. I would disagree about the drive from Fishing Bridge to Old Faithful being more scenic than the drive from West Yellowstone. That drive from West first goes along the Madison river and then you can take the Firehole Canyon Drive followed by a visit to the Biscuit Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring and then on to Old Faithful. The shortest Distance from Fishing Bridge is along the lake, through that dense forest at the South Entrance and then on up past Kepler Cascades to Old Faithful. I find the drive along the lake and in the forest to be about the most boring drive in Yellowstone (a lake is a lake is a lake and trees all look the same, but it is all relative, since it is about 1000 times better than a drive through wheat or corn country). All that being said, you can't go wrong anywhere in Yellowstone. The big advantages ( or disadvantages depending upon your tastes) to the two developed entrances West Yellowstone and Gardiner is the fact you can get Wifi, Cable TV, restaurant choices, some shopping, some commercial things like rafting, horseback riding, IMAX theater, Grizzly Discovery Center etc. at those entrances. Some people need a bit of civilization, some don't.

Unfortunately Madison is full the week we'd go. So it would have to be outside the park. Also, come to find out the road from west thumb to old faithful will still be closed. Why I started thinking that a split trip would be best.

Yes, Fishing Bridge then Madison. Madison also offers a trip into West Yellowstone, maybe an afternoon and dinner.

Fishing Bridge and Gardiner is about the same distance from Lamar Valley, so I don't see the advantage. Gardiner is really only advantageous for Mammoth, so perhaps leave Fishing Bridge, visit Lamar, on your way to Gardiner, and then visit Mammoth/Norris before you leave.

Fishing Bridge vs West Yellowstone is about the same, driving wise to the main thermal area, but Fishing Bridge is closer to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley. The drive is more scenic to Old Faithful from Fishing Bridge.

Frankly, if you can camp without hookups for a couple nights, I would split the trip between Fishing Bridge and Madison.

I stayed at fishing bridge for all of my stay. did the north loop one day, south loop the other, then went to other areas I wanted to see in more detail. I would NOT stay outside of the park and have to drive in every day.
are you talking about this May? have you made reservations yet? your issue may be solved if you have no reservations yet.
bumpy