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How early depends on the winter. We went latter half of June a few years ago, after a very snowy winter and rangers told us that roads in the area (not y-stone per se, but some USFS roads) had just opened because of all the snow lingering. We went for a boat ride on Jenny lake and were told it had been frozen over until early June.

We camped in West Yellowstone and used the west entrance. There is no entrance convenient to all parts of Yellowstone, as you said, it's just so large.

As others will tell you, it all depends! 3 of our 4 Ystone trips have been in the fall--after Sept 1. We enjoyed them all--knowing that several Ystone lodges will be closed but the animals don't visit them so we still saw lots of animals! Just had easy to handle crowds and parking was not an issue. What did we miss?? Others who went in June said the flowers were great and the young animals were out and great to see. Our last trip to Ystone was in the winter--it was really great and definitely not crowded. We stayed in Fishing Bridge and West Yellowstone on our fall trips. Both worked for our 38 foot fifth wheel. Have a great trip!

It's a huge park and hard to see in one trip which is why we've been back over a dozen times, but we live close enough that we can do that. For starters, the best entrances for RV parks with hookups would be the West Yellowstone entrance, the South entrance, and the North entrance. At the West Yellowstone entrance are several RV parks in West Yellowstone, including a FS CG with electric sites and water refill stations. At the South entrance, the best places really would be either Colter Bay RV or Flagg Ranch. Anything in Jackson is going to be side by side type of RV parks with little room to breathe. The North entrance, there are some RV parks in Gardiner.

We've stayed multiple times in West Yellowstone at Baker's Hole FS CG at both electric and dry sites, at Grizzly RV, at the West Yellowstone KOA, and as far out as Red Rock RV, past Henry's Lake. Our personal favorite is the FS CG, then Grizzly RV, with the KOA being ok, clean. We've also stayed to the South at Flagg Ranch and Colter Bay. We also have stayed to the East over the Togwotee Pass at Falls CG that has a loop with electricity and they too have water. This one is far out though, but we prefer that and enjoy the drive. We've never stayed in Gardiner and have stayed along the route to Cody, but focused on the Cody area and Chief Joseph Pass.

We've always gone in September and find that it's a good time to go. In early September most services are open, later they are not, but you can still find something. We've stayed in the park at Bridge Bay, but it's dry camping. In September, there are few campers. We've never stayed at Fishing Bridge due to the tightness of the sites.

If you plan to stay at any of the RV parks, reservations are recommended for Colter Bay and Flagg Ranch as well as the others, but we've managed to get in without, especially to Grizzly RV.

Entrance for best non-NPS campgrounds -

West Yellowstone is by far the best for FHU options, also for USFS dry camping and some limited utilities camping.

South has limited options for FHU camping.

East - no camping close and a huge climb to the park,

North East - beautiful amazing scenic highway - several hours drive to FHU campgrounds

North limited options for FHU

Time of year - I prefer September after Labor Day - families are largely gone and almost everything is open. Planning a early summer arrival is always iffy because of weather - my experience that whenever I plan a trip at the start of a season, that is the year the cold and snow lingers on into summer. The year I don't go early, snow is gone by May 1 and the place is crowded before Memorial Day.

One warning about September. Smoke from fires will always be thicker and obstruct move scenic distance views of some great mountains.

However, IMHO there is NEVER a bad time to go to Yellowstone. Yes, snow or smoke might restrict some views and access to some parts of the park, but whatever is open and viewable during any visit is absolutely amazing.

Thank you for the suggestions. I especially appreciate the recommendations for camp grounds. It looks like many of the CG's in the park and surrounding NCG's or FS are first come only. This makes it tough if you are driving a long distance and not sure of getting a site.

I think I'm going to try for the first week of Sept next year. Based on what I've read the crowds may be a little smaller, but I guess it's going to be crowded anytime except winter.

I have been going there since 1955. I like late May/early June to the see the babies and Sept 19 for the elk rut. Bad weather can occur any time so be ready for it on the Plateau.

Hook ups are hard to find in the park. Most people with big rigs commute from a place like W Yellowstone (west entrance). I have alwasy liked the east entrance because it is great moose habitat. Mammoth is a good place to stay but hard to find hookups.

The real secret to visitng the Park except for avoiding July and August, is to get out a walk. Ninety percent of the visitation is within 1/4 mile of a road. There are some great dirt roads in the park. Take those and get out and walk.

Just an FYI. The Fishing Bridge RV Park will be closed in 2019 for improvements. The employee I talked with said they are going to completely redo the entire campground and will be putting in some pull through sites. For those who are going to Yellowstone in 2019, I would suggest getting your reservations in early.

We camped at fishing bridge and liked that we saved so much driving time every day. Sites are tight and not scenic but convenience was great.

Worked at YNP 3 summers near the north Gardiner entrance at Mammoth area. Any day of the year can be long sleaves or a dusting of snow because most of the Park is around 8000 ft. I don't think I would go much before June unless you like jackets. Unfortunately that's too late to beat school getting out. We worked into Oct. and never had snow at our campsite in Gardiner but that's lower than most of the Park. Also, some places will close for the season during Oct. We've found recently that a lot of people go during Fall. I would just go when you prefer, plan, reserve and don't worry about crowds. Maybe you know there is only 1 campground within the Park with any hook-ups; Fishing Bridge(expensive and very busy) but some are so great it's worth dry camping. Gardiner has 2 private campgrounds, West Yellowstone and Cody also. All expensive but with hook-ups.