Yellowstone/GTNP: move or stay put?
We are planning a summer 2016 Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP for a family of four with kids 10 and 7. This would be our first trip to these parks. Our understanding is that these parks are huge...
Forum Discussion
We have done Yellowstone 3 times with 3 kids and have never stayed at Fishing Bridge. We did drive thru Fishing Bridge once and don't ever want to stay there. I'll caveat that we find campground camping to not really be camping, but a destination like Yellowstone is the kind of trip we use campgrounds for since we are visiting the park and not "camping".
The first year we went we stayed at Madison for a few nights then moved to Canyon for a few more. The day we moved petty much wasted the day so the next year we stayed the entire trip in Madison and even thou some of the places are a little more of a drive we preferred the single campground. Our last trip we stayed at Canyon for the duration and think its location is more central to the areas of the park we prefer.
If you are smart with water and grey water you should be fine for multiple days without moving, dumping, etc. Generators are allowed for certain times of day and we would often start ours as we headed out in the morning with a 1/2 tank of fuel. One of the blue grey water totes isn't a bad idea if you use a lot of water. As a family of 5 we are able to stay for 5 or 6 nights on a 40 gal grey tank by using the showers/cleaning room at the campground.
I do highly recommend using the campgrounds within the park as the increased driving from a campground outside the park is more than we want to deal with. On our first trips my folks stayed in a condo in West Yellowstone and we stayed in the park. They were not excited about the additional 2 hours of driving each day and actually bought a camper the week after the trip and have stayed in the park since.
Canyon says they can accommodate 40' combined max but I have never had in issue in their 40' spot with my 50' setup. YMMV. Madison has larger sites.
Our kids (4,5,7 on the last trip) love the park campgrounds, nature walks, Junior Ranger program, etc.
You will probably spend very little time at the campground. We typically leave in the morning and don't return until late afternoon. Some days we are gone before daylight and others we don't come back until dark, or go out for a drive until dark. Finding the animals is what the kids really enjoy.
As for GTNP we have spent the day there twice on the way into Yellowstone for some short hikes, etc and enjoy it. They don't take reservations and we don't want to deal with first come/first serve with the kids and a 30' TT. One of these years we will just deal with the potential issues and go for it.
We aren't going again until next year and the family isn't sure they like our every other year thing... We all want to go back tomorrow.
The first year we went we stayed at Madison for a few nights then moved to Canyon for a few more. The day we moved petty much wasted the day so the next year we stayed the entire trip in Madison and even thou some of the places are a little more of a drive we preferred the single campground. Our last trip we stayed at Canyon for the duration and think its location is more central to the areas of the park we prefer.
If you are smart with water and grey water you should be fine for multiple days without moving, dumping, etc. Generators are allowed for certain times of day and we would often start ours as we headed out in the morning with a 1/2 tank of fuel. One of the blue grey water totes isn't a bad idea if you use a lot of water. As a family of 5 we are able to stay for 5 or 6 nights on a 40 gal grey tank by using the showers/cleaning room at the campground.
I do highly recommend using the campgrounds within the park as the increased driving from a campground outside the park is more than we want to deal with. On our first trips my folks stayed in a condo in West Yellowstone and we stayed in the park. They were not excited about the additional 2 hours of driving each day and actually bought a camper the week after the trip and have stayed in the park since.
Canyon says they can accommodate 40' combined max but I have never had in issue in their 40' spot with my 50' setup. YMMV. Madison has larger sites.
Our kids (4,5,7 on the last trip) love the park campgrounds, nature walks, Junior Ranger program, etc.
You will probably spend very little time at the campground. We typically leave in the morning and don't return until late afternoon. Some days we are gone before daylight and others we don't come back until dark, or go out for a drive until dark. Finding the animals is what the kids really enjoy.
As for GTNP we have spent the day there twice on the way into Yellowstone for some short hikes, etc and enjoy it. They don't take reservations and we don't want to deal with first come/first serve with the kids and a 30' TT. One of these years we will just deal with the potential issues and go for it.
We aren't going again until next year and the family isn't sure they like our every other year thing... We all want to go back tomorrow.
