camping in yellowstone

We did (Me+Wife+teenage daughter and son) Yellowstone in July 2015 (from Northern California) pulling a Keystone Sprinter 26BHS behind our Ford F250. It was the trip of a lifetime

We stayed a Grant Village (no hookups) and loved it. It's closer to the west entrance and Grand Tetons entrances. They do have tank cleanouts, and have great showers that are a short drive from the campsite. Anything 30' and under will fit in many spots there. We stayed the night before our Grant Village checkin at the West Yellowstone KOA , which allowed us to checkin at checkout time (11am) and get a better choice of spots (this was a strategy we picked up here on rv.net)

Keep in mind that EVERYTHING in Yellowstone is FAR APART, and parking is limited at most attractions (so a TT is a good option ;) ). I'd recommend the "Ring of Fire" bus tour and the Roosevelt Cookout. If you're planning on going this year, both may already be booked for the entire season.

+1 for Colter Bay Village RV Park in Grand Tetons. I was amazed at how many whiny reviews it got on tripadvisor, some people just like to complain. We thought it was great, and has already been pointed out: how can you beat full hookups at a National Park. I'd allow at least 2 days for Grand Tetons, it's almost as awesome as Yellowstone, and about an hour from Jackson Hole (worth a visit if you're into touristy stuff)

With such a short time window, homework will allow you to narrow down your must see areas in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I would definitely recommend Fishing Bridge unless your particular interests override that. As has been said above, the distances just within Yellowstone are substantial, and I would not recommend trying to drive to from Teton daily. Drive once and spend an hour or two checking in and setting up. You won't regret it.

I would also recommend Colter Bay RV camp for Grand Teton. The non-RV camp ground there has a number of sites that have electric hookup and there is a dump station there, but I just found the RV camps made it easier to come and go with a minimum of fuss. And I am a pretty die hard non-RV Park camper.

There are sites still available in both for Sept., but size selection is already limited.

Enjoy, and yes, you will be back after you get a taste of what these beautiful parks have to offer, even with all of the people there.

BTW, I highly recommend booking a dinner at either the Old Faithful Lodge dining room or the Lake Yellowstone Hotel dining room. You can make dinner reservations up to 60 days in advance.

A Happy Hour cocktail and some lite food at the Blue Heron Lounge at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton is a very nice break between the days and evening events.

Again, great info everyone. We certainly don't want to rush our stay, but unfortunately we don't have a ton of time. Really about 5 days total, for Yellowstone and Tetons. I'm certain it won't be our last trip, but we have a few other stops on this tour so it's not exclusively a Yellowstone trip. Still leaning towards staying in Grand Teton, and driving to Yellowstone for day trips, but obviously with all the tips here I might rethink.

I been there 6 times and here is the way we do it. Coming from SoCal we spend 3 days in West Yellowstone at Grizzly RV park to tour the west and northern part of the park. Then we move on to Fishing Bridge for 4 or 5 days. Then on to Coulter Bay campground for 3 or 4 days to tour the Teton area.

Yellowstone is a huge area and to minimize driving time is the reason we move to different area's. What ever you do don't rush your visit if possible. There's so much to see and do, especially with viewing the wildlife. We are pretty much gone for 12 hours each day and then return to the camper.

Reservations need to be made ASAP, especially at Fishing Bridge. If you go later in August or early Sept. your chances are better getting a reservation.

If this is your 1st time to the parks, study maps, brochures, websites to get an idea of what to do. It's our favorite place to visit. Enjoy your vacation. You won't be disappointed.

Wireman

Fishing Bridge is it if you want hookups. It worked for us, we didn't spend very much time in our trailer. The drives are long and there is SOOOO MUCH to see that we left early and returned late. Fishing Bridge (which doesn't allow fishing on the bridge by the way) is crowded & cramped, but provides a fairly good base to travel the park. You may want to stay a portion of your time in West Yellowstone.

You should still be able to get reservations in Fishing Bridge, but don't delay.

I work-camped at Yellowstone last season from May until the end of September at the visitor center at Old Faithful and have work-camped at two other National Parks in previous years.

It was a record breaking year for visitation with 3.7 million visitors already by the time I left. As everyone else has said the campgrounds fill up very fast (some of the ones run by the NPS are first-come-first-served but those are mostly dry-camping or elec only, the ones run by Xanterra all take reservations).

September is getting busier and busier for the national parks. More retirees are coming out then to avoid the families (and foreigners don't have the same schedules so they're visiting spring through fall) so that it's not as much of a way to avoid the crowds as it use to be. There will still be plenty of people, just a different age demographic.

Traditionally, Yellowstone's busiest months are: July, August, June, September, and May in that order. This year is the 100 year anniversary for the NPS and there are special events going on, so the NPS is predicting it'll be even busier than last year.

My best advice to avoid the crowds is to get up early and start your sightseeing in the morning. Any day of the week can be busy, but if you're on the road by 8 am you have a good three hours or so before the bulk of the day visitors drive in from Grand Teton, West Yellowstone, and Cody. Stay at Fishing Bridge so you don't have as far to drive to see the sights. Understand that Yellowstone is 2.2 million acres and that in good traffic it takes about two hours to drive from the north entrance to the south entrance. You're going to want more than one day to do it right.

Hope this helps.

We drove in from Cody, the drive is steep for about 6 miles or so, but afterwards good.

We stayed at Fishing Bridge and loved it. Fishing Bridge is not a fancy RV park by any means but I looked at as I was inside the park to see the sights and not expecting the Campground to entertain me. The benefits are less drive time getting to the sights and the parks are less busy before 10:00 am and after 7:00 pm.

The Fishing Bridge campground sites are tight and the facilities are simple but adequate.

We stayed at Fishing Bridge for 7 days and after the fact I wish we would have split it up a bit like 4 days in Fishing Bridge and three days in West Yellowstone for better access to the South Western parts of Yellowstone.

Be aware though:

• Reservations for the summer need to be done by Beginning of Jan at the latest to get a site
• Water pressure is high thus you must have a have a water regulator
• Be prepared for a strange sewer connection

Have fun and enjoy!

Dean

danimal53 wrote:


maybe just wishful thinking, but does the traffic/drive time up to Yellowstone get any better being somewhat late in the season? i think we're definitely leaning towards Grand Tetons, kind of works better for the rest of our trip anyway.

Yellowstone is big...

From Coulter Bay to Mammoth is about 115 miles (each-way, though other areas are closer) on roads with low speed limits, animal jams, construction delays, and traffic. Traffic should be better after Labor Day, and the construction schedule varies by year so you may catch a break there too, but the speed limits don't change and animal jams are a dice roll.

If you want to tour Yellowstone and you must have hookups I'd bite the bullet and stay at fishing bridge. You'd save enough drive time in 2-3 days of touring to essentially give you an "extra" day worth of time. The Tetons are also great so I wouldn't try to talk you out of stopping there too before or after Yellowstone.

deltabravo wrote:
Driving up for park tours from the Tetons is doable, but it drastically increase the time spent driving just to get to the sightseeing areas.

September, it can get cold at night, so a spot with hookups, so you can run an electric heater part of the time would be good (saves on Propane and battery power).

maybe just wishful thinking, but does the traffic/drive time up to Yellowstone get any better being somewhat late in the season? i think we're definitely leaning towards Grand Tetons, kind of works better for the rest of our trip anyway.

danimal53 wrote:
We're looking to go after labor day, so I'm hoping this is far enough in advance to get a spot.

Also we are considering Tetons instead, and maybe a day trip or 2 to Yellowstone. Either way we're definitely going to both. Hookups unfortunately are a must, as we'll likely need the ac for the times we need to leave the pups behind. But I'm also reading about various doggie day care services, so maybe we can go dry.

Driving up for park tours from the Tetons is doable, but it drastically increase the time spent driving just to get to the sightseeing areas.

September, it can get cold at night, so a spot with hookups, so you can run an electric heater part of the time would be good (saves on Propane and battery power).