Another Yellowstone thread--Narrowing it down...

[Roach_Coach]

Any suggestions on a particular loop or site in Grant Village CG in Yellowstone? We would like to be fairly close to the showers and have a view of the lake if that's even possible.

A little background if it helps. We would have selected Fishing Bridge because full hookups would have been preferred, but campfires are not allowed in FB and that is sort of a dealbreaker. We can dry camp for the four days, especially if we can run the generator a bit. Since Grant Village had flush toilets and pay showers, we thought that was the next best thing to having FHU. We also wanted to be on or near the lake, so Canyon/Madison were eliminated for that reason.


Thanks,

[katleman]

There is the first come campground at Lewis Lake, just south of Grant, right next to the lake.

Still pretty close to the showers, since you have to drive even if you are at Grant.

[jalichty]

Good luck. The lake and surroundings are very nice. Not as majestic as the Tetons on Jackson Lake, but pretty nevertheless. Have a great trip. If you are only going for a half day, you won't get to the part of the lake that's a problem when the winds kick up. You'll probably stay close to shore and not too far away. Probably stop in somewhere for a shore lunch during the trip and then back to camp.

[Roach_Coach]

Thanks, John.

The tour I'm looking at is guided and I think they pretty much stay near the shore of the west thumb. So far I think I'm going with the OARShalf day tour. Hopefully they'll keep us out of trouble with the winds! 🙂

[jalichty]

I think a kayak tour would be a great deal, but you need to be aware of how large West Thumb arm is. It may take quite a while to get to the main part of the lake from Grant Village, but the trip may very well be worth it. From Grant Village to the "entrance" to the main part of the lake takes about 20-25 minutes running 35 mph in a power boat. Then you get to the big part of the water. Yellowstone Lake is very large and the wind usually comes up in the afternoon so be careful out there.

[Roach_Coach]

Thanks all for your insights. We'll be bringing bikes. So that will help with the distance to the showers and all. Since we are in a Class C, We were planning on taking the tour bus right from Grant Village. I figure we'll do that the first day to get our bearings and go back and see more of what we liked the next day. I'm also considering the kayak tour out of Grant Village. Has anybody done that?

[sgrizzle]

One other thing to note, is that with your reservations at both Grant and Fishing Bridge, you receive 2 free showers per day/per night booked.

[sgrizzle]

We just returned from Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago. We have a LAredo TT and we prefer campgrounds like Grant over Fishing Bridge. We could only get reservations of 1 night at grant so we made 2 nights at Fishing bridge. We liked the hook-ups at FB, but prefer the sites at grant!! We prefer trees and grass to rows and rows of campers.

Yes, it was a long walk to the showers, but we loved it. I agree, you are not in yellowstone to be at the camper, but when we are, we liked the campground of Grant much better, BUT FB was nice because you were closer to the general store, visitor center, etc.

In the end, it did not matter because from 9 am to 5 or 6 pm, you are seeing the sites...we loved it and want to get back!!!

[DesertHawk]

Yep, just like EuroCamper said. He got it posted before I could post mine. Ha!

Camped at Grant twice over the years, the first time, we lucked into a site close to an arm of the lake. As I remember back, couldn't see too much of the lake from the camper. (1990). We did canoe on the lake from the boat dock at Grant to West Thumb Geyser Basin. Seems this one is on the very last loop from the entry station.

We did a walk around the loop we were in last time (2010) & were able to get to the shore of the lake. Kind of through the woods to get there. Shore had trees right up to it.

They do have flush toilets in the campground, scatter around the loops, not too far from any site. No showers are in them.

They are in a very large building on the road leading to the campground, not far from the gas station & the visitor center.

Not sure if some sites have views of the lake or not. Lot of trees around the area.

As for showers, they are out of the campground past the entry station. Across from the Visitor Center Area. Not really in close walking distance from the campsites. Could bike to them easy enough.

There is times to run the generator each day. Shouldn't be a problem with that.

We (and our not yet year old grandson) used our own shower in the Scamp & I would 'cart' the shower water by a 5' gallon jerry can to a nice low grated drain by the water spigot(s) by the restrooms. Also a room on the side of the restroom building with a laundry sized sink, which could be used to dump shower water (I believe).

Our daughter & hubby used the showers in the shower building.

We camped at Bridge Bay (1986), might have been able to see the Lake from it. Across the hwy from the lake it is. It is not as treed area. Some sites might give one a view of the lake, I would believe. A guest only from looking at the campground on google maps. But it would be one at just the right location to see between some trees, but it appears to have some grass spaces.

On second look, chances of a lake view would be very slim.

There is so many neat things to see in the park, campground views are a minor concern for us there. A place to sleep mainly.

[Eurocamper]

The laundry/shower facility is not near the campground, you'll probably need to drive to it. There are only a handful of sites that afford any view of the lake. I'm not even sure if you have a say in which site you get.

Here's a map of the campground:Click