Campgrounds near Yellowstone

Island Park, Idaho

Henrys Lake State Park, how is that for camping?

I have stayed at Fishing Bridge twice and was glad that I did. Once in from the north and once thru the east entrance. I would NEVER stay outside the park in West Yellowstone because of one reason,traffic in the morning coming into the park and traffic going out in the afternoon. The biggest advantage to staying there, besides fuel and a few groceries, if neeeded is that you have a huge head start on sightseeing because you're already in the park and don't have that extra distance to travel. I talked to a guy at Old Faithful, the last time and had spent less time on the road getting there than he did and they came in from West.
It's also nice to be visiting in the campground when you're not dodging bears and wolves. Hee,hee.
I should say that I have stayed there more than these two times because I was there in the mid fifties with my parents and stayed at old Yellowstone campground, which is now the parking lot. Every evening,you heard the cry "bear" as several would run thru the cg. Oh, and we were 5 kids in a 7x7 canvass umbrella tent and my parents slept in the back of the station wagon, or outside if not in bear country.

I've stayed at Grizzly a couple of times. 3 blocks from the west gate and they have free coffee in the morning, at least when I was there. My advice is to set up camp before visiting YNP, then enter through the west gate early in the morning before the newcomers arrive to get their passes. I don't know if you still can, but I bought my National Parks pass at an American Express office in Cincinnati, before I ever left home. And I didn't need an American Express Card to do it.

2Gypsies: Thanks for the article link. It was a great help in making my decision to stay at West Yellowstone KOA.

Here's detailed information on all the roads leading into Yellowstone. You won't have any problems with your truck but don't come in via the northeast highway (Beartooth). It's a beauty to drive without the RV though.

http://www.rvtechmag.com/travel/4_yellowstonebyrv.php

Depends your route.
South from Billings isn't too bad. You would turn west at Cody.
Down hill inside the park just before Fishing Bridge upsets some. You should be going 45 MPH or so.
Other eastern approaches can be unnerving for some.

How are the mountain passes between Cody and Fishing Bridge?

Here are some photos to entice you -

Buffalo Bill State Park, between the east entrance and Cody. This is a dry site. We have solar, so prefer to pick dry sites, but this state park has electricity and water and has reservable sites.


Baker's Hole FS CG, 2 miles north of West Yellowstone - another dry site, but most are electricity and there are water spigots throughout, as long as you have a "water thief", plus there is a fill up station at the entrance.


An electric site at Baker's Hole


Falls Campground, off Togwotee Pass between Moran Junction and Dubois, Wyoming. Electric Site. Two loops in this campground, one loop is dry, the other has electricity. There's water at the entrance. Last year when we were there the water line was broken so the sites were half price.


Grizzly RV, West Yellowstone - this is late September.


Colter Bay RV - looks tight, but it's not. Huge Class A's make it through here and they place you in size appropriate sites.

Thanks for all of the great feedback. I am just looking to see what my options might be.

We just went up to Jackson yesterday for lunch and sightseeing and drove past Fireside RV Resort. It used to be a KOA, I believe. it is about four or five miles south of the south border of Grand Teton and probably about 10 miles from the south entrance. You get a beautiful view of the Tetons from the RV resort. From that place it would take you about 15 minutes to enter Grant Teton and another 50-60 minutes to hit the south entrance to Yellowstone.