Madison CG Yellowstone: length restriction

[calberry]

OK, let me start by saying that I have a reservation, so at least I know we have a place to stay. So this is thread is more just out of curiosity (or frustration?) and to help others in the future as they plan their trips.

As we are planning our 3 week 2018 spring road trip I have done a lot of research on roads and CGs in Yellowstone to make sure things will be open. Madison CG is set to open Apr. 27 (LINK) and the east entrance on May 4th (LINK ) . So I have planned our entrance into the park through the east gate on May 4, with reservations for 4 nights at Madison CG beginning that night. (Note: we will be coming down from Little Big Horn with a night in Cody, so if the east gate opening date changes we can forego our night in Cody and go around the top of YSNP and go in the west gate.)

In researching CG's in the Yellowstone I soon discovered that Madison was the only one that would be open during the time frame of our trip (LINK)so then I did a little research into the CG to make sure it would satisfy our needs and accommodate our rig (LINK) Seeing all the nice long pull-through sites in this video, as well multiple 5ers longer than ours gave me the confidence that Madison would work out quite well for us. But when I went onto the reservation site and selected the longest site they they have, this is the message that popped up:

"Please list separately the extended length of both your 5th wheel and its towing vehicle (i.e. "22 ft fifth wheel towed by 18 ft truck"). If your plans include tents, please list tent dimensions, as well. If the combined length of your towing vehicle and 5th wheel is greater than 40 feet, you must select a larger site or contact our reservations office for assistance before booking."

Our 5er is 'only' 29ft long, and I consider it short (got it specifically so we could fit into our favorite sites in Yosemite from our tent camping days). So when I saw the 22ft mentioned I wondered how many of those there really are out there on the road. Anyway, I digress. Since one cannot reserve a specific site (it can be requested I guess, but no guarantees) I figured I better call to make my reservation.

I talked with a very friendly/helpful agent who confirmed that indeed the maximum combined length limit for ANY RV/trailer-combo was indeed 40ft. I tried to explain that the Youtube video as well as campsitephotos.com showed MANY sites that I know we could easily fit in. Just a couple of examples: Example #1 Example #2...but he was not to be deterred. He said if one's combined length is longer than 40' then they simply can't camp there. Sigh.

However, he did offer an acceptable solution: two side by side 30ft sites (same price). I asked if he could tell us where in the CG they might be, but he said he honestly did not know. That (he said) would be decided when we get there.

I have no concern that things will work out just fine, and given the time of the year (low demand) if we don't like our assignment I be we will probably be able to change sites.

But I still find it interesting that they won't allow lengths over 40' when clearly many many of those pull-through sites can accommodate lengths well over that.

Steve

[stickdog]

The person you spoke to has probably never seen a campsite. Call center may be in India.

[calberry]

OK, so this is embarrassing ;-( I went back in again to edit the post and discovered when using the LINK function I had been putting the actual link in the TEXT space, and the text in the LINK space. Oh well, live and learn. I think I have it corrected now. Sorry for the confusion.

Steve

[calberry]

calberry wrote:
OK, let me start by saying that I have a reservation, so at least I know we have a place to stay. So this is thread is more just out of curiosity (or frustration?) and to help others in the future as they plan their trips.

As we are planning our 3 week 2018 spring road trip I have done a lot of research on roads and CGs in Yellowstone to make sure things will be open. Madison CG is set to open Apr. 27 (https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/lodgings/campground/madison-campground/) and the east entrance on May 4th (https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm). So I have planned our entrance into the park through the east gate on May 4, with reservations for 4 nights at Madison CG beginning that night. (Note: we will be coming down from Little Big Horn with a night in Cody, so if the east gate opening date changes we can forego our night in Cody and go around the top of YSNP and go in the west gate.)

In researching CG's in the Yellowstone I soon discovered that Madison was the only one that would be open during the time frame of our trip (https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/stay/camping/) so then I did a little research into the CG to make sure it would satisfy our needs and accommodate our rig (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbQXy1hzYfI) Seeing all the nice long pull-through sites in this video, as well multiple 5ers longer than ours gave me the confidence that Madison would work out quite well for us. But when I went onto the reservation site and selected the longest site they they have, this is the message that popped up:

"Please list separately the extended length of both your 5th wheel and its towing vehicle (i.e. "22 ft fifth wheel towed by 18 ft truck"). If your plans include tents, please list tent dimensions, as well. If the combined length of your towing vehicle and 5th wheel is greater than 40 feet, you must select a larger site or contact our reservations office for assistance before booking."

Our 5er is 'only' 29ft long, and I consider it short (got it specifically so we could fit into our favorite sites in Yosemite from our tent camping days). So when I saw the 22ft mentioned I wondered how many of those there really are out there on the road. Anyway, I digress. Since one cannot reserve a specific site (it can be requested I guess, but no guarantees) I figured I better call to make my reservation.

I talked with a very friendly/helpful agent who confirmed that indeed the maximum combined length limit for ANY RV/trailer-combo was indeed 40ft. I tried to explain that the Youtube video as well as campsitephotos.com showed MANY sites that I know we could easily fit in. Just a couple of examples: https://www.campsitephotos.com/campground/wy/madison/photos/madison-025, https://www.campsitephotos.com/campground/wy/madison/photos/madison-030...but he was not to be deterred. He said if one's combined lengh is longer than 40' then they simply can't camp there. Sigh.

However, he did offer an acceptable solution: two side by side 30ft sites (same price). I asked if he could tell us where in the CG they might be, but he said he honestly did not know. That (he said) would be decided when we get there.

I have no concern that things will work out just fine, and given the time of the year (low demand) if we don't like our assignment I be we will probably be able to change sites.

But I still find it interesting that they won't allow lengths over 40' when clearly many many of those pull-through sites can accommodate lengths well over that.

Steve

While drafting this and checking the "Preview" pane I started getting "I am not a robot" radio buttons that then took me back to the main RV.net site. Very frustrating. So I apologize for any formatting issues, and I can't get back in to figure out why the links don't work...you can cut and paste them if you are interested. Steve