Outdoor kitchen in Yellowstone (bears)?

[acritzer]

Is it ok to use an outdoor kitchen here? Cook on the grill? Keep items in the fridge? Of course, assuming we close it up when not in use.

My wife seems extra nervous about this aspect of the trip.

[jalichty]

Bumpyroad, almost all real campgrounds have dumpsters for your garbage. As for greasy dishwater, we just send our washwater down the sink and into the gray water tank, to be dumped when we leave the campground. If you are washing dishes outside in a pan, most of the campgrounds usually have a sink at the bathroom area where a person can dump that type of stuff.

[RGar974417]

Bumpyroad wrote:
after you scrub your utensils/grill/etc. what do you do with the paper towels, greasy wash water, etc.?
bumpy

Throw them in a dumpster.

[Bumpyroad]

after you scrub your utensils/grill/etc. what do you do with the paper towels, greasy wash water, etc.?
bumpy

[1stgenfarmboy]

You are in there house afterall, thay are looking for an easy meal, pretty good chance they won't rip into your outdoor kitchen just because it smells like bacon, we camp in Bear country almost every time we take a trip, we just put everything in the outdoor kitchen and close the door.



but if you leaave a paper plate on the table expect them to walk over and give it a sniff.


be responsable and you will be fine.

[Jbrowland]

Best to clean meticulously when finished cooking outside. While bear interactions are very rare, I have witnessed people cooking outside get run off by a hungry bear. Mostly, just use common sense and clean up . You should be fine.

Some trips we can't get away from them. Other trips we never see a single bear.

[F-TROUP]

When it comes down to it their not worried about campers their worried that careless campers will get a bear killed. Bears know what an ice chest looks like so just putting it in your vehicle is not good enough it needs to be covered or your vehicle will look like a can opener hit it.

[1320Fastback]

When we stayed at Colter Bay they told us to clean up after cooking and leave nothing outside. Also said if they saw food left out they would ask you to leave. In the past Bears have been shot thru no fault of their own becuase people have left food out and people get too close to them.

We used our BBQ freely,cleaning it after each use and the only Bears we saw were out on the main road.

[Rangerman40]

I considered grilling until we were driving along the lake and I saw a giant grizzly hauling ass toward FB.

[Cali-MinnieWinn]

You will be given the official/current rules when you check in, but most important is nothing can be left out unattended, even a fork, water bottle, etc. or you will be fined. No fires allowed at fishing bridge, but we were able to cook with our small charcoal grill. The only problem, though, is that there are no receptacles for hot/warm coals; so you must wait until they are cool, water them down, place them in a plastic bag and throw them in the trash. So, if you want to go out after dinner, after your BBQ, you will have to wait awhile. When we camped at Bridge Bay, we were able to put coals into the fire pit, water them down, and place the BBQ into the bear box.

[Mike__Rose]

When we were in Yellowstone we never saw a bear! When we got home to our home state of Massachusetts our bear problems began. We had a bear in our yard eating from our bird feeder! Then when camping in our Class C in the Berkshires of western Ma we had 2 bears come to our camp site to eat our 2 dachshunds , Hansel and Gretel! Hansel wanted to go outside to greet the bears! We all survived but as others have said heed the warnings of the park rangers.

[RGar974417]

We stayed in Madison and cooked on our Webber Grill. No problems.

[2gypsies1]

Your outside refrigerator will be treated like a cooler in bear country. Coolers need to be stored inside your vehicle.

Leaving anything on the table to do with cooking will most likely be confiscated. We volunteered in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park and dealt with campers all the time that didn't read the rules. Please do so when you enter the campground. It'll save you frustration.

I recall one instance when an irate camper came banging on our door at midnight wanting to know where his cooler was. We stated that the ranger took it. He demanded that we go to ranger and get it back for him. We told him if he wanted it back he will be the one waking the ranger up! 🙂 He scoffed off and left the next morning. The ranger did return the cooler along with a ticket.

[dodge_guy]

No need to worry about bears. We were there for 5 Days and not a bear to be seen. Not to say there are none there, it is Yellowstone. I only seen one bison on the road outside the campground!

We seen more bears in the Tetons, one of which wandered right through the campground in between the trailers where people had and used outside kitchens. The bears just kept on moving.

Just clean up and put your stuff away!

[Lwiddis]

Cold beans out of a can is good for me.