Yellowstone area camping help

[jleas524]

Hi there everyone. I have a question to ask anyone experienced with camping in and around Yellowstone National Park.
We will be heading there this summer on our first cross country road trip from SC.
Our plans are a 2-3 week trip up to Mt Rushmore and Devils Tower area, and then on to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Jackson Hole. Our RV is a class C 24' motor home.
What are your opinions about the campgrounds out there?
Has anyone done any boondock camping out that way?
Does anyone have any tips for traveling out there?
Any ideas on what to see other then the obvious?
We will have 3 adult and 2 kids traveling.
We have made many east coast trips, but have never been west of the Mississippi River.

Thanks in advance for your help...

John

[jleas524]

WOW... a lot of useful information. I will be checking these out when I get home tonight. I know three weeks will not be enough time (is it ever), but for our first trip, its the best I can do now for work. we have found that our most fun trips are when we have no plans but just go where the front wheels lead. but going this far I need to have some kind of plan. Many thanks to everyone who has replied...

[Windwalker55]

First a note about Rushmore. We stayed at a national forest campground at Sheridan Lake and it was really nice. Water and dumps are available and you can run generators at certain times. It is close to a lot of the tourist activities and yet fairly off the beaten path. We much prefer national park, national forest, COE, and state/county parks to private parks because they seem much more natural to us.

We were at Yellowstone this past late summer and stayed at Indian Creek campground. Nice relatively primitive campground with no water or dump and I don't think they allow generators so have water tanks full and black/gray empty and batteries charged. We moved up to Grant Village after two or three nights at Indian Creek. Grant Village is huge with water and dumps and you can run your generator there.

We went to Tetons after Yellowstone. We actually saw a lot more wildlife at the Tetons than at Yellowstone. We stayed at Gros Ventre campground. Had moose with babies there in the campground a couple of mornings. Gros Ventre is reasonably close to Jackson yet easy access to GTNP as well. It was pretty full even in fall when we were there.

I hate making reservations because it ties you down. I prefer to drift at my whims. Usually you can get a site if you show up at these park campgrounds right around 10:00 in the morning when others are vacating. Sometimes this means you have to get up early and move from a previous site but it usually works for us.

Have a fun trip.

[CA_Traveler]

West Yellowstone gives you good access to either loop in Yellowstone.

And 3 hours to Old Faithful??? With a buffy jam or 2 it could be much longer!

And ignore the signs and get out of the car to take pictures of the buffys or don't stay on the trails. You like some others might not live to regret it! :@

It's a great park to visit and make an effort to get a reservation at Fishing Bridge.

[lucy6194]

in cody we stayed in Buffalo Bill state park took a trip out to see wild horses awesome, they came so close the guide had to shoo they off. in Tetons we stayed at Slide Lake. As we have gen's and solar hook ups not necessary. Disappointed with campgrounds in YS but liked Mammouth the best. We camped in 5th wheel in August/Sept and the elk were awesome to see and hear. Then went down to Utah to Flaming Gorge until snow chased us east.

[Golden_HVAC]

You will enjoy the lack of bugs and humidity once you are west of the Mississippi. Be sure to bring along a rain jacket and long sleeves for time out by the campfires. you will need it more as a wind breaker than a rain coat in most cases. You probably will not run into any snow, but the higher elevations can bring snow any time of the year.

Look at the maps of Yellowstone. The only full hookup campground is in the center of the park, flying bridge. It can have bears. West Yellowstone is the closest full hookup, and is slightly outside the park, but still less than 3 hours drive to Old Faithful. THe park is in a large figure 8, with campgrounds in all directions, Flying Bridge in the center of the 8, west Yellowstone to the left of the center of 8, others are at the top and bottom.

The bottom exit is "Near" Grand Tetons NP, but they are separated by a couple of miles. There are a couple of boondocking places in between the parks, but somewhat difficult to find. It is west of Flagg Ranch, another full hookup campground. There is only 1 road going west, it is on that one, just about where it changes from paved to dirt, about miles west of Flagg Ranch, there is camping areas on both sides of the road, about 2-8 miles from town (separated by about a mile or two). After driving 8 miles, there are no more camping areas.

When you leave Mt. Rushmore, turn to the right, go about 1/4 mile, there is a tiny place to get a side shot of Washington. My suggestion is let the co-pilot out to take the picture, then get moving again. Along highway 16, there are 8 tunnels that line up with Mt. Rushmore in such a way that the monument is straight in front of the tunnel. Stop at the second or third tunnel, less crowded than tunnel #1 and #4 (first from the other direction).

I stayed at Custer state park, and took my car on the wildlife dirt road. You can take your RV too - just stick to the first 3-4 miles of fine gravel road, then go back to town. If you have not seen any wildlife by that time, you are at the wrong time of day, an likely will not see anymore.

Have fun!

Fred.

[Allworth]

Rocky Mountain RV Park, Gardiner, MT.

[2gypsies1]

We also stay in the national park's campgrounds rather than outside in RV parks. We feel you just get a better experience by being right there. Google for the parks you're interested in and find the official nps.gov (national park) sites for accurate information on the campgrounds and other activities. You mentioned boondocking and there are many national forest campgrounds in all directions of these areas. Check in the park's ranger stations or newspapers for activities to include in your stay. There are plenty of wonderful things to take advantage just by being in nature. Have a good trip!

[Veebyes]

Also looking at Yellowstone & Grand Teton this summer. This time with some guests onboard. Been to both before. Prefer the Tetons. Also prefer CGs inside the parks. Don't like commuting. Private CGs outside the parks are, well, like private CGs anywhere. The elevation is high. The nights are cool. There is no need for AC. An awfull lot of gas for the genny can be bought for the difference in price between the outside of park private CG & the inside dry CG price.

Part of the magic of the parks is drycamping inside the parks. We are self contained. Who needs power or water? Last time in Yellostone we did Bridge Bay CG. Nice CG. Had a thunderstorm go through. The lightshow, without electric lights all around, was fantastic. This time we are looking at Grants Village. They do reservations so I guess we will have to make some.

Spent 5 days through the July 4th holiday at the Tetons Gros Ventre CG last year. Nice CG. No reservations. No problem getting a site for our large rig. This time we are looking at Colter Bay, dry camping section. Again a no reservation CG. Get there early afternoon & don't anticipate a problem getting a site.

[revump]

We stay at Henry's Lake and commute

[Liltippy]

Alfred622 wrote:
You're getting some excellent advice in the posts above.

First, prepare yourself for something grander and more magnificent that you would ever expect. The West is simply amazing, distances are vast, and legends are around every corner.

When we camp, we like to have some other people in the vicinity but "packed" around us. So we prefer State Parks & National Forests for our camping. Yellowstone has nice facilities but you will be "packed" in. So, we camped across the boarder at Henry's Lake State Park in Idaho. It is about 20 minutes from the center of the park but you will get: large & well maintained spaces, peace & quiet, clean facilities, a fishing lake to die for, and no bears. This made a real nice base camp away from the crowded areas of Yellowstone.

Oh, when at the Grand Tetons (simply amazing) you'll see there are four visitor centers. They are NOT all the same! Each has its own special focus and each deserves to be appreciated. 60 minutes at each one was about right for us.

Thanks of your info. I also run a ReadyBrute Elite and really like the simplicity.

[Alfred622]

You're getting some excellent advice in the posts above.

First, prepare yourself for something grander and more magnificent that you would ever expect. The West is simply amazing, distances are vast, and legends are around every corner.

When we camp, we like to have some other people in the vicinity but "packed" around us. So we prefer State Parks & National Forests for our camping. Yellowstone has nice facilities but you will be "packed" in. So, we camped across the boarder at Henry's Lake State Park in Idaho. It is about 20 minutes from the center of the park but you will get: large & well maintained spaces, peace & quiet, clean facilities, a fishing lake to die for, and no bears. This made a real nice base camp away from the crowded areas of Yellowstone.

Oh, when at the Grand Tetons (simply amazing) you'll see there are four visitor centers. They are NOT all the same! Each has its own special focus and each deserves to be appreciated. 60 minutes at each one was about right for us.

[Bob___Ann]

We tried to move our Rv as little as possible. If you come in through Cody there is a lot to see so I would look at two nights there. One for Cody Hotel and street show, museums,river dam, rodeo etc. The other day I would do the Beartooth Highway. Rated as one of the most beautiful rides in America,a must see. We decided to camp at Colter Bay in the Teton National Park. From there you can do the Tetons and Jackson Hole is only about 45 minutes south of the park. We then toured Yellowstone from there. Yes it was a lot of driving but Yellowstone is one huge park. We were there in early spring so had no traffic. Colter Bay has full hookups with 50 amp and sewer. They also have fuel, a nice restaurant and a very nice grocery store. Being in the park the gas is a little high but it beats walking. You will really enjoy the trip.

[SPRING_STREET]

I would try to include the Black Hills , Cody and Deadwood on your to do list since you will be in the area of all of them. Cody is at the east entrance of Yellowstone and the afore mentioned Grizzly's Campground is at the west entrance.Spent 3 weeks there in 2010 and was the best trip to date. Next time I will spend more time in the Grand Tetons and Montana. ,truly Gods Country !!

[brirene]

Here is a thread with some information. Maybe try to narrow down what you're asking, as there are quite a few options ranging from boondocking to full hookups, both inside and outside the park itself. Good luck! Sounds like you're planning a great trip!