Yellowstone area update

We were there a few weeks ago, 2 days at the unknown entrance--Bechler and two at Mammoth Hot Springs. Every cg we passed was closed but we only drove the West Yellowstone to Mammoth Hot Springs road and maybe 20 miles east on the north road. I never got a clear look at their cg status board so you should check online.

Crowds seemed to be normal, this is our 5th or 6th visit here. Visitor centers are closed. Mammoth HS traffic awful as usual.

We stayed at an excellent boondocking site 15.5 miles north of the post office at Gardiner off 89. We were doing a drive by mainly my wife wanted to see some critters.

The road to Bechler is ten miles of extreme washboard BTW but the Cave Falls CG is good and the falls and trails excellent.

We were there the day before yesterday. I have never seen it so crowded. Every campground was full. We stayed in Gardner, Montana at the Rocky Mountain RV Park. It was excellent.

rfloyd99 wrote:
We are headed to Grand Teton/Yellowstone from Spearfish, SD on Friday, 8/6. I'm aware this may be the worst time of year to visit, but that's just how it worked out. I've gotten conflicting reports about crowds and campsite availability lately. We have a 27' TT, and can dry camp if necessary. Staying outside the parks is okay.

Has anyone been there lately?

You don't have reservations? Wow, I would think it would be pretty much mandatory to have reservations at a national park, 6-8 months in advance. We did Yellowstone 4 years ago, started looking in April and the only week we could get reservations was the week of July 4th, everything else was booked up. That was inside the park, I didn't want to deal with the gate every day.

No reservations for Yellowstone. Going anyway. That’s a strong constitution!

Freecampsites dot net might be a helpful site to look at, if you haven't already done so. When winging it (no reservations), it's good to have a backup alternative or two in mind within easy driving distance.

I believe 7 of the campgrounds in Yellowstone are closed right now. Going there in the summer without reservations even in a "normal" year is brave. Going this year is beyond brave... good luck.

YNP CG open

8 actually closed 4 open, scroll down that page above. Your chances of finding an open spot are essentially zero.

OP here. Thanks for the responses. Apparently there are several first come, first served NFS campgrounds outside the park. as well as commercial RV parks outside the park. That's what I was looking to find out about, as well as general info about crowds and traffic within the park. I guess I could have been more specific in my question.

I spoke with a friend who was in Y'stone last week who said the park did not seem crowded, although he had no info about RV options.

Any info about the outside the park options or general level of crowds within is still welcome.

Thanks!

" general level of crowds within"

We haven't spent much time in Gardiner before but it seemed to be busy when we were there, inside the park to--it is always crowded in the park from June thru October, as I said the crowds did not seem to be any worse than usual. But usual means a mob scene.

Don't know about private cg but the West Yellowstone and Gardiner areas were very busy and we got a 'cg full response' to a request for and overnight spot at a cg 40 miles from West Yellowstone and the very out of the way cg we did find a spot at was almost full.

Bakers Hole 3 miles north of West Yellowstone is nice. Some electric and some not. First come first served, if getting there 9-10am you can usually find a spot.
Rainbow point a little father north has first severed and reserve able, some electric and some not. Last 2 miles are rough road but ok if going slow.
I was in Yellowstone 10 days ago. Crowds were about the same as other years Just US residents but still lots more campers because of the virus.
Keep checking the reserve line every few hours and good chance of getting lucky, I did for both Yellowstone and Rainbow Point and got sites at both. People still cancel. I got my site in Madison campground 6 days before we left.
Very few seen to take precautions for the virus seriously, not many mask but where they are required. We were carefully and kept a few feet between us and others. No issues other than I dislike crowds. Wasn't for grand kids wanting to go there I would not go.