Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge RV park?

[acritzer]

Does anyone have experience camping here? We are trying to book our summer trip and the guidelines for size have me a bit nervous.
They seem to be very particular about the type of site you should book. They have 30, 35 and 40' sites. Already most dates in June are booked for the 35 and 40.

We have a Cougar 29BHS. Exterior length is listed at 32'. Common sense tells me we could do a 30' site, but the gentleman I talked with on the phone today made me hesitant...stating that if we're even a little over they'd make us leave.

Anyone have first hand knowledge on this?

Thanks

[atwowheelguy]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

Boxer Lovers wrote:
Ironic that Yellowstone is famous for its vast open spaces but in their main full hook up camping area takes a shoe horn to accommodate a RV. Tell me the park couldn't build and fill up another decent campground with hook ups.

I agree totally. The assets of the park are vastly under-developed. Think of the potential for not just some mega RV parks but for vast Hydroelectric and Geothermal energy projects. There is enough potential energy in those systems for the neighboring states to completely wean themselves from fossil fuel power plants.
There is a tremendous amount of water in the Yellowstone ecosystem and the west continually suffers from drought. Piping all that water to where it is needed would be of great benefit. Also, there are areas directly adjacent to the park that teem with mineral mining. Gold, Platinum and other precious metals likely abound in the Yellowstone back country. They belong to the people of America. Allowing those scarce resources to go to unused is criminal.
And why stop at RV parks? There is also a shortage of lodging in the park. A few high rise hotels could quickly be filled. Imagine the view, gazing at Old Faithful backlit by a Giant red Marriott sign...beautiful!.
But why RV parks at all? Develop dispersed camping sites with full hookups instead. The park has nearly two million undeveloped acres. Finding some beautiful areas to put in a couple of sites would be easy. It would add so much to everyone's Yellowstone experience. I mean, who wouldn't want to climb a ridge or round a bend in the trail and come upon a camper with their laundry flapping in the breeze?
Our national parks are one of America's last vestiges of prime undeveloped land. What a waste.

[acritzer]

Braces wrote:
Acritzer. In S DAK don,t miss Custer State Park, Parts of it rival anything you'll see anywhere. Rafter J Bar Ranch is a very nice cg near Hill City. Wall Drug is a waste of time but the Corn Palace is a very unique sight. We also liked the location of Fishing Bridge, will be there again in Sept.

Any idea of must sees that are on the route from the Tetons back towards Custer State Park? A quick route check looks like East on 26/25 and North on 18?

Because of our existing reservations and timeline I think Custer will need to be on our return.

[Braces]

Acritzer. In S DAK don,t miss Custer State Park, Parts of it rival anything you'll see anywhere. Rafter J Bar Ranch is a very nice cg near Hill City. Wall Drug is a waste of time but the Corn Palace is a very unique sight. We also liked the location of Fishing Bridge, will be there again in Sept.

[acritzer]

As things stand we have 4 nights reserved at the Circle 10 campground near the Badlands. During that stay we plan to take a day and visit Rushmore and Crazy horse. After that we head to Yellowstone for 6 nights. Then I think we'll head south and stay near the Tetons. Not sure how long or what else we'll do after that.

[DeanRIowa]

We camped at Fishing Bridge in July of 2015 and our trailer is a 32' hitch to tail. I reserved a 35' site and used almost every inch, definitely reserve a 35' site. With our Slide out and truck it was tight.

Now that being said, it was home base because of location, we didn't spend much time outside around our camper other than breakfast and dinner meals.

I loved being in the park in the mornings & evenings, because until 9:30 am and after 5:30 pm is when the park was relatively empty and we really felt like, we had the place to ourselves. At many of the waterfall overlooks in the evening, we were the only people there. In the morning I usually talked to the rangers and other park employees and tried to find out were there would be any recent animal kills or animal sightings.

We did 7 days at Fishing Bridge, however if I had to do it over again I would probably do 5 days at Fishing Bridge and 2 days in West Yellowstone. 2 days in West Yellowstone would have allowed for easier access to some places on the West side of Yellowstone, and after 5 days at Fishing Bridge, we needed to do some shopping in West Yellowstone anyway.

Dean

[Rangerman40]

GeoBoy wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:
Don't waste your time at Fishing Bridge, just check into Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

No one wants to drive 2 hours to get to the falls, or 3-4 if you wanted to visit Cody, WY. not to mention you will be passing all the same scenery going into the park to a different destination every day!

Not really. It is about a 15 minute drive to the intersection and then you decide if your journey, for the day will take you north, south or east. We spent a week at Yellowstone NP and saw the park and even had a down day to explore the town of West Yellowstone, which is very nice by the way. The town also offer many options for dining, shopping and essentials. Have fun.

Well it's 2 hours to Cody from Fishing Bridge, so it would be at least three from West Yellowstone.... and you are 30 seconds from the loop.

[acritzer]

Well. Our reservation is made so I hope the bugs aren't too bad early June!

[Lancslad]

Fishing Bridge is the worst NP campground in the USA. You may lose your rig driving to your site in the mosquito infested puddles. Yellowstone is impressive but if you want to enjoy your stay, stay away from FB.We stayed July 4-10 2016.

[GeoBoy]

dodge guy wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:
Don't waste your time at Fishing Bridge, just check into Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

No one wants to drive 2 hours to get to the falls, or 3-4 if you wanted to visit Cody, WY. not to mention you will be passing all the same scenery going into the park to a different destination every day!

Not really. It is about a 15 minute drive to the intersection and then you decide if your journey, for the day will take you north, south or east. We spent a week at Yellowstone NP and saw the park and even had a down day to explore the town of West Yellowstone, which is very nice by the way. The town also offer many options for dining, shopping and essentials. Have fun.

[dodge_guy]

GeoBoy wrote:
Don't waste your time at Fishing Bridge, just check into Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

No one wants to drive 2 hours to get to the falls, or 3-4 if you wanted to visit Cody, WY. not to mention you will be passing all the same scenery going into the park to a different destination every day!

[GeoBoy]

Don't waste your time at Fishing Bridge, just check into Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.

[Busskipper]

acritzer wrote:


Does anyone have experience camping here?

We are trying to book our summer trip and the guidelines for size have me a bit nervous.

They seem to be very particular about the type of site you should book.

They have 30, 35 and 40' sites.

Already most dates in June are booked for the 35 and 40.

We have a Cougar 29BHS.

Exterior length is listed at 32'.

Common sense tells me we could do a 30' site, but the gentleman I talked with on the phone today made me hesitant...stating that if we're even a little over they'd make us leave.

Anyone have first hand knowledge on this?

Thanks

Did I miss Something in the OP? :?..........:?..........:S

We have an area that is almost bigger that our two smallest states combined, and the question is can I get a Camp Site 6 months ahead of time - if none are available that I fit in will I make it in one that is a little tighter? (WILL MY 29 TT FIT IN A 30' SITE? - actually measures 32 with the tongue)

My answer would be YES - I have fit my 43' Coach in to Many 35' spots.

So I would not have an issue, but I think the discussion has deteriorated to why not more sites? Which would be a great topic but I'm sure it would get too political to last very long.

:B
:M
:S
:h

[2gypsies1]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

Boxer Lovers wrote:
Ironic that Yellowstone is famous for its vast open spaces but in their main full hook up camping area takes a shoe horn to accommodate a RV. Tell me the park couldn't build and fill up another decent campground with hook ups.

I agree totally. The assets of the park are vastly under-developed. Think of the potential for not just some mega RV parks but for vast Hydroelectric and Geothermal energy projects. There is enough potential energy in those systems for the neighboring states to completely wean themselves from fossil fuel power plants.
There is a tremendous amount of water in the Yellowstone ecosystem and the west continually suffers from drought. Piping all that water to where it is needed would be of great benefit. Also, there are areas directly adjacent to the park that teem with mineral mining. Gold, Platinum and other precious metals likely abound in the Yellowstone back country. They belong to the people of America. Allowing those scarce resources to go to unused is criminal.
And why stop at RV parks? There is also a shortage of lodging in the park. A few high rise hotels could quickly be filled. Imagine the view, gazing at Old Faithful backlit by a Giant red Marriott sign...beautiful!.
But why RV parks at all? Develop dispersed camping sites with full hookups instead. The park has nearly two million undeveloped acres. Finding some beautiful areas to put in a couple of sites would be easy. It would add so much to everyone's Yellowstone experience. I mean, who wouldn't want to climb a ridge or round a bend in the trail and come upon a camper with their laundry flapping in the breeze?
Our national parks are one of America's last vestiges of prime undeveloped land. What a waste.

Yellowstone and all national parks have a Mission to 'preserve' for all to enjoy in future years. I think it's too over-developed right now. RVers don't need full hookups and they're lucky they have one place as it is. As the rangers say "our parks are becoming loved to death". They can't keep up with the infrastructure as it is. As volunteers in these national parks we see first-hand how people trash the parks. They think of it as just another amusement park.

[agesilaus]

Yeah but you miss the point. The upper levels of the nps would be happier if there were no visitors at all. They all take Edward Abbey's book "Desert Solitaire" as their guidestar. He has nothing good to say about visitors. They do grudgingly accept that they need visitors to keep the politicians happy. And the politicians supply the money for their salaries.

So don't ever expect to see another CG built or even major improvements to existing CG. Why don't they add FHU at some sites for example, the extra fees would pay for the cost. Florida State Parks have been doing a rolling upgrade on all of the FSP CG for the last 5 or 6 years. They are upgrading the sites to FHU and know that it will pay for itself. Most of the NPS CG were built during the great depression by the CCC and have seen few upgrades since then.

Unless there is a purge of the nps upper bureaucracy that will never change.