Yellowstone/GTNP: move or stay put?
We are planning a summer 2016 Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP for a family of four with kids 10 and 7. This would be our first trip to these parks. Our understanding is that these parks are huge...
Forum Discussion
I've been to the area three times with my three children.
Don't worry about finding a campground with activies, like a KOA. The kids will find plenty to keep busy inside the park. Packed plenty of videos, activites the first trip, didn't bother on the next two, as they didn't get used.
I would split up your staying three sites as you suggested.
Any of the campgrounds will do in Grand Teton, I have stayed at most of them. The one with hookups is nice, but a bit busy.
As for Yellowstone, I am going to make a rare recommendation for Fishing Bridge, if you need a break from dry camping. Go there right after Grand Teton. Make a reservation as soon as you know dates.
I personally do not enjoy the cramped sardine atomosphere of Fishing Bridge, and have not stayed there since my initial trip. That said, I would stay there ahead of Bridge Bay. But I do go there for showers and laundry, which you can use without stsying there.
I would suggest Madison for the second half of your visit, as its close to the thermal areas and is a nice wooded campground. Norris would work in a pinch too.
If you decide you don't need hookups at all, instead of Fishing Bridge, go to Canyon, or even the smaller non reserveable sites like Slough or Pebble.
I am firmly in the stay in the park group. Traffic into and out of West Yellowstone can be quite lengthy, if you don't get an early start. You'll be doing plenty of driving as is, without adding those extra miles coming in from West Yellowstone.
Envious of your upcoming trip, even though I have been 5 times in the last 11 years, still eagarly awaiting my next visit in 2017
Don't worry about finding a campground with activies, like a KOA. The kids will find plenty to keep busy inside the park. Packed plenty of videos, activites the first trip, didn't bother on the next two, as they didn't get used.
I would split up your staying three sites as you suggested.
Any of the campgrounds will do in Grand Teton, I have stayed at most of them. The one with hookups is nice, but a bit busy.
As for Yellowstone, I am going to make a rare recommendation for Fishing Bridge, if you need a break from dry camping. Go there right after Grand Teton. Make a reservation as soon as you know dates.
I personally do not enjoy the cramped sardine atomosphere of Fishing Bridge, and have not stayed there since my initial trip. That said, I would stay there ahead of Bridge Bay. But I do go there for showers and laundry, which you can use without stsying there.
I would suggest Madison for the second half of your visit, as its close to the thermal areas and is a nice wooded campground. Norris would work in a pinch too.
If you decide you don't need hookups at all, instead of Fishing Bridge, go to Canyon, or even the smaller non reserveable sites like Slough or Pebble.
I am firmly in the stay in the park group. Traffic into and out of West Yellowstone can be quite lengthy, if you don't get an early start. You'll be doing plenty of driving as is, without adding those extra miles coming in from West Yellowstone.
Envious of your upcoming trip, even though I have been 5 times in the last 11 years, still eagarly awaiting my next visit in 2017
