Yellowstone/GTNP: move or stay put?

[texasAUtiger]

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, so were wondering if it would be best to pick maybe 1 campground for GTNP and 2 for YNP, spending 3-4 days at each one so we get to spend our time exploring the surrounding park rather than simply driving to get back to base. Is this wise? If so, what spots/campgrounds/areas/cities would you pair up to use as bases of operations?

I have of course heard about Colter Bay and Gros Ventre for GTNP so we could pick one of those and do everything for GT out of there. But for Yellowstone, I have much less info.

Looking at the map, there's the Yellowstone Lake area kind of in the center or south of center. Then there's West Yellowstone, MT over on the upper west side, Gardiner and Cooke City-Silver Gate on the north end, and then Wapiti and (further out) Cody on the east side.

We'd be approaching GTNP and YNP from the south (coming from western CO).

In case it matters, we have a 30' travel trailer. We are not opposed to doing some spurts of boondocking (like Gros Ventre) but my wife would not want a steady diet of it, so we'd need some access to hookups interspersed in there.

I appreciate your willingness to help us based on your experiences.

[ReneeG]

This is a better site - Campsitephotos.combecause you can see each and every site.

[tsetsaf]

With your rig you can easily move around the parks. And your secret weapon See them

[lfloom]

We spent about 10 days in the area. We stayed a few days at an RV park in Jackson and two days at a CG in YS, but that turned out to be a problem - they wanted all cooking equipment put away each night in your rig, but we had a small PUP and there was no room in it for our BBQ, etc. So, then we moved to an RV park in W Yellowstone. We spent a lot of our trip driving around. If I did it again (and now we have a bigger pop up and no kids, I would definitely stay in Grand Teton, and then 3 different locations in Yellowstone. My favorite part of the park is the northern part, BTW.

[OutdoorPhotogra]

You've gotten good advice but I will agree one campground YNP in the park and one in Grand Teton. We stayed in Bridge Bay for our entire trip but only had time for one day in Grand Teton.

Big question is how early do you get up? I was out at first light for photos in the vicinity of the campground and picked the family up around 8-8:30. We picked a quadrant per day and beat traffic by getting on the road relatively early. If you are leaving the campground at 9:00 or later, it will probably be much more traffic getting to an area.

[texasAUtiger]

ekirkland wrote:
We did Yellowstone and Grand Teton a few years ago. I would suggest staying inside the parks; we did Madison and Bridge Bay in Yellowstone and Signal Mtn. in GT. We also like Canyon in Yellowstone and Gros Ventre in GT. And, by the way, War Eagle!!

Thanks to everyone.

WDE, ekirkland! 🙂

[ReneeG]

jalichty wrote:
Signal is a pretty campground but has pretty severe limits on the length of the RV, I think 25 or 26', so if you look at Signal, make sure your RV will be accepted. Gros Ventre is a fairly nice campground with some electric for access pass type people, but we stayed there last spring and felt it was not as convenient to most of GTNP as is Colter Bay. Colter Bay also has some electric in the campground for access pass type folks, but does allow some of them to be rented out to non-access pass folks at times.

You're right about Signal Mountain. We drove through to check out the sites, and as we were leaving, a couple with a fifth wheel the size of ours were about to go in. We stopped and talked to them telling them they might want to think twice. Colter Bay has an RV side too, all with full hookups.

[jalichty]

Signal is a pretty campground but has pretty severe limits on the length of the RV, I think 25 or 26', so if you look at Signal, make sure your RV will be accepted. Gros Ventre is a fairly nice campground with some electric for access pass type people, but we stayed there last spring and felt it was not as convenient to most of GTNP as is Colter Bay. Colter Bay also has some electric in the campground for access pass type folks, but does allow some of them to be rented out to non-access pass folks at times.

[ekirkland]

We did Yellowstone and Grand Teton a few years ago. I would suggest staying inside the parks; we did Madison and Bridge Bay in Yellowstone and Signal Mtn. in GT. We also like Canyon in Yellowstone and Gros Ventre in GT. And, by the way, War Eagle!!

[GeoBoy]

Do Colter Bay for the Teton's and Grizzly RV Park for Yellowstone NP. You and the kids will really like Grizzly and the Town of West Yellowstone. Keep it simple and enjoy yourself.

[Itching2go]

We did three days/four nights in Colter Bay Village RV park (full hook ups), followed by Yellowstone with three days/four nights at the Madison campground and two days, three nights at Fishing Bridge. Given the size of Yellowstone, it worked very well for us to see the western side of the park from Madison, and then the eastern side from Fishing Bridge. As for Colter Bay, the RV park is the best if you desire/need full hookups. Otherwise Gros Ventre is a great choice, or the Colter Bay campground, both of which are dry.

[Mountain_Mama]

ReneeG wrote:
With four kids, I'd try to get a place with hookups. Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone and Colter Bay (the RV hookup side) for GTNP would be my choice.

We just did exactly this the past two weeks. Coulter Bay RV Park is nice (yes sites are close but not that bad). Safe for kids to ride bikes. We loved it!

Fishing Bridge is crowded & sites back to back but we were out sightseeing everyday until after dark so it really doesn't matter. We went to West Yellowstone this past Friday. We went out of YNP close to noon & could not believe the line of cars we met before we got out of the park. It was a line probably 3 miles long of stopped vehicles & there were no animals to see...the # of cars, trrucks, RVs, etc were just too much. There were still tons of vehicles waiting at the west park entrance three lanes wide waiting to get in! I would not plan on staying in West Yellowstone area unless you could enter the park EXTREMELY early. Fishing Bridge is more of a central location from which you can take trips to the different areas of the park. Just know that you will do lots of driving..be sure your kids understand that.

[AH64ID]

My technique for canyon is to tell them you are 40'... it works, but realize it may take some creative parking. I generally hang the rear of my TT over the back of the pad and park my truck at an angle.

It can be done, but it is tight. My TT is just under 30'.

[MoRookie]

We are also planning our trip to Yellowstone July 2016 and are trying to decide on one campground or two we are thinking fishing bridge and Madison or Bridge Bay for 5 days we tried to get in at Canyon when I called she said we were to long we have a 28ft travel trailer so we would be 48ft I have heard a lot of people saying that you could fit 50ft I really wanted to stay in Canyon. We are then leaving and going to Colter Bay in the Tetons the Rv park that does have electric.

[katleman]

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