Yellowstone / Old Faithful area

[showmetrooper]

First time visitor to Yellowstone and looking for recommendations during the month of June 2020. Looking for good commercial campground nearest Old Faithful with full hookups. Will be limited on time, so must do things in this area.

[LindaAnn]

I agree with others about Grizzly in West Yellowstone. It's close to the entry of the park...and on the way to the park, stop at the Visitor Center and get maps and info.

We stayed there a few years ago and found it very convenient...and it is a nice RV park. Plus, West Yellowstone is a small town, but with some good shops and places to eat.

If you don't see a lot of wildlife on your drives through the park, visit the Grizzly Wolf and Discovery Center just blocks from the RV park..and get a close-up look at the beautiful wolves and bears.

[Pangaea_Ron]

I love West Yellowstone (W/Y).

My new bride and I were traveling through W/Y when the timing gear on my 1963 Volvo 544 failed in 1971. We limped into W/Y and found the only remaining mechanic in town as the town was closing down in the late fall. The "mechanic" was a failed medical student that came home to WY to live with his mother, and used a broomstick to his ear (his stethoscope) against the engine block to determine where the knock was coming from. He correctly determined the issue and had parts flown in from Spokane, WA several days later. Fortunately I had a Volvo repair manual with me.

It took a week for repairs and the town embraced us, with reduced motel rates, allowed us to cook in our room, and suggested adventures for us (we had little or no money). We hitchhiked around the park and actually accepted a ride from 5 guys (from a band) in a purple Cadillac hearse with a bit of apprehension. As we rounded the next corner, there were two black bears blocking the road demanding attention. It was a great adventure.

When we got the bill from the mechanic, it was a fraction of what it should have been.

[LindaAnn]

Elk_traveler wrote:
No question the Grizzly rv park in west yellowstone is the very best around and its only probably less than a mile from the entrance and down to Old Faithful should only take about 30' providing you don't encounter a crowd watching Bisons or some other wildlife. The Rocky Mtn park over the Roosevelt gate is a nice park but its not Grizzly and its much further away from the Old Faithful site. Besides being a very nice RV park just outside Grizzly in the town of west yellowstone you have many eateries, and other accomodations that you find in most towns except there is no Walmart around there. You cannot go wrong with Grizzly in my opinion having visited the area some five times over the years.

I agree! This is where we stayed...Grizzly RV Park is very nice...and West Yellowstone is a small, but neat, little town. As you start to Yellowstone Park, there is a Welcome Center, where a Ranger will provide maps and information...absolutely get a map of the park...Old Faithful is in the lower loop (which was the prettiest to me). The upper loop has a waterfall. Of course it's all beautiful. The only "wildlife" we saw were buffalo. But we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Center in West Yellowstone and see them up close.

[gvisnic]

We were there in June last year ans stayed at Grizzly also. One thing we found helpful and educational was to try to attend the Ranger presentations at the popular sites. We also moved to Gardiner Mt rv park and visited the northern features for several days

[Alan_Hepburn]

Last summer we stayed at Yellowstone RV Park at Mack's Inn - it's about a 30 minute drive up to West Yellowstone but they had room when everything else in the area was already booked. The setting is rustic, but it was comfortable and full hookups.

[GaryUT]

showmetrooper wrote:
First time visitor to Yellowstone and looking for recommendations during the month of June 2020. Looking for good commercial campground nearest Old Faithful with full hookups. Will be limited on time, so must do things in this area.

Another vote for Grizzly in West Yellowstone.

If you check the online reservations for the campgrounds in the park for the month of June they are all booked. Need to book them a year out.

Get up early and be at the gate before it opens. Take your lunch with you or plan to eat at one of the lodges so you don't need to return to the trailer during the day.

Gary

[richardcoxid]

A thousand pardons, please!

It has been prolly 30 or more years since we have camped inside YNP. We dry camp in FS campgrounds outside the park. We occasionally go thru the park in our travels to northern WY. When we see the lines of RVs lined up at Madisen I thought they were waiting (my bad) for someone to to check out.

[Pangaea_Ron]

enblethen

You're correct, the Grizzly Recovery Center is about 1-1/2 blocks to the WSW from Grizzly RV Park, but you can certainly hear the wolves howl from there.

[bikendan]

richardcoxid wrote:


The ONLY FHU Reservable CG in YSNP is Fishing Bridge however it it closed for the 2020 season for “Renovation” The other CGs- Grant Village, Bridge Bay, Canyon, Mammoth, Madison (the closest CG to Old Faithful) are non reservable “dry” CGs.There are some other smaller CGs that are suitable for tents etc. only. To get a site in any of the non reservable CGs be there EARLY get in line and the Ranger will assign you a site as the previous campers leave.

you can reserve a campsite at Madison, Grant and Canyon since we did but not a specific campsite.
And FB is closed in 2020 until mid-September:

CLOSED FOR 2020 SEASON UNTIL MID-SEPTEMBER

Fishing Bridge RV Park—elevation 7,800 feet (2377 m)—is located near the Yellowstone River where it exits Yellowstone Lake on its way north toward the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This is the only campground in Yellowstone to offer water, sewer, and electrical hookups for RVs. Because grizzly bears frequent the area, no tents or tent campers are allowed. Campfires are prohibited in the Fishing Bridge RV Park, including the use of portable fire pits.

[enblethen]

Grizzly RV park is not next to the Grizzly Recovery Center. The one next door to the Recovery center is Buffalo Crossing.

[Pangaea_Ron]

If you have not reserved YNP campground sites yet, they will probably not be available. We love them, and try to stay in them when available, but they are often small, without services, and often not available. Do Grizzly, and leave early to explore the park. It is easy to escape the asphalt of Grizzly, especially when you hear the wolves howling from the Grizzly Recovery Center next door.

[richardcoxid]

I am assuming that the OP wants a FHU CG that he should go to his closest Camping World and purchase a copy of “Good Sams RV Travel and Savings Guide” the campers “Bible” long before the I’net. Then lookup CGs in West Yellowstone, MT and Island Park,ID there is a wealth of information there. Yes, I am not a fan of CW except for the Bible, it lists over 12,000 campgrounds and services, phone #s, # of sites, directions etc.

The ONLY FHU Reservable CG in YSNP is Fishing Bridge however it it closed for the 2020 season for “Renovation” The other CGs- Grant Village, Bridge Bay, Canyon, Mammoth, Madison (the closest CG to Old Faithful) are non reservable “dry” CGs.There are some other smaller CGs that are suitable for tents etc. only. To get a site in any of the non reservable CGs be there EARLY get in line and the Ranger will assign you a site as the previous campers leave.

The town of West Yellowstone, MT is about 3 blocks from the West Entrance to Yellowstone NP then 14 miles to Madison and then 16 miles to O/F with 4 or 5 thermal basins and the one way Firehole Canyon Drive along the way.

[suprz]

Ed C wrote:
The best is Grizzly in West Yellowstone; there are other nice ones in West Yellowstone. It's about a 30 minute drive depending on what animals show up along the way.

X2

[RickLight]

A guide book for free!

Maybe we should have a sticky of posts like that for the Major sights.