Yellowstone - Will we get turned away at 44'?
We currently own a 33' TT, but we are considering a 44' Toy Hauler and would plan to use the garage as a 2nd bedroom for our 3 kids. We'd like to start staying in more state and national parks and...
Forum Discussion
As a practical matter, one should not try to camp inside any national park with a rig longer than 35 feet, and even then, only about half of the sites will actually be usable if you're in a forest setting. The campgrounds were built in a different era, when people actually camped rather than putting an entire house on their backs and driving around with it.
The only two Yellowstone campgrounds where 40+ foot mastodons have a prayer are Fishing Village and Grant, and that's only for some of the sites there. You have no chance of snaring such sites--they get booked up very quickly.
If you stay on the fringes of the park, there are some things you should know. There isn't much on the east side (Cody entrance) and the road into the park is steep, narrow, and winding. The south side has few facilities and the park entrance is quite far from park attractions. The north and west entrances have border towns (Gardiner and West Yellowstone) that are built around fleecing tourists. The price of everything, from groceries to campsites, will be double or triple what you're used to paying elsewhere. Those entrances, however, are considerably closer to park attractions than the east or south entrances.
If you show up in a rig that is too long, you WILL get turned away and you will NOT get a refund. They're not going to let you in to break a bunch of tree branches trying to maneuver the behemoth into and out of your campsite.
I'm wondering, though--you have kids, and it will be late spring or summer; why not use your smaller rig and take along a tent for the kids? (Some campgrounds mandate hard-sided camping, but most don't.)
The only two Yellowstone campgrounds where 40+ foot mastodons have a prayer are Fishing Village and Grant, and that's only for some of the sites there. You have no chance of snaring such sites--they get booked up very quickly.
If you stay on the fringes of the park, there are some things you should know. There isn't much on the east side (Cody entrance) and the road into the park is steep, narrow, and winding. The south side has few facilities and the park entrance is quite far from park attractions. The north and west entrances have border towns (Gardiner and West Yellowstone) that are built around fleecing tourists. The price of everything, from groceries to campsites, will be double or triple what you're used to paying elsewhere. Those entrances, however, are considerably closer to park attractions than the east or south entrances.
If you show up in a rig that is too long, you WILL get turned away and you will NOT get a refund. They're not going to let you in to break a bunch of tree branches trying to maneuver the behemoth into and out of your campsite.
I'm wondering, though--you have kids, and it will be late spring or summer; why not use your smaller rig and take along a tent for the kids? (Some campgrounds mandate hard-sided camping, but most don't.)
