Yellowstone - Will we get turned away at 44'?

[loudounrv]

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 I know many state they have strict size limitations. Several state parks in our area max out at 30' sites, and I know Yellowstone campgrounds state they max out at 40'.

I made a reservation today with someone at Xanterra for Grant and Madison this summer. I told him our current dimensions, but mentioned we hoped to be in a new trailer next year. He said be sure to keep it under 40' or we might get turned away.

Does anyone know how strictly this is enforced? Has anyone seen a 5ver more than 40' in a spot at Grant, Madison or Fishing Bridge?

Thank you!

[4runnerguy]

bgum wrote:
They are not going to measure your rig. They are going to assign you to a spot and if you don't fit you loose your money.

Pretty true observation. If you (OP) are looking for a bigger rig, be warned there are many public CG's in the west where you just won't fit. Tight roads, small spaces, low hanging branches, boulders to sideswipe. Even in those public CG's where you will fit, you'll find just a small percentage of sites where such a large rig will fit. It's not just the 44', but you have to add the length of your tow vehicle also, which brings you in at over 60'. Our current TV and PUP are around 43', and even though we can often park the hood of the 4Runner under one of the bunk ends, we still find that many sites in NPS, NFS and BLM CG's simply won't hold our rig.

You have to weigh the advantages for your decision to buy such a huge rig vs. what you give up in flexibility and campground options. Around many of our NP's, you'll find yourself camping at private CG's outside the park.

As noted, there are other options. Keep your current TT and set up a tent where you camp for the kids. If you currently have a TT and want to move to a 5er, I assume you have a pickup. Can you put a topper or shell on that for the kids to stay in? There are some TT's and 5er's with bunk options that make for more beds without going to a 44' unit.

[Oldtymeflyr]

Call up Yellowstone reservations. Try to make a reservation. We used to go there every year and my wife would have to negotiate to get a bumper pull 23 footer into a campground.

For most forest service/state campgrounds in mountain west, 44 ft is just too big. On the interstates you will be okay, get off onto the mountain roads, such as both the eastern access to YNP out of Cody or the south route out of the Tetons you will be facing narrow twisty roads with lots of traffic and often no shoulder/no guardrail.

They do enforce the rules YNP. I saw the rangers walk out a the guy who needed to run a generator during no generator hours to operate his breathing machine, he was gone!

Good luck.

[ReneeG]

Allworth wrote:
The bears now use an Excel database to keep track of which campsites have kids sleeping in tents. Ain't modern improvements great?

Actually, the last time we were there the danger was bison in the campgrounds, not bears.

Good one! When we camped in the park at Bridge Bay, yes, the danger in the campground was bison. I had to look both ways before taking our dogs out for a walk and then we'd encounter bison and have to detour way around. During our first night there we were awakened in the middle of the night by the strong odor of a bison - just outside our TT window!

[Allworth]

The bears now use an Excel database to keep track of which campsites have kids sleeping in tents. Ain't modern improvements great?

Actually, the last time we were there the danger was bison in the campgrounds, not bears.

[mkl654321]

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.)

[TenOC]

The correct answer to the question is Yes, No, and Maybe. It depends on who (and their mood that day) is at the check in station.

[BozemanTrail]

Having stayed at more than one of the campgrounds inside of YNP, I definitely have been held clearly to the length limits and have had to park my Jeep somewhere else and walked back to the campsite where the motorhome was parked.

[jmtandem]

i think having a 44' RV of any type, is going to have a VERY difficult time finding anyplace to fit in national park campgrounds.
and that will eliminate many state and county park campgrounds.

Death Valley National Park comes to mind as I read your response. Forty four feet would fit with room top spare in some of the campgrounds.

[bikendan]

i think having a 44' RV of any type, is going to have a VERY difficult time finding anyplace to fit in national park campgrounds.
and that will eliminate many state and county park campgrounds.

IMHO, if the OP wants to continue to use public campgrounds, buying a 44' TH is not the right choice for a new RV.

[colliehauler]

It's not always the size of the site that limits you. Some times it's the road in the campground or the back in angle to the site.

[petrel]

We did Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone with a 31' TT. I remember seeing big rigs in some of the parks, and no one broke out a tape measure when we registered. I think you can get by with whatever you are willing to try.

With that said, as mentioned previously, you run the risk of inconveniencing yourself and others and maybe doing damage to your rig if you try to push the park's size restrictions too much. We definitely found it preferable to stay in the park and avoid the commute. However, I would not have enjoyed negotiating some parts of the parks with a larger rig.

Best of luck with your trip.

[jmtandem]

During the Yellowstone season, it is almost 100% assured you won't get to "try" multiple sites. They will have reserved one site for the rig, all the others will be taken. You can't just go trying sites like Little Red Riding Hood, looking for the one that is just right. All the reservable sites will be booked tight, so there is no flexibility in shifting from site to site. Even if another site is currently unoccupied, it will be reserved for another guest who most likely has a different length of stay reserved, so they couldn't just switch you with that other person. The chances are Yellowstone will require multiple travel days for the OP to get there. That's a long way to drive to find out you don't have a site. In my opinion it would be foolish to "hope" you will actually fit into something the park management says you won't. But it is surely the right of the OP to try.

Message understood. I never suggested trying multiple sites. I suggested doing the homework, reserving a site that looks like it will work, and then going for it. Just because ten others can't get into a site or worse will not even try does not mean that the OP can't. Sure the OP can reserve outside the park and drive in and do all the daily driving then go back outside but that does not appear to be what he is asking. He is asking "will we get turned away at 44 feet?" That says nothing about his abilities to park the fifth, just whether an arbitrary decision will be made by somebody that he can't even try regardless of ability to back and park.

The only place I have ever heard of rangers actually measuring an RV for camp sites is in Bryce Canyon in Utah. And they don't go by what the numbers on the side of the RV say, they take a tape and measure. If you are over length you don't get in, you don't get to try, you get to go somewhere else.

[westernrvparkow]

jmtandem wrote:
You are doing the right thing by asking the questions and as usual getting the entire spectrum of answers. However, nobody else
is you and your abilities to park in tight spots. I have been with large fifth wheel folks that got it in where others would never try. Sometimes it took asking the folks across the access road to move their truck for a few minutes, sometimes entering the site going backwards on the access road, sometimes holding branches back while getting it in. But, where there is a will there is a way. Maybe just go and see for yourself if you can put the fifth into the camp spaces. You might surprise yourself and many others on this thread.

During the Yellowstone season, it is almost 100% assured you won't get to "try" multiple sites. They will have reserved one site for the rig, all the others will be taken. All the reservable sites will be booked tight, so there is no flexibility in shifting from site to site. Even if another site is currently unoccupied, it will be reserved for another guest who most likely has a different length of stay reserved, so they couldn't just switch you with that other person. The chances are Yellowstone will require multiple travel days for the OP to get there. That's a long way to drive to find out you don't have a site. In my opinion it would be foolish to "hope" you will actually fit into something the park management says you won't. But it is surely the right of the OP to try.

[Veebyes]

Short answer is yes, you will get turned away. A 44' 5er is monsterous. Lots of times a <30' CG will have a few spots big enough for an >30'er. Good CG staff know their sites & know what can be put where, especially if the driver is not fussy about a site.

We arrived at Bridge Bay in July once, no reservations, & were told to go try a site. Come back if we managed to stuff ourselves in. We did. Down in Grand Teton Gros Ventre has a number of sites big enough for a 38'er with a driver who has better than average skills.

It is not just site size. It is backing skills of the driver & directing skills of the spotter that make the difference.

44' is big. Most NP & SPs were not designed with 35'ers in mind let alone 44'ers. Better play it safe & book outside of the park & do the daily commute.

[jmtandem]

You are doing the right thing by asking the questions and as usual getting the entire spectrum of answers. However, nobody else
is you and your abilities to park in tight spots. I have been with large fifth wheel folks that got it in where others would never try. Sometimes it took asking the folks across the access road to move their truck for a few minutes, sometimes entering the site going backwards on the access road, sometimes holding branches back while getting it in. But, where there is a will there is a way. Maybe just go and see for yourself if you can put the fifth into the camp spaces. You might surprise yourself and many others on this thread.