Does this make sense - Yellowstone and Salt Lake Rental?

Cruise America would probably be your best bet. Online reviews are typically negative because no one writes how good a time they had.

It'l bee peak season and the 2 areas you're looking at are very popular. Good luck finding a spot to stay. You may have to catch the luck of the draw and hope for a cancellation.

I would do a search for what is available in Salt Lake City.
There are numerous outlets. Some may have better rigs for your party and offer some incentives.
You may even consider a different pick up location closer to the parks.
RV rentals, Bozeman, MT

We've noticed many Cruise America RVs wherever we go in the summer. They seems to be quite popular with families

I’d strongly consider renting a car in Jackson Hole during your stay in the Tetons and Yellowstone. Having to tear down and set up every day is a PITA, you’ll save a bunch of fuel and mileage charges as you’ll be driving some fair distances around both parks, and then there’s the challenges of finding parking spaces in pull outs and parking areas suitable for RV’s. You will also likely have times when one person needs to make a run to the grocery or wherever while the other(s) want to stay at the campsite. Hard to do when the RV is your only transportation. Lots of folks do SLC RV rentals for Yellowstone and the Tetons, and it is a great way to experience the parks. Beats the heck out of going the motel/hotel route, IMHO.

Itching2go wrote:
I’d strongly consider renting a car in Jackson Hole during your stay in the Tetons and Yellowstone. Having to tear down and set up every day is a PITA, you’ll save a bunch of fuel and mileage charges as you’ll be driving some fair distances around both parks, and then there’s the challenges of finding parking spaces in pull outs and parking areas suitable for RV’s. You will also likely have times when one person needs to make a run to the grocery or wherever while the other(s) want to stay at the campsite. Hard to do when the RV is your only transportation. Lots of folks do SLC RV rentals for Yellowstone and the Tetons, and it is a great way to experience the parks. Beats the heck out of going the motel/hotel route, IMHO.

Agree. There are quite a few scenic side drives that are too narrow for RVs.

My wife and I rented a Class C motorhome in Salt Lake City and drove to Yellowstone back in mid June of 2010. It was a great way to see the park since you never had to leave the park. We rented a small 22' Class C from Access RV in Salt Lake City for 7 days. Breaking down and leaving the campsite wasn't really an issue since we stayed in Canyon Village and Madison campgrounds which have no hookups. The small class C was easy to park and get around in. I had no issues at all parking anywhere I wanted to as the C was about the length of a large church van. You probably would need to get something bigger for 5 people. In Canyon, they had a nice shower facility for $3 a shower (back in 2010). We never used the motor home shower and there as a dump station and water fill right when you entered the campground.

It might be too late to reserve sites now in Canyon and Madison but they have several campgrounds that are first come first serve. We made reservations for Canyon and Madison as early as was allowed. We are talking about doing this same trip next summer.

The only downside to flying out and renting (we flew in from Florida to Salt Lake City) was they nickle and dime you to death. $$ a day for pots and pans, sheets, etc. We ended up stopping at a Walmart and buying a pot and pan and a few cheap kitchen items. It was much cheaper than paying the daily rental fees.

Burch

MetalGator wrote:
My wife and I rented a Class C motorhome in Salt Lake City and drove to Yellowstone back in mid June of 2010........
It might be too late to reserve sites now in Canyon and Madison but they have several campgrounds that are first come first serve. .......

If you revisit, you will be absolutely amazed. The number of visitors has increased dramatically. I don't mean just by a few percent but by many times. Trying to get into a first come, first served campground is often just a waste of time. I did make it into Norris campground this past Fall. I was in line waiting for an opening well before 8 am since I left the Mammoth area well before dawn. Those who arrived a few minutes later, lost out as the available spots were taken. Madison campground is a few miles away and accepts reservations. Even for a stay after Labor Day, you will need to make reservations months in advance.

This year I was lucky enough to get a campsite in Arches. It was for the last 4 days in October. You can only make reservations 6 months in advance. I was a few hours late and got one of the last remaining sites. Fortunately they do not accept reservations for November so I was able to change to a more suitable site where it was level enough to be able to cook and run the refrigerator.

JimK-NY wrote:
If you revisit, you will be absolutely amazed. The number of visitors has increased dramatically. I don't mean just by a few percent but by many times. Trying to get into a first come, first served campground is often just a waste of time. I did make it into Norris campground this past Fall. I was in line waiting for an opening well before 8 am since I left the Mammoth area well before dawn. Those who arrived a few minutes later, lost out as the available spots were taken. Madison campground is a few miles away and accepts reservations. Even for a stay after Labor Day, you will need to make reservations months in advance.

This year I was lucky enough to get a campsite in Arches. It was for the last 4 days in October. You can only make reservations 6 months in advance. I was a few hours late and got one of the last remaining sites. Fortunately they do not accept reservations for November so I was able to change to a more suitable site where it was level enough to be able to cook and run the refrigerator.

I really want to go back again. Back in 2010 we didn't own an RV and it was only our 2nd or 3rd time renting one. I believe we got to the park on June 11th and stayed in the park for 5-6 days. There was snow on the ground at Canyon village our first day. Being from Florida, it was weird seeing snow in June!

The traffic wasn't too bad the first day or two but towards the end of our stay the traffic started getting bad. I can't imagine how bad it would have been in July and August once the kids are out of school

Burch

To the OP and MetalGator - there are many options for "camping" both inside and outside the park. On our numerous trips, we have done both. Inside the park we've stayed at Bridge Bay, but since that trip, we've stayed outside the park only because we have found the park campgrounds to be too right for our FW. We've stayed at Red Rock RV Park in Island Park. We've stayed at Baker's Hole FS CG in West Yellowstone (one of our favorites). We've stayed at Grizzly RV in West Yellowstone. We've stayed at Colter Bay RV Park off Jackson Lake. We've stayed at Falls CG a FS CG off Togwotee Pass. We've stayed at Gros Ventre in GTNP and we've stayed at Flagg Ranch. Oh (edit), we've stayed at the West Yellowstone KOA, in Driggs at an RV park, at Teton Canyon FS CG, and Wolf Creek FS CG too.

JimK-NY wrote:

MetalGator wrote:
My wife and I rented a Class C motorhome in Salt Lake City and drove to Yellowstone back in mid June of 2010........
It might be too late to reserve sites now in Canyon and Madison but they have several campgrounds that are first come first serve. .......

If you revisit, you will be absolutely amazed. The number of visitors has increased dramatically. I don't mean just by a few percent but by many times. Trying to get into a first come, first served campground is often just a waste of time.

Wow, that's a bummer. Darn people, too many of em! ;) We were there in 2012 and stayed at Norris by getting there about 11 am. I hate making reservations anywhere. That's just how it is at the most popular parks. I think they should build a few more campgrounds in the park, doubting that will happen. I'd even take a glorified parking area, it's one place we never spend much time in camp.