Camping Recommendations For Yellowstone

[crosscheck]

We will be traveling through Yellowstone / Grand Tetons late August/early September for 4 or five nights and need a camping spot non serviced outside the park but within an easy drive to the main attractions. Have a 26’ TT pulled by truck. This is our first visit so any recommendations for camping and must do things to see in the parks would be appreciated. We are strong hikers/ bikers.

Dave

[enblethen]

We stayed a few times at Buffalo Crossing!
All commercial aprks are expensive and fill up fast!

[Geo_Boy]

LindaAnn wrote:

crosscheck wrote:
We will be traveling through Yellowstone / Grand Tetons late August/early September for 4 or five nights and need a camping spot non serviced outside the park but within an easy drive to the main attractions. Have a 26’ TT pulled by truck. This is our first visit so any recommendations for camping and must do things to see in the parks would be appreciated. We are strong hikers/ bikers.

Dave

We stayed at Grizzly RV Park, West Yellowstone. It's a short drive from there to the entrance of Yellowstone. There is a ranger station on that drive. You can get a map or answers to any questions. Also there is a Grizzle/Wolf Discovery Center where you can see wolves up close. And a small shopping area if you need souvenirs, etc. plus a grocery nearby.

Grizzly RV Park is the best.

[LindaAnn]

crosscheck wrote:
We will be traveling through Yellowstone / Grand Tetons late August/early September for 4 or five nights and need a camping spot non serviced outside the park but within an easy drive to the main attractions. Have a 26’ TT pulled by truck. This is our first visit so any recommendations for camping and must do things to see in the parks would be appreciated. We are strong hikers/ bikers.

Dave

We stayed at Grizzly RV Park, West Yellowstone. It's a short drive from there to the entrance of Yellowstone. There is a ranger station on that drive. You can get a map or answers to any questions. Also there is a Grizzle/Wolf Discovery Center where you can see wolves up close. And a small shopping area if you need souvenirs, etc. plus a grocery nearby.

[bukhrn]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Dave,
Time to get out your fuel logs and a spreadsheet. When we were last in Yellowstone (fall of 2014), I really did not want to pay the tariff for a camping place in the park.
Both ring roads were partially closed. Being an east coast person, I had no concept of how large YNP truly is.
We don't have a towed. We do carry a pair of bicycles (for reference, bicycles are about useless in YNP), so we would have to drive our small Class A every where (at about 9MPG). The fuel cost to get into the park (not counting the lost time) about made up for the price of a space at Fishing Bridge (the most central place in the park).
Fuel in the park is really expensive, but we fueled before entering and only had to buy more (because I am paranoid) once in the four full days we were in the park.
If I get the time (and money) to ever go back, we will plan at least eight days.
This time I was hampered by a leg problem that has since been repaired.
Matt_C

Always go big Matt,:) our first time to Yellowstone, we did a very leisurely pace and loved it, we were there 9 days, I hate rushing, knowing that we didn't see or do everything, the next time we were there 12 days, plus 4 days in the Tetons.

[dodge_guy]

We stayed in Fishing bridge in 2017 with our 35ft TT and Excursion 56ft total length. They had sites that were for 45’ rigs and that’s what i reserved. When I got there navigating the roads was easy. The site that I reserved and I confirmed after I parked was for a 45’ coach. My 35 TT barely fit in the spot and that was with the back end hanging over the log that separated the sites, yes I was on the side of the site they want you to be on. I know they redid the campground since, so hopefully it is better than it was.
But even with that, I would not want to stay outside the park because of all the driving. FB is pretty centrally located and makes seeing the park more enjoyable. Imagine coming in everyday past the same scenery just to get to where you want to go?
With that said, we enjoyed the Tetons much more than Yellowstone.

[valhalla360]

crosscheck wrote:

bukhrn wrote:
a camping spot non serviced outside the park
Is there a particular problem with staying at one of the CG's inside the Park, a lot less driving.https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

I tried to get a site in the park and as they count the tow vehicle in the overall length we seem to strike out. Normally, the CG just ask for the length of you RV. Tow vehicle once unhooked, can usually fit on the site with no problem.
Early September is a very busy time for RVer especially seniors.

Dave

Call them up and confirm. We were concerned last year about fishing bridge. The website language is terribly confusing. It turned out not to be a big deal.

If you can possibly get a spot inside the park it is very much worth it. Not just for the gas savings but the best wildlife viewing is early morning/late evening. If it's an 1.5hr back to the campsite outside of the park, you are less likely to do it.

[crosscheck]

Thanks for all of the info on Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Will now sift through our options. We know you cannot experience the area in 3 or 4 days but we only have so many days and the priority is Colorado and hiking some 14ers.
Thanks
Dave

[Matt_Colie]

Dave,
Time to get out your fuel logs and a spreadsheet. When we were last in Yellowstone (fall of 2014), I really did not want to pay the tariff for a camping place in the park.
Both ring roads were partially closed. Being an east coast person, I had no concept of how large YNP truly is.
We don't have a towed. We do carry a pair of bicycles (for reference, bicycles are about useless in YNP), so we would have to drive our small Class A every where (at about 9MPG). The fuel cost to get into the park (not counting the lost time) about made up for the price of a space at Fishing Bridge (the most central place in the park).
Fuel in the park is really expensive, but we fueled before entering and only had to buy more (because I am paranoid) once in the four full days we were in the park.
If I get the time (and money) to ever go back, we will plan at least eight days. This time I was hampered by a leg problem that has since been repaired.
Matt_C

[bukhrn]

Check the link I posted above, you'll see that both Madison and Bridge Bay have a total limit of 60 feet, being that your TT is 26 ft, that leaves 34 ft for your truck, while I've never measured one, I doubt that your F350 is 34 ft long. Even Grant Village has a limit of 50 ft.

[TenOC]

Years ago when I had a 34 foot Travel Trailer (overall length about 60 feet) I had the same problem with "overall length" I talked on the phone with the Reservation agency and got a spot at Fishing Bridge CG for 7 days and also one at Madison CG for 5 more days.

There are camp sites that you can camp at but the website lumps the larger sites with some small sites and list the smallest as the maximum overall length.

[crosscheck]

bukhrn wrote:
a camping spot non serviced outside the park
Is there a particular problem with staying at one of the CG's inside the Park, a lot less driving.https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

I tried to get a site in the park and as they count the tow vehicle in the overall length we seem to strike out. Normally, the CG just ask for the length of you RV. Tow vehicle once unhooked, can usually fit on the site with no problem.
Early September is a very busy time for RVer especially seniors.

Dave

[bukhrn]

a camping spot non serviced outside the park
Is there a particular problem with staying at one of the CG's inside the Park, a lot less driving.https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

[enblethen]

We have figured along day for each of the loops. At least another day to hit some of our favorites. We normally use West Yellowstone as base.

[TenOC]

Tyler0215 wrote:
.
No matter where you stay you will be doing a lot of driving. Yellowstone NP is huge.

50 miles between major sites