Yellowstone and Tetons Camp Options

[olddog299]

Rich, you might opt to not stay in Yellowstone NP at all. Consider, instead, camping in Shoshone National Forest which borders Yellowstone on the east side. The campground is about fifteen miles from the park entrance. Rex Hale Campground accepts reservations at recreation.gov within the national forest. Far fewer people, more wildlife (read -- bears). Hardside campers only, so no tents nor pop-ups to compete with for a site.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by Fyrzowt

If you are coming from the west, there is a nice KOA in West Yellowstone which is a small town on I-15.

Ditto that, there is also a great KOA around Jackson Hole on the Snake River.

Camping and Campgrounds - KOA Kampgrounds of America, Inc.

[Pacerized]

We prefer campgrounds with no hookups but it does limit your stay unless you're running a generator. We've stayed in most of the campgrounds in Yellowstone and prefer Grants Village. It's a nice wooded campground on the lake, and it offers pay showers, and laundry. The showers really make a big difference in how long you can dry camp. We've gone 5 nights with the 4 of us with water to spare, we just have to be conservative on the battery power.
If you have to have hook ups I'd recommend Colter Bay in Grand Teton. We've tried Flagg Ranch, and Fishing bridge in past years and didn't like either one. They're both too much of a parking lot atmosphere. We're going to skip Yellowstone this year, but I'm sure we'll be back in 2011.

Charlie

[Phoenix]

We stayed at the Madison Arm RV Resort (www.madisonarmresort.com), a little north and west of West Yellowstone. It is a small family run resort that is really quaint and quiet. We had full hookups, and the rates seemed a little high, but everything is at Yellowstone.

A couple of notes, the dirt road that leads in seems pretty smooth with just light ripples, but it took me almost an entire day to run into town, purchase longer wood screws and other miscellaneous hardware, and to remount nearly all of our cabinet doors, along with our closet door. If you do decide to stay here (and it really IS worth the short drive from West Yellowstone), just drive r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w on this road with your Airstream. I was more irritated to see how the factory used short screws on all of the hinges, etc., than I was about actually remounting all of the doors. Oh, the oven door came off, and the refrigerator popped open and dumped a lot of stuff on the floor. I was only driving about 25-30 mph, and some of the notes on the Internet mentioned this road rattling the heck out of trailers, so I was forewarned, but this was a real surprise. On the way out we drove about 15-20 mph and had no problems.

By the way, West Yellowstone has a lot to see too, including the Bear and Wolf exhibit and lots of tourist shopping. And, the West entrance to Yellowstone appears to be in the city limits, just a block or two from "downtown".

When we go to Yellowstone again, we'll stay at Madison Arm Resort again. It was a great place to rest after all of the driving and sightseeing in the park.

[RTravis]

I am planning a trip to the Tetons (Colorado Springs to the Tetons) with my immediate (Wife and 2 kids: 9 & 5) and my extended family (parents: 70s, nephews and neice: 13-19, and brother). Total group camping will be 13-16 people. One airstream (19), motor home (21), possible popup trailer, and tents. Any suggestions for this mob would be greatly appreciated.

Rich

[RichHog]

We are planning on staying at Coulter Bay Village campground right before the 4th of July. It has full hookups and a great view of the mountains.

[RichHog]

Not all of the campgrounds take reservations in the parks which is why we went with Coulter Bay. Going to leave from Denver and make the drive there July 2nd.

[Pacerized]

If you have to have hookups, then you made the best choice in Coulter Bay. For things to do if you're not familiar with Yellowstone, I'd take a first day at starting at the Old Faithful Inn it's worth checking out and they have good ice cream if you'd like to take a cone around the boardwalk. Then see Old Faithful and do the complete walk around the boardwalk which is a couple of miles. Make sure you walk all the way to the end to see Morning Glory. You can then spend the rest of an entire day just checking out the thermal basins in that area. Another complete day that you might want to get an early start on would be going to Artist point at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. There are some great hikes from this area and if you time it right you can see the Canyon in the early morning sun, then take in a long hike and see it again later in the day. Taking a day to check out the Roosevelt lodge area is also well worth it. Pack a lunch and take in a hike while your at it. Most of the bears I've seen in Yellowstone have been in this area. You will put on a lot of miles if you plan on taking in Yellowstone in a week. It just takes a long time to get from one part of the park to another.

Charlie

Originally Posted by RichHog

Not all of the campgrounds take reservations in the parks which is why we went with Coulter Bay. Going to leave from Denver and make the drive there July 2nd.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by RTravis

I am planning a trip to the Tetons (Colorado Springs to the Tetons) with my immediate (Wife and 2 kids: 9 & 5) and my extended family (parents: 70s, nephews and neice: 13-19, and brother). Total group camping will be 13-16 people. One airstream (19), motor home (21), possible popup trailer, and tents. Any suggestions for this mob would be greatly appreciated.

Rich

Wow...
Thats a bunch -o-folks

The last time I went anywhere with that many friends...
was the last time I went anywhere with that many friends...

Seriously...
Ya'll have a great time...The wife and I are headed back there in late summer...
That place is magical, slow down and enjoy it.

Or... Hire a tour guide with a megaphone...

[RichHog]

Are the Bears still roaming the streets in Yellowstone as they used to? Thought I'd heard that the wolves have pushed them back a bit.

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by RichHog

Are the Bears still roaming the streets in Yellowstone as they used to? Thought I'd heard that the wolves have pushed them back a bit.

The bears stopped roaming the roads long before the wolves. They stopped hanging out around the roads, when they made it illegal to feed them.. You can still see them once in a while, but they are generally doing bear stuff instead of begging.

Regards,

Ken

[osolow]

Ive been to Yellowstone twice and i still find it hard to try to plan a trip to that park. I also cant wait to go back, but if and when i do go back were i would stay will depend on were i enter the park. First off if i were to go through the east entrance i think i would stay out side the park near Cody and commute into the park. there's a reservoir there that i tent camped at that was really nice. Buffalo Bill Reservoir - Wyoming Parks
It did not have any hook ups thought but it did have water, and a lot of trailers there were running generators. If i remember right it was like 8 bucks to tent camp.
Also Cody is really cool town and i cant wait to go back, they have a rodeo every night during the summer and a big museum there that i didn't get a chance to go to.

If i were to go in through west Yellowstone Which a previous poster had mentioned is a pretty cool town for a tourist trap i would stay at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park and Cabins | Park Amenities this place is pretty new and really nice.
I actually lost my wedding ring there, someone found it turned it in, then when i started calling places were i had stayed they had it, they then mailed it to me they were very nice and accommodating. they definitely get an A+ in my book.

I would love to stay inside the park but in my opinion it really wouldnt be worth the trouble or headache, unless i were there in non peak season. other then that i would do what your doing ask on here and google

[Phoenix]

We stayed here last year: Madison Arm Resort - Cabins, Campground and Marina near West Yellowstone, MT

Check out reviews on TripAdvisor: Search results: madison arm resort - TripAdvisor=

Link to Yellowstone pages on NPS Web site: http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

===================

Most of the National Park Campgrounds inside Yellowstone require reservations. And, the ones that don't, fill up fast in the summer.

The Madison Arm Resort is a couple of miles north and west of West Yellowstone. While the rates are a little high (everything is near Yellowstone), it is a very friendly, family owned campground that would be great for your group. They have clean showers and restrooms, fire pits, and lots of things to do for the kids.

It is about a 10-15 minute drive from West Yellowstone, which borders on the west entrance to the park.

The only caution is, drive slowly on the dirt road from the highway to the resort. Even though the ripples look small, it will shake everything loose in your trailer or RV, if you don't keep the speed down to around 15-25 mph. Your tow vehicle will seem smooth at 45, but we arrived with the cabinet and closet doors, and the contents of the refrigerator, on the floor. Luckily, there is a good hardware store in town where you can get longer mounting hardware to replace the original wood screws, which were too short and vibrated out. I took an entire afternoon reinstalling all the doors, while the kids went fishing and padding around in the resort's water toys.

I think with that your guests may appreciate a place with full hookups, showers and lots of extra things to do outside of the park. Also, plan on a couple of down days where you don't go into the park, as it can get really hectic with so much driving (the park is huge). Another tip, you can miss a lot of the crowds by entering the park during or after lunchtime when everybody is coming out of the park to eat. And, stay in the park until dusk, when everyone has already left to get dinner and party in town. You'll miss most of the crowds at the geysers and mud pots, and you'll see a lot more wildlife (unless you get there at dawn, which is hard to do with kids and a big group). Sunset is really late, so you'll be arriving back at the campground around 10 PM, just in time for the quiet hours.

As an aside, any reviews that complain about the owners giving them grief were probably those who wanted to stay up all night and party hardy. We really appreciated the fact that they strongly discouraged such behavior. Also, these sights are close together, but right in the trees, and a very short distance from the lake, so this is a completely different camping experience from the KOA-type campgrounds in West Yellowstone. It'll be more like the NPS campgrounds in the park, but a little closer together and with hookups. Also, since the sites are significantly more expensive than the NPS campgounds, you'll avoid a lot of the party crowd, although Yellowstone is a long drive from anywhere for a beer bashing weekend.

We arrived without reservations and they had a spot for us, but with a group, it would be best to call ahead -- several months ahead.

As for bears and wolves, we didn't see any in the campground, although they strongly enforce rules about not leaving food or pets outside of your vehicle or RV. A little common sense goes a long way.

[ZoominC6]

This Summer will be my third visit to Yellowstone and the first with the Airstream. It took a few phone calls to dovetail the campgrounds together; however, after a few minutes the reservations were made. We'll spend a few days in Grand Teton National Park and our daughter, son-in-law and the two Grands will fly into Jackson Hole Airport to hook up with us in the park. We'll head to Grants Village Campground and spend several days in Yellowstone National Park seeing the sights. After the kids return home we'll head out north into Montana for some more sights and fishing before returning home through The Black Hills. What a trip! We're looking forward to the adventure, one of our longest with the trailer since 2004. Thanks to all of you forum members who, over the years, have contributed to the various threads regarding the two parks and fishing in the area. Your suggestions and reviews have been most beneficial.

[RichHog]

Since it's a long 12 hour drive between the two points we may split it up to a 2 day trip so we can get to the Tetons early or lunchtime. Anybody know a great stopping/overnight location camp-site on the road?

[maxandgeorgia]

Lunch in the Tetons to us always means a lunch date together at the National Wildlife Art Museum (can't remember the official name!) just north of Jackson opposite the Elk Refuge area. If we've traveling in that region, we'll drive WAY out of our way to get back to this treasure. The building itself is incredible, built to nestle into the rock of the region--you have to be alert not to drive by and miss it. Their little restaurant serves great sandwiches, soups for lunch and if the wind is not too high, you can elect to eat outdoor overlooking the valley floor and refuge with meandering creek. Priceless! Enjoy your trip for all of us stuck at home The museum itself is excellent and draws us back again and again. ~G

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by RichHog

Since it's a long 12 hour drive between the two points we may split it up to a 2 day trip so we can get to the Tetons early or lunchtime. Anybody know a great stopping/overnight location camp-site on the road?

You must be planning on a leisurely drive. We live about 30 miles north of Denver and it take us about 8-9 hours to get to the Tetons. Are you planning I-25 to Cheyenne, I 80 to Rawlins and then US 287 to the Tetons?

Regards,

Ken

[RichHog]

Tell me the best route? Haven't picked the roads yet. We're going to have about 2 days there before going to Yellowstone so don't want to get there too late in the day to we can enjoy the park.

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by RichHog

Tell me the best route? Haven't picked the roads yet. We're going to have about 2 days there before going to Yellowstone so don't want to get there too late in the day to we can enjoy the park.

Well in my opinion, the quickest and best route is to take I-25 from Denver to Cheyenne, then I-80 west to Rawlins. At Rawlins get off the freeway and take US 287 all the way to Tetons NP. It is possible to save a little time depending on the time of day, by taking US 287 between Fort Collins and Laramie, but I would not recommend that to someone not familiar with Fort Collins.

There are two other obvious options, but both will take longer. One is to stay on I-25 to Casper and then take US 26 till it joins US 287. Another is continue on I-80 until Rock Springs, and then take US 191/US 189 to Tetons.

If the take the US 287 route, there a several places to camp around Lander, WY, but I have never stopped there. There is also a KOA in Dubois, WY which is close to Tetons. We stopped there once several years ago, but I don't remember much about it.

Regards,


Ken

[RichHog]

Thanks for the directions, we'd be leaving near Arapahoe so would be starting going through Denver