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Old 03-24-2015, 06:45 AM   #1
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Yellowstone

I haven't started researching yet but thought I'd post this and get info from you guys. My plans for next summer are to go west. I understand to get a campsite near some of the major parks, you have to book a year ahead. So along about this June, I want to make a reservation near Yellowstone for the next June. Any of you have a favorite park you've used? If I go that far, I'll probably want to stay at least a week in that area before I move somewhere else.
(for right now just gathering info so doesn't matter if you tell me southern or northern part.....my plans may include going on up to Glacier after Yellowstone....)
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Old 03-24-2015, 07:06 AM   #2
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We planned a trip to Yellowstone for June 2015 made reservation Jan. 2015. No problem . 5 nites at Madison CG west end of park. Then 2 nites at Colter Bay Grand Tetons then?
Fishing Bridge is only CG in Yellowstone with hookups but I've been told very crowded
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Old 03-24-2015, 07:09 AM   #3
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Yellowstone is huge! if you stay outside the Park it takes hours to get to the center of the park. We ended up renting a cabin inside the park to save driving so much.
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Old 03-24-2015, 07:21 AM   #4
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Yellowstone is huge! if you stay outside the Park it takes hours to get to the center of the park. We ended up renting a cabin inside the park to save driving so much.
No, it doesn't take hours. An hour at most. Yes, it is huge. You plan each day. Divide and conquer an area at a time. Don't try to see Mammoth Hot Springs and the West Thumb Geyser Basin in the same day. Get detailed maps (for free online) and get to know the sights in a given area. Each section of the park will give you more than a day's worth of things to see. Don't be tempted to stop everywhere along your drive. Make a note of what you see and build it into another day.

We stayed at Grizzly RV in West Yellowstone twice. Less than 5 minutes from the west entrance. Restaurants and shops all withing walking distance. The entire was built around tourism and the park.

June is great time to be there. Waterfalls are flowing hard, there is still snow in the higher elevations, in fact some roads may still be closed.
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Old 03-24-2015, 08:22 AM   #5
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We stayed at Fishing Bridge about a decade ago. It was full, lots of people, but not bad. We did have full hookups. We only stayed a couple of nights before heading to the Tetons. Do your research on-line to see which campgrounds would work best for your needs. You might even be able to look at campgrounds with Google Earth or Google maps. Have fun!
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Old 03-24-2015, 08:48 AM   #6
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Last year(early June) we stayed at Grand Tetons RV park at Moran, Wy, about 25 miles North of Jackson. Despite the bad reviews on the park, we stayed there anyway. We thought it was a nice place. No amenities, no wifi or cable TV, but that's not what we went there for anyway. The park had been taken over by new owners, and they were making improvements even while we were there. They did have gas, LP, Camp store. We were there 3 days we felt like we got to see most of the place. In two days in Yellowstone, we drove about 500 miles. We enjoyed the stay.
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Old 03-24-2015, 09:04 AM   #7
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We also stayed at Grizzly in West Yellowstone. Very nice campground and right outside the park. We easily covered the entire park using this as our daily starting point.
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Old 03-24-2015, 11:25 AM   #8
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Fishing Bridge is a parking lot for travel trailers. Period. If you want a real "camping" experience at Yellowstone, I recommend Canyon Village or Norris Junction. There are no hookups at either, but you have your own campsite and parking space. At Norris the sites are on 1st come, 1st served basis - get there early in the morning and wait for someone to pull out. (A number of sites open up every day.) You must make reservations at Canyon (but don't wait too long).

Both of these campgrounds are centrally located, with Canyon on the east side of the Grand Loop road and Norris on the west. There are no showers at Norris, but there are showers and laundry facilities at Canyon - a 15 minute drive across the east-west division road of the Grand Loop.

I've stayed at both and had good experiences. Given a choice, I'd opt for Canyon, simply because I can make reservations and all the facilities I need are there.

That said - there are some nice campgrounds outside the park, but you must be out of the park by 10:00 pm and cannot re-enter until 7:00 am. And some of your time is spent driving into and out of the park, but - every turn is breathtaking! There are no bad views from any road in Yellowstone!

Hope this helps you some!

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Old 03-24-2015, 11:58 AM   #9
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How did you make out on your Yellowstone trip in regards to vehicle lengths at Canyon CG? The Xanterra website is a bit confusing and it seems to indicate that they cannot accommodate any setup that is greater than '40. There description of determining length is to add the opened TT length to the length of the tow vehicle! I have an X18D and my open length (28 ft. ) + my tow vehicle length (16 ft) is over 40! I can't imagine that anyone is under '40 feet with tow vehicle and trailer added together.


Can you clarify? We are planning a big trip for next summer!


Thanks in advance.


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Old 03-24-2015, 12:12 PM   #10
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Some of the campgrounds in Yellowstone require hard-sided campers- no tents and I'm pretty sure pop-ups aren't allowed either. Canvas won't stop a bear.
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Old 03-24-2015, 12:16 PM   #11
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Some of the campgrounds in Yellowstone require hard-sided campers- no tents and I'm pretty sure pop-ups aren't allowed either. Canvas won't stop a bear.
Just fishing Bridge. Tents are acceptable in all other campgrounds as long as there is not a restriction (temporary) due to bear activity. Quite frankly a hard sided camper isn't going to stop a determined Grizzly either.
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Old 03-24-2015, 12:23 PM   #12
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Just fishing Bridge. Tents are acceptable in all other campgrounds as long as there is not a restriction (temporary) due to bear activity. Quite frankly a hard sided camper isn't going to stop a determined Grizzly either.
You're right, a grizzly would be able to get into anything if it wanted. They must've changed the regs lately. I camped at Yellowstone a few years ago (at Madison, I think- I know it wasn't at Fishing Bridge) and hard sided was required at that campground.

Here's a link to the 2015 Yellowstone Planner (pdf file) that is informative.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisi...ip_planner.pdf
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Old 03-24-2015, 01:14 PM   #13
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Hope you dont mind crowds. Been to Yellowstone and Glacier and although the scenery is awesome, the crowds ruined it for me. Personally,I'm done with national parks. Plenty of nice country to see without dealing with crowds. Did I mention the CROWDS?
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Old 03-24-2015, 02:22 PM   #14
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Popups. hybrids, and tents are not allowed in the RV parks - that is, the campgrounds geared for motorhomes and hard-side trailers, such as Fishing Bridge. (check the website for specific rules - they change from year to year.) The reason for that is because bears get attracted to the food smells coming from the hard side trailers and a tent or popup becomes easy prey. But tents, popups, and hybrids are allowed in all of the other campgrounds.

Be aware - if you have a hybrid (hard side with a fold-out tent bed) or a popup - you CANNOT keep anything in your fridge, and no food, toiletries, cooking gear, table settings (plates, bowls, silverware, etc), stoves, tablecloths, etc can be kept in your hybrid or popup trailer. It must all be kept in your vehicle or in a bear-proof locker. They are VERY strict about that!

As far as length goes - when I was there last, in Canyon, the parking areas are pullout loops off the main loop roads. I had a large Coleman that unfolded to almost 28' AND parked my Suburban nose-to-tail - all in that loop. It was tight, but it did conform. But you CANNOT stick out into the road or they will make you park your tow vehicle in a parking lot and walk to your campsite - which is a real pain if you have a popup or a hybrid, considering the rules I just cited above. It's probably not what you wanted to hear, but it is reality and you should know before you go.

There are good reasons for the bear country rules, and for obvious reasons, you can't protrude into a driving lane. there are some BIG motorhomes that drive through and the roads are narrow. If you AT ALL think you might have a problem, call them. Also - maybe consider a private campground outside the park. There are plenty. The Flagg Ranch has a great campground and it is in between Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone along the connecting Rockefeller Highway.
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Old 03-24-2015, 02:56 PM   #15
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Also, if you decide to camp in the park, try to make sure you get a level spot. Years ago, my first outing with a fifth wheel, I made a reservation in advance (don't remember which campground but it was on a lake), told them I had a fifth wheel but when we (me, my daughter and granddaughter) got to the reserved space discovered it was a small, VERY steep, curved piece of pavement! Entirely not suitable for a newbie and probably not even for someone experienced with a fifth wheel. While I was at the office begging for a different space (no dice - all spots are taken is what they told me), my daughter, who actually was an experienced trailer hauler (horses) decided she'd give it a try. Busted out the back window in my truck (with the baby sitting in her car seat in the back! She was ok, thank goodness). A park garbage man who was driving by when she did that showed up at the office while I was still there, told them what happened, and miraculously they found me a level spot on the lake. Don't know if some poor camper lost their nice spot. This post probably belongs in the Bonehead section (but it wasn't exactly my bonehead, was it?). To top it off, driving home we were assaulted by the heaviest thunderstorm I have ever driven in. The garbage bag we had taped across the missing windows space didn't work out so hot. This is the stuff memories are made from, right?
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Old 03-24-2015, 03:35 PM   #16
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Fishing Bridge is a parking lot for travel trailers. Period. If you want a real "camping" experience at Yellowstone...
I'd still stay at Fishing Bridge with our TT (with a hybrid though, you can't stay there). It's in the park and it has hookups. You're not going to be spending much time in your RV, you'll be out hiking and seeing the sights. We didn't feel at all like we were in a parking lot.
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Old 03-25-2015, 08:35 AM   #17
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Well, I have my "out west" folder started and have been taking notes from this strand. Nothing like getting info. from people who have been there, done that. Reading these posts has gotten me excited.....it's a tad scary to start thinking about a possible 6,000 mi. trip but reading about it makes me want to DO IT!
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Old 03-25-2015, 08:42 AM   #18
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Vaneta, my favorite quote is from explorer Roald Amundsen, "Adventure is bad planning". In other words, good planning will make for a pretty smooth trip. But you can't prevent everything. When we took a nearly 6000 mile trip out west, the alternator on our truck died in southern Utah, on Sunday, on a holiday weekend. Fortunately we found a shop open in Richfield, UT. BTW, that alternator was put on the truck 4 months prior and was a new one, not a rebuilt.

That said, our trip was one of the best we ever did.
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Old 03-25-2015, 10:15 AM   #19
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Yellowstone is nice, but there is a lot of beautiful scenery and parks between here and there also. We were at Yellowstone last year June 1,2 & 3 before most schools were out. It wasn't really crowded, but some of the "Rental" RV's caused a couple of traffic jams when they stopped right in the middle of the road to get out and take pictures of the wildlife. Also, there was road work going on in one part we went through and had the road one-laned.
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Old 03-25-2015, 10:44 AM   #20
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"Wildlife Blockades" are a normal part of daily travel around Yellowstone. ALWAYS allow half again as much time as you think you will need to travel from point A to point B. Sometimes the blockades are actually due to bison, elk, etc that are crossing - or walking down the road. Sometimes it is people who stop, get out, and photograph the wildlife. Just always keep a cool head and enjoy the time - that's just the way it is.

Also - if you have not been to Yellowstone, it is hard to imagine just how really large the park is and how long it takes to travel from place to place. Realize that it is approximately 90 miles all the way around the Grand Loop. The max speed limit is 45 mph - lower in some places. And remember that because of people and wildlife - and the continuous construction (they only have about 3-4 months out of the year for construction), your average speed will be less. The more crowded the park, the more time you should allow. Plan your days carefully so you aren't trying to be in opposite ends of the park on the same day. You will get frustrated!

Just some "been there a few times - done that a few times" experienced advice.
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