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Old 04-24-2017, 09:22 PM   #1
blue_vett
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Default yellowstone camping tips

We will be taking a trip with two other travel trailer this juen to Yellowstone national park. The problem is finding a campground for all three trailers. I am thinking of staying at Rainbow Point https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ra...4d-111.1802781 has anyone ever stayed there? we are also going to check out cody wyoming and thinking of staying at Wapiti Campground https://www.google.com/maps/place/WA...4d-109.6233308

has anyone ever stayed at these campgrounds or have any advice on campgrounds near the west entrance or cody wy? or even things to see or do in the park, also any advice on campgrounds in the park? Thanks
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Old 04-24-2017, 11:16 PM   #2
inghamm
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Default west entrance camping

Our goal has always been to spend the days in the park, not at the campsite.

In our tenting days we usually stayed at Madison Junction and one time at Grant Village. At Madison we had bison roaming through the campground, one actually on the edge of our site one time. My favorite story from those days: When you are camping in a tent you are very aware of the bears. You are well aware a tent is not going to protect you. Especially at night. One night we heard a blood curdling scream from a nearby campsite in the middle of the night, and of course you immediately think bear attack. Of course everybody was talking about it in the morning, and the word was that somebody had a nightmare.

On our last trip to Yellowstone, late September 2016, our first in the TM, we stayed at Grizzly Park in West Yellowstone, which was a typical nice RV park. (attached pictures are from there) We also drove through Madison , thinking about how you would do an RV there since there are no hookups in that campground. In fact we wondered how anybody would camp there since it was getting below freezing at night and we were happy we had our two little AC heaters going at night. We saw a lot of little generators with the RV's. We even saw a TM there. So that campground would work well if you can boondock.
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Old 04-25-2017, 12:11 PM   #3
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Default Thank you.

Thank you for the info. Am I correct that Madison is a first come no reservation campground. As for dry camping that is what we mainly do. We have a little generator for power if we need it. Our largest problem camping with no hookups has been having a full toilet. I just purchased a rolling 12 gallon tote to help with this problem. and have been busy replicating the spare tire rack to store the tote o . we are also playing with the idea of installing a 40 gallon fresh water tank but have yet to pull the trigger on it.
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Old 04-25-2017, 12:22 PM   #4
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Default

You can make reservations for Madison. I've got a trip planed in late Aug and was able to call make reservations. I called them to get the reservation and any other info on the trip. The link below should take you to the site for more info. There's even an app for Yellowstone you can get for daily info.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/madisoncg.htm
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Old 04-25-2017, 07:27 PM   #5
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Default YellowStone

Visiting YellowStone means lots of driving. It is a big big park with lots to see. We spent little time at our campsite. I found myself in a bison traffic jam for several hours. A herd was walking down the middle of the road and just refused to move aside. Also saw grizzly's, foxes, elk, coyotes,sheep, eagles,deer from our truck.I stayed in the park ,but I noticed approaching from the east many private cg near the entrance ,if you can't get sites in the park.Fishing Bridge CG doesn't allow canvas pup or tents.TM are allowed. All the others do, I believe. Beautiful wild park. Take a warm jacket,just in case ! Make sure you walk around the paint pots and walkways near Old Faithful.
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Old 04-25-2017, 09:36 PM   #6
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Default Yellowstone

I know this isn't the question you are asking, but I would like to recommend the Grand Tetons just to the south of Yellowstone. Of the two, though smaller I thought Grand Tetons was prettier and less crowded. There is still a lot of fire damage in Yellowstone. They are close enough you can visit each park from the other one. We stayed at Signal Mountain in Grand Teton, which was great. It is an electric only campground.
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Old 04-25-2017, 11:53 PM   #7
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Default visiting yellowstone

So much to see.

We visited once when I was a boy. We camped in a tent trailer south of Yellowstone (in the Tetons?) Back in those days you could find the grizzlies by the roadside and people feeding them. ( and other crazy things) Now you usually need telephoto on your camera lense or telescopes or binoculars to see the grizzlies. I'm attaching a picture from our last trip - taken with 60x zoom!

We've done 3 trips with our kids (in tents), and then one post kids (in the TM). The last couple trips we focused on wild life. We are 0-2 trying to see the wolves. The advice has been Lamar Valley at dawn or dusk. On the last trip we got up early and made it out to Lamar valley at dawn. It was really pretty, but no sign of wolves. Lots of bison crossing the road on the way down to the Lamar river.

So our must sees in order:
1. Old Faithful and the upper geyser basin it is part of. Depending on timing, if you are lucky or have patience, Grand Geyser is amazing. Unlike Old Faithful, there is about a 4 hour window when in might erupt. I'm 1 for 3 in seeing that one. The good thing is that you can get much closer than with Old Faithful, and it shoots higher. There are quite a few "features" in the area, so if you are there long enough you will see something in addition to Old Faithful erupt. Check out the old lodge while you are there as well.

2. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The scenery is spectacular. Several viewing spots on the north rim and the south rim.
We enjoyed a trail that went from the first parking lot on the south rim, to Clear Lake, then Lily Pond Lake, then along the South Rim back to the parking lot.

3. Mammoth Hot springs and the elk herd in the town of Mammoth.
There is usually a very large herd of elk camped out in town during the day. Mammoth hot springs are better in the spring or early summer. When we went last fall not a lot of water was flowing.

4. Norris Geyser basin. Lots of different features.

You’ll figure this out. When a bunch of people have stopped and (sort of ) pulled off the road, there is some kind of animal spotting. That doesn’t happen much with bison, since they are SO plentiful. If you get through Yellowstone without seeing a bison you must be blind, and the elk are pretty plentiful as well. But we did get to the point of sometimes saying, “Oh it’s just an elk”

And the Tetons are also amazing, so if you can fit those in that’s a good thing. We did see a grizzly close up there (walked in front of our car) and also a moose.
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