Trip to Yellowstone National Park questions

[backin15]

Call ahead - they tend to book out weeks in advance!

[Glenn5995]

When we were there a few years ago, we stayed at Flagg Ranch. It is just outside of the south entrance of Yellowstone. It is between Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, so it was easy to go between the two.

Flagg Ranch Resort - Home Page

[flyrotor]

Just returned from Yellowstone a week ago, we spent two weeks there in both Teton and Yellowstone parks. There is a lot to see and kept us busy for two weeks. Grizzly RV is an excellent park, we didn't stay there because we were a few miles farther west of the park on Hebgen Lake, but we were able to use the sewer dumps at Grizzly and I can tell this is a top notch park. Location in regards to Yellowstone cannot be beat if you are staying outside of the park. In the park there ar e few campgrounds, most do not have hookups, I personally was unimpressed with Fishing Bridge, you cannot even have a campfire at Fishing Bridge.

Madison Campground is nice, but you will need reservations to get in there. Again it is centrally located.

As of last week there were no wild fires burning in the park and the air was clear and the views were miles out.

We saw 4 bears, 2 black and 2 grizzly, lots of elk and only a few buffalo and some wolf. This was our 4th visit to Yellowstone in the last 4 years and we still see new places every visit.

I pulled my trailer through the park two different times this past trip as we stayed in the Tetons a few nights, there were no issues pulling through the park, but I do have a lot of truck to spare in relationship to the size of trailer. You should do fine with your Duramax. The speed limit thru the park is 45 mph which keeps things less stressfull with a load behind you.

If you plan to fish in the park you will need a Yellowstone fishing license and have to use barbless hooks.

Yellowstone is a great place to visit, and with the thousands of people that visit each day and the large acreage to visit the crowds are easy to tolerate.

Enjoy your visit, we enjoy it more and more each time we go.

[Flyboy740]

I stayed on Yellowstone two years ago in the Class C and boy was it tight. I wish I'd gone on up to Grizzly....

[ReadyToGo!]

We just got back from a trip to Yellowstone and loved every minute of it! We stayed at Rainbow Point campground by Hebgen Lake for half the time and Grizzly RV park the other half. Very different types of campgrounds, but we really enjoyed what they each had to offer.

We enjoyed seeing geysers OTHER than Old Faithful - it was so crowded! Beehive geyser was spectacular and there was a complete double rainbow in the spray.

The Artists' Paintpots trail and West Thumb Geyser Basin were the most vivdly colorful areas to see.

The Ice Lake and Mystic Falls trails were very short, but we found out that they were just far enough "off the beaten path" to get rid of the terrible crowds.

We also found that picnic areas are very crowded from maybe noon-2pm, but if you pack a picnic for late afternoon/early evening instead, you can have an entire picnic area completely to yourself.

We spent 8 full 8-10 hour days in the park and feel like we missed so much. It's just amazing and awe inspiring how many beautiful views and spectacular thermal features there are to see!

[Nigels]

Originally Posted by Oakman

I'm sure you already know this, but just a reminder that September 5th (Labor Day) is a big holiday in the U.S. so plan your trip accordingly. Campgrounds can get quite full on Labor Day weekend.

Thanks Oakman for the reminder, we will make sure we have reservations for that weekend, wherever we are. Actually we will be close to the Canadian border by then as my US Visa runs out on 11 Sep.

[flyrotor]

Originally Posted by ReadyToGo!

We just got back from a trip to Yellowstone and loved every minute of it! We stayed at Rainbow Point campground by Hebgen Lake for half the time

I stayed at Madison Arm resort, we drove thru Rainbow Point campground, wow what a beautiful campground, never even knew how nice it would be. My wife and I decided we will stay there on our next trip to Yellowstone. And $16-22 bucks is unbelievable!

I too was there at Old Faithfull with those crowds. I have never been there before where the parking lot was so full, usually it's only about half full. We circled for about 10 minutes before finding a spot, then just a few minutes after it erupted, the parking lot had plenty of spaces.

[Sheila66]

We have visited Yellowstone 3 times in the last 15 years. The 2 first times we were die hard KOA’ers, and stayed outside the park and drove the 20 miles to get to West Yellowstone. Our third trip we discovered Grizzly RV Park, and picked our camp up mid-week and stayed the rest of our stay there. We recommend it to everyone we can. It is beautiful and the staff is wonderful. We had friends who have stayed inside the park, while yes it is very nice, the rule are VERY rigid. Your site is subject to un-announced inspections with or without you there. While I understand their reasoning, I really do not want my stuff inspected or messed with when I am not there. If you plan to stay a week, just take a different route each day. You can easily see the entire park with in the week. You can ask any of the rangers if there is water at Mammoth, but even without water it is a site to see, as is the Mammoth Lodge. Always have your camera ready as well as your binoculars. We did not get to see our Moose till our very last day! You will need to plan on lots of walking, but enough beauty to fill your memory books. If you happen to be a reader, and have some time to spare, pick up the book by CJ Box, called Free Fire. It is an awesome book built around Yellowstone, the lodge and the actual sites there with in the park. Makes for an added interest, to be able to look at Old Faithfull lodge and look for the hidden staircases'. Our last trip was 2 weeks, and we saw Yellowstone, the Tetons, and Rushmore. The road from the Tetons to Rushmore is about a 2 day drive including a detour to devils Tower. Making the drive, you will need to plan to stay overnight in Cody, WY, just too far for a one day drive hauling a trailer. It was a wonderful trip and I truly cannot wait till our youngest is a little older so we can visit again.

[Big Dawg]

Just finished up a week there, did not take out the camper, but next time, it will be a longer trip and camper will be there for sure. I have never seen so many campers, and campgrounds in my life. We visited the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and the Badlands. It is well worth the visit, and there is nothing like the beauty of being out west.

[Freds342]

Originally Posted by jimh

if u have the time and a regular size vehicle (in other words, i wouldn't try this with a motor home) make a trip out the NE entrance on US 212 over bear tooth pass. very scenic. pay attention to the the speed limits in the little town just outside the gate, they have police roaming the street watching traffic.
u may have already discovered this but if u stay in Cody or Jackson Hole, u have a long drive to Yellowstone.
we saw the campground on the west side (in Idaho?). thought that may have been a good choice but did not go in. would like to know what u find as well.

In 2009, we took the Beartooth Hwy in in our 2000 Georgetown 346S, towing our Liberty.

The Auto Club routed us that way, since we had been to the Little Bighorn battle site the previous day.

My wife had to pry my hands off the steering wheel when we got to the Fishing Bridge. She took a pic of the GPS readout at 11,975 feet!

On the other hand, we didn't see another RV anywhere until we got to the middle of the park!

[essness]

If your at Yellow Stone, I would sincerely reccomend the drive on 212 (Bear Tooth Pass) My Wife and I were there in Sept. 2009. We were flying home from Billings. The drive from Cody to Billings was supposed to be 2-1/2 hours. We did it in just under 9 hours. It was a great drive with lots of vistas and some incredible views.

We also enjoyed Tetons park just out the south end of Yellow Stone.

[jimh]

It is very scenic...if u can enjoy it.
I didnt think u could get a motorhome around a couple curves...guess I was wrong.

[Freds342]

Originally Posted by jimh

It is very scenic...if u can enjoy it.
I didnt think u could get a motorhome around a couple curves...guess I was wrong.

I'd never do it again! Didn't know what I was in for! But, otoh, the V-10 performed beautifully, even with 40-K on it!

[jimh]

We drove back to cody via chief joseph turnpike at night. We were trying to find that and missed it. Thats how we found beartooth. It made our trip.