Yellowstone in late July

[Eric99]

We stayed at Fishing Bridge in June of this year for one night. Spaces are tight as most people as said. A good alternative to staying in the park it to stay in West Yellowstone, MT. We stayed there two nights. Prices are about the same as FB however the RV parks are much nicer. Also you are just blocks from the entrance to Yellowstone. There are normally bison on the road from West Yellowstone to the main part of the park. Also Lamar valley had hundreds of bison when we were there.

[NorSnrub]

We went there and was very close. If you have generator and good battery I recommend staying at primitive sights. We transferred to as soon as we saw the full hookup sights.

[droilerjr]

Just got back from Yellowstone two weeks ago. We stayed Dubois Wy and made the drive into the park from the south entrance. Found out once we got to the park the bridge between the south entrance and Old Faithfull is OUT for replacement. We had to drive all the way around the east side to get over to the southwest side where Old Faithfull is.

[jerryliving]

We just got out of Yellowstone two days ago and the bridge is back in place but they are still working on it. Expect some delays.

[philppelc]

My wife and are taking our 5th wheel to the same campground in August. I will be excited to see what you think of the experience. I knew when we booked the site that it was going to be tight, but we plan on spending a lot of time away from the campground so I don't think it will be a problem. Have a GREAT TIME!

[wnelsonfl]

Just left FB. Sites are very tight. No wifi or cable. We were in west Yellowstone KOA Thursday and Friday and liked that better, FB is at the center of everything. We booked dinner at the Yellowstone hotel (booked two months ahead). Very nice and upmarket and reasonably priced considering the location. After a few days you start to get annoyed at the buffaloes in the road. They are such majestic creatures.

[Brentf]

The road leading out of the park to West Yellowstone - you will frequently find elk grazing around the midpoint.

The road leading from the East entrance will almost always have buffalo grazing near or on the road.

Elk are attracted to the grass in some of the visitor areas and I have seen them in the north entrance road every visit.

The best locations for bear and wolves are where the buffalo are grazing off in the distance but visible from the road. The wolves will take down a buffalo which brings in a bear or two. Usually the bear are up in the mountains by mid to late July as they start feeding on berries at higher elevations. Winters are long and they pretty much have to eat continuously to get ready.

I used to follow Bearman out of Gardiner, MT but he retired from guiding wildlife tours. But here is a link to a wildlife tracking site where you can get latest spotter feedback, unfortunately it is a pay site. If you have high powered binoculars or a scope take them. Alternately a massive telescopic lens on an SLR camera mounted on a tripod. Enjoy

https://www.yellowstonereports.com/index.php

couple of apps for wildlife sightings:
http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-exp...-national-park

[boowho]

Originally Posted by JCamper

We have had reservations since Jan, so we are good to go. Thanks for the suggestion on the cooler and drinks, we'll do that to save some $$$.

I really want to see some wildlife (bear) so I'm excited. If by day 3-4 I don't see anything, I may stick a couple of beef sticks in my kids back pockets and see if that helps.

Stick those snacks in your kids pockets and you may see more bears than you really want to. You won't have to find THEM, they will find YOU!

Boowho??

[rbq]

When we go to Yellowstone we usually spend a night or two outside the park in Island Park area. Enjoy driving over to Mesa Falls and enjoying the scenic hike around there. It breaks up the drive from Salt Lake. We have usually stayed at Madison campground which is right on the junction going to either Old Faithful or north to Norris & on to Canyon or to Mammoth. Some fun things we did 2 years ago was going north of Mammoth to Gardiner Montana through the arch there & enjoyed a picnic in the park just below the arch. Another fun thing was hiking up to the Observation point at Old Faithful & watching Old Faithful erupt from there. A whole new prospective of the area & fun to even hear the crowd uh & aw from up there. Take your swimsuit & towels & go swimming in the Firehole river in the swim area there or north of Mammoth in the Boiling River area.

[RSchleder]

We just spent 10 days in YS, hiking the back country. IMHO, seeing Elk, Bison, Deer, and an occasional Moose is not really a problem in YS. Chances of seeing any Bear these days is really rather remote, especially a Brown bear. If you want to see Bears you will have much better luck in Denali National Park, Alaska. And, oh yes, I do know it's just a little bit further to travel). We saw several Bears each day we were there, some very close from the truck--like a Brown bear mother and 2 cubs 30' from the road).

PS- in West Yellowstone there is a wonderful Brown bear and Wolf sanctuary where they have the rescued animals in large enclosures interacting with other members of their own species. It's very interesting to see these animals interacting, some actually playing/wrestling each other in the large inclosure water pool.