CG's for Glacier, Yellowstone in Sept

[tnjmich]

We are spending this September in Yellowstone and Glacier NP's and are looking for recommendations on campgrounds. We have a 24' Sprinter motorhome with solar so we don't need electricity. Looking for campgrounds near sightseeing and hiking, but where sites are not on top of each other. We'd rather have a large rustic site than electric and a 20' wide site.
If no reservations can be made, does first come/first serve work if you get to the NP CG's by 9-10 AM?
Thanks, appreciate any recommendations.

[Oakman]

Your request is almost a contradiction in terms, you have solar but want rustic. Most rustic campgrounds I know of are heavily tree covered, not exactly solar friendly.

Having said that, I think you need to check the National Forest Service campgrounds for what you want. There are quite a few in the greater Yellowstone area and I’m sure there are a few that would fit your needs. Some of them are reservable and some have electric hookups. Getting first come first served campsites will be much easier in September but keep in mind that some campgrounds begin closing in mid-Sept so do your research.

I have no experience with Glacier NP.

[youroo]

We were in Glacier NP last Sept.Dress warm and have Plenty of Batteries for your Furnace blower! 4-6" of Snow on the "Going To the Sun Road"! Big NPS campsites are a Pipe Dream! Youroo!!

[f5moab]

East of Yellowstone you have Rex Hale (about 15 miles) that is open small number of trees so Solar would work and they do have some electric sites that are used for handicapped; however, if all other sites are taken or reserved anyone can reserve an electric site.

Rex Hale Sept 2015


About six miles east is Wapiti, a lot nicer, but heavily shaded, and in Sept it can sometimes either be closed completely or just for soft sided trailers and tents due to the Grizzlies love the berries and that campground is full of them. There are two loops, eastern loop has electricity, western loop does not.
There are also some other smaller campgrounds in that area.
Plenty of hiking trails, but take your bear spray; Shoshone NF has one of the largest populations of brown bears in the Continental USA.

In Sept first come first serve will most likely be ok. However, like already noted, snow can close those campground early as well as bears. Up near Glacier they could close a lot sooner.

Wapiti drive in site Sept 2016


Wapiti back in site July 2014


Also, last year on Sept 13 they closed the campground to new campers and totally closing a few days later. My drive home through Yellowstone was quite snowy. And they had already temporarily closed the northern entrance to Yellowstone but opened a few hours or a day later from what I read.

This is just before the drive up Sylvan pass, east entrance on 9/13/2016

[Mountndream]

I will speak to glacier. Our favorite place to be is Many glacier. However, the spots are tight and heavily wooded.

In your case, I would recommend St Marys. its has short trees beautiful views, but not alot of shade to ruin it for for your solar.

many glacier is First come first serve after Labor day. I recommend being there when they open the gates or you will be looking else where. St Marys may take reservations out later and would guarantee that you have a wider and large enough spot

Good luck. Also realize that much of the park starts closing down in the timeframe you have mentioned

[dmlranhc]

Have stayed at St. Mary Lake Campground and Many Glaciers Campground in Glacier National Park. Liked Many Glacier Campground best. Reservations were not necessary when there in July but recommend you get there early, even before 9 a m. There is also a National Forest Campground out of the Park, just across the road on the southern border, very peaceful, but no hook ups.
Stayed at Grants Village Campground in Yellowstone, reservations necessary to assure a spot, and make them as soon as possible. It is on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. No hooks ups, generators can be ran a couple hours in morning and a couple hours in evening. There are also National Forest Campgrounds, my favorite is just out of the Parks east entrance in the Shoshone canyon. Costs less than campgrounds in park and seeing as how the campgrounds in the park don't have hookups either, the National Forest Campground is a better deal, being just out of park and a large restaurant, gas station and gift shop just down the road.

[CharlieS3]

We have stayed many times in Yellowstone at Mammoth Hot Springs NSP campground. This is first come first served. Get there early and try to get one of the ones on the right as you first enter the campground. These are large (fit my 39' motorhome with toad just fine) and have good solar exposure. Mammoth is open year round. The price is also right, especially if you have a senior pass.

Charlie

[dmlranhc]

Just a note in case you have never been to Glacier Park. They do not allow campers to be towed on Road to the Sun, so you will have to leave you camper at the campground, unless you have a motorhome.

[Lovestogo]

Depending on the time you are visiting Glacier, Goungvtobthe Sun Road may be closed as it typically closes mid-September. Only 21 feet or less vehicles are allowed on the GTSR.

There is a K O A campground in St. Mary. There is another one between St. Mary and Babb- Chewibg Backbones. I don't think there are a lot of trees there. As stated previously everything in and around Glacier begins to close mid-September. This includes grocery stores and restaurants, especially around the St. Mary area and Many Glacier area. Check the Glacier NPS website. It is full of information.

[OscarsMom2]

The last time we visited Yellowstone in 2014, we camped at Henry's Lake State Park which is just west of West Yellowstone. We had a water and electric hook-up. If you didn't have hook-ups and wanted to use your solar panels, the park gets lots of sunshine. The only problem we had was the wind came up every evening. Some of our party were in tents and we lost one of the tents due to broken poles.

When we visited Glacier National Park several years ago, we stayed at the West Glacier KOA.

[HikerBob]

Yes. As a rule we arrive around noon or check-out time so as to be in line for the first vacancy. We also found USFS campgrounds nearby that were just fine for us, but then we are in a trailer and can leave it while we go sightseeing in the car.

[camaraderie]

Ditto on Glacier closing early. They stopped running the park buses 9/7 last year. I would definitely go there first.

[Mountndream]

Originally Posted by HikerBob

Yes. As a rule we arrive around noon or check-out time so as to be in line for the first vacancy. We also found USFS campgrounds nearby that were just fine for us, but then we are in a trailer and can leave it while we go sightseeing in the car.

The NPS site usually has typical times the campground fills up posted on thier website, but remember that the OP has specific needs that will require additional "flexibility"

[Jakieboy]

West Glacier KOA is one of the nicest RV parks we have ever encountered.

Also recommend staying in Colter Bay in Grand Teton NP rather than Yellowstone.

[tnjmich]

Thanks for all the replies. That is great advice about going to Glacier first. Last year in August/September we did Colorado/Utah/Arizona and it was so far South the weather wasn't an issue.
I think my original post was a bit misinterpreted. What I meant was that we wanted nice campgrounds, even if they are rustic or generator free. We are in a Sprinter motorhome and have a generator and solar. We also tow a toad. We are just looking for the best places to stay near the sightseeing. We camped rustic about 1/3 of our 6 week trip last year with no issues. Rustic CG's at RMNP and GCNF were 2 of the nicest places we went.
We'll go to Glacier early in September, then figure out the rest. Hopefully we won't need reservations if we get to CG before 9-10AM.
If anyone has any more recommendations for what to see or where to stay, please keep the comments coming.
Joel

[Wandering]

Was in Glacier & Yellowstone last September in our 27 ft Forester. Glacier in particular was amazing. We stayed at Rising Sun (see pic), Many Glacier, Two Medicine & Apgar. Many Glacier was busy and we got the very last spot at Two Medicine the night we stayed there. We couldn't drive it in the camper but GTSR was closed due to snow. Second pic is at Many Glacier.

Yellowstone was packed! They closed some of the park campgrounds in September and the remaining we full. The online system which shows open sites was wrong as we found out after driving 30 miles! ALL of the West Glacier private campgrounds were full as well so we ended up driving 15+ miles to Henry's Lake State Park in Idaho. Really beautiful park right on the lake very Scenic. Not a bad drive. The third night we stayed just outside Yellowstone in a nice Forest Service campground in Cooke City, MT. We didn't see any, but must be Bears as the require hard side campers only.

Next morning we drove the Beartooth Highway which was also amazing! I highly recommend it.

Be prepared for crowds at Yellowstone even in September. I guess all us retired baby boomers like to go there after school starts again. Lots of tour buses and the key spots were packed. Of course folks park everywhere so we couldn't stop at a few spots due to cars in the RV spots. Regardless we had a good time at Yellowstone but it sure was crowded.

Happy Camping!