# Yellowstone In August



## cts_alberta (Jun 13, 2005)

DH and I had two places in mind for our first trip one was Yellowstone and the other was to see the Redwoods in Northern California. We choose Yellowstone because it is a shorter trip and we will be able to linger and explore. We do not know the area at all and could use some help. 
Here's our route:
Calgary, Alberta south through Great Falls, Montana and stopping somewhere around Helena (anyone familiar with this area - camping tips would be most appreciated)
From Helena down to Butte and east on I90 to 85/191 then south to the west entrance of Yellowstone (we are going to see if we can get into Fishing Bridge RV Park - since we are new to this we are hoping for full hook-ups... if Plan A doesn't work any other suggestions?... we could also stay outside the park).
We are hoping to stay 4 nights (originally we were thinking of 2 nights but through searches on this forum realize that just isn't going to give us the time we need)
Next: Yellowstone south to somewhere near Jackson Hole (we might spend 2 nights here... any suggestions on campgrounds?)
We're looking at three days for the return trip but are thinking of looping back up through Idaho to Butte, Montana then heading northwest to Missoula, north to Kalispell and east along the southern tip of Glacier National Park... then back into Canada. Haven't figured out where we want to stop and camp on the return trip but if there are any must sees along the way, would love to hear about them.

I think Yellowstone would be a great first big trip for our girls!sunny

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions...
... Carolyn


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## tonka (Feb 14, 2005)

Hello carolyn,
My DW and i went to yellowstone last year (not camping) and I fell in love with jackson hole. we only saw the campground at fishing bridge and its on the south side inside the park. It looked nice enough but the sites were lined up in a row. I know there were more campgrounds but we didnt see them.
one thing i would suggest is stay on one end a couple nights then move to the other end for another.its a drive across the park. 
alot of info on roads and accomidations can be seen on yellowstone sites on the web, good luck i know you will enjoy your trip, dave


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## j1mfrog (Jun 6, 2004)

Hey Carolyn

We stayed at Yellowstone last year. Loved the park. Hated Fishing Bridge RV park. Here's my post from Disappointing Campground Experience. We stayed there a week and since we didn't have a generator, kept the battery charged by running the truck when we needed to and using a little propane heater at night instead of the furnace. I hope you have a lot of fun.



j1mfrog said:


> OK, maybe i was a little bit dense, I could have avoided this with a little more investigation. In my naive world, I thought you had to pay more to get better quality so when I made my Yellowstone reservations, I reserved at the most expensive park, the Fishing Bridge RV Park. The pictures in my mind were glorious. Sunset over a fishing bidge on the scenic Yellowstone River. People fishing or walking hand-in-hand laughing and talking. Elk and Pronghorn laying around the campground.
> 
> That all changed upon check-in. The people were nice but brutally honest.
> 
> ...


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

If you want hook-ups INSIDE the park...FISHING BRIDGE RV PARK is the only place. I've stayed there, and at CANYON CAMPGROUND as well. (No hook-ups there, but a much nicer campground) Fishing BRVP has sites close together, but will fit the bill if you are traveling around the park all day anyway.

Options OUTSIDE the park are WEST YELLOWSTONE (has many campgrounds) and out the South gate is Flagg Ranch. Not sure on North Entrance...but the valley area is nice.

Camping in GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, I would suggest Colter Bay Campground. (also no hook-ups) It's on Jackson Lake, and there's a nice lodge & marina.

Here are my favorite planning sites:

TETONS

YELLOWSTONE

Have fun! 
Yellowstone is a MUST SEE place! (one of my favorite places on earth!)


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## rdowns (Oct 20, 2004)

Hi, we just returned from Yellowstone. They put us in Fishing Bridge- it was not nearly as bad as I had expected. The kids around us were playing in the trees, building forts, etc. My children are still too small so it wasn't an issue for us. We were gone most of the day to sightsee. We took my inlaws for their first trip to Yellowstone and in a trailer. The hookups were nice for them. We could have easily gone without them. Location was great as advertised, we were entering and exiting from the east ate so it was nice to be so close. We saw many other places to camp in the park and they all looked nice.


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## cts_alberta (Jun 13, 2005)

Thanks for the responses... great information!







I think we made the right choice for our first big trip. Really have to mull over the hook-ups vs no hook-ups thing. We have two batteries but they are dealer installed so I don't know how good they are (I'll take a run down to the TT today and check). I've done some searches on batteries on the forum and seem to have mixed reviews on how long the batteries last and of course there is a current thread running on the subject. Time to ask some more questions I quess.

The links and pictures are awesome!!!!!! We are really excited about the trip. I also posted on Woodall's Open Forum for info (there is a larger number of Albertans on that forum for the routes part of my question) and between you guys and them, I feel I can make some excellent choices for my family. Thanks again sunny

... Carolyn


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## TN Campers (Jan 31, 2005)

Hi, just thought I would toss in my two cents.

We also just got back from the Tetons and Yellowstone - what a great trip! In the Tetons we stayed at Colter Bay, and in Yellowstone we stayed at Madison, Canyon, and Pebble Creek campgrounds. Originally we had reservations for Fishing Bridge, but after looking at it we moved to Canyon and were very happy with that decision. I was also concerned about battery life, but we had no problems, although the longest we stayed in one campground was two nights. Grey water tank capacity was more of an issue for us. One thing to keep in mind is the location of dump stations in the park. The one at Canyon is not in operation (we were told it had problems this past winter and hasn't been reopened), so Madison is the northernmost campground in the park with a dump station. Since we exited the park out the northeast entrance, we ended up towing a full grey tank halfway across Wyoming!

Hope you have a great trip.


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## cts_alberta (Jun 13, 2005)

Thanks for the tip TNCampers!









I'm calling reservations this morning. We've settled on staying at Canyon... it's in between the two loops and got good reviews from a few people. I am sooooooo glad I asked the question about Fishing Bridge. We're camping to get away from the concrete jungle. Row housing for trailers is not exactly the type of experience we're going for... even with all the conveniences thrown in.

The two websites that NDJollyMon gave me the links to have been awesome.

Going down to Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons is a real bonus for us. I will probably regret not have a few more days to explore that area as well...

Thanks again for everyone's input! sunny

... Carolyn


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## cts_alberta (Jun 13, 2005)

One more thing TNCamper... are you allowed to go to another campground in the park to dump? If yes, we were thinking of stopping into Bridge Bay on the way south to Jackson Hole. Probably a silly question but we are so new to this... WE KNOW NOTHING!!!! shy

Thanks... Carolyn


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## j1mfrog (Jun 6, 2004)

We stayed at Norris and dumped somewhere else, don't remember which one, but I do remember that the rangers were very helpful directing us to a place where we could dump.


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