I recommend Baker's Hole, just outside of West Yellowstone. You will have electricity, and sites are first come, first served-we've shown up on a weekend about 2:00 and been able to get electric sites. http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/?page=recreation/areas/camp_picnic/site&site=bakers_hole_campground
Also, that same page shows many campgrounds in the area.
West Yellowstone is a great place to base camp-but get up early to avoid the long line at the entrance gate-the line starts about 7 am.
You'll find that the camggrounds inside the park will fill quickly, and most are on the reservation system that is operated by a concessionairre. There are a couple of Yellowstone campgrounds to the North-but they are near where the bear attack took place.
Do you have a hard-sided trailer? (Completely hard-sided) Many of the campgrounds in the park, and at Baker's Hole require this if they have had recent bear activity. One thing to check on is the status of the bears as we were there a few years ago during a drought and there were several attacks that were credited to the bears starving in the region.
Also, there was a bear attack inside the park just a few weeks ago at Bridge Bay-the bear jumped on a pair of sleeping tenters-they made it sound like maybe the people had their food inside the tent with them.
* This post was
edited 07/31/10 09:24am by brrwilliams *
Congratulations on your husband's retirement!! I just wanted to add that I have been to Yellowstone twice in Sept. & there was no propane available in the park either time. They are winding down their season then & when they run out they don't get any more. The restaurants start closing one by one also. Just a heads up so you are aware. Have a great trip. We will be there Sept also. Will base camp in West Yellowstone since Fishing Bridge has no electricity now.
Do you have a hard-sided trailer? Many of the campgrounds in the park, and at Baker's Hole require this because of bear activity.
There is only one campground in the park that requires hard-side, that is Fishing Bridge. Tents and soft-side units are allowed in all the others. Bakers hole allows soft-side units as well.
brrwilliams wrote: You'll find that the camggrounds inside the park will fill quickly, and most are on the reservation system that is privately owned. There are a couple of Yellowstone campgrounds to the North-but they are near where the bear attack took place.
Do you have a hard-sided trailer? Many of the campgrounds in the park, and at Baker's Hole require this because of bear activity. One thing to check on is the status of the bears as we were there a few years ago during a drought and there were several attacks that were credited to the bears starving in the region.
Also, there was a bear attack inside the park just a few weeks ago at fishing bridge-the bear jumped on a pair of sleeping tenters-they made it sound like maybe the people had their food inside the tent with them.
how much misinformation can you post?
one, Xanterra does not own any of the campgrounds in YNP. they are a private contractor with the NPS to run the reservation system and the park concessions.
two, Fishing Bridge is the ONLY YNP campground with a permanent ban on tents and soft-sided trailers.
three, there is nothing i could find online that mentions any bear attack at FB's campground since 2007.
please provide evidence of this event.
are you trying to scare people away from Yellowstone?
Dan- Firefighter, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
Quote: Also, there was a bear attack inside the park just a few weeks ago at fishing bridge-the bear jumped on a pair of sleeping tenters
No one's been able to tent at Fishing Bridge for years. They closed the old FB CG (not the RV park) many years ago because of its proximity to Pelican Creek, which is a prime grizzly trail from the backcountry to the lake.
Also true that FB RV Park is the only CG inside YNP that always prohibits soft-sided rigs. Other CGs may have temporary prohibitions on soft-sided camping units due to bear activity; those are issued by rangers after bear activity is reported there, but again, on a temporary basis.
OK, I struck a nerve, and will own several of my mistakes.
kknowlton-thank you for your gracious redirect of what I stated earlier. Baker's Hole has been closed several times over the last ten years because of bear activity-this has been one of our favorite places to go, and it was always disappointing when we had a pop up trailer, to have to go somewhere else.
bikerdan-Point one-Xanterra is the concessionaire, you are right, they do not own the campgrounds. (Feel better?) But, my point was answer their question in that it is very hard to get into these campgrounds if you do not have a reservation-which is what was asked. Concessionaire or privately owned really doesn't change the point of my statement.
bikerdan-Point two-thanks, I think kknowlton acutally explained this a lot better-you can't count on a campground being open because they don't have a permanent ban on soft-sided or tents. You are actually posting misinformation by saying they are all open but FB. In fact, you can have a reservation and show up to find out they've banned everything but hard-sided trailers for however long they want.
bikerdan-Point three- Here is your "evidence" with the article I referenced-I read it while camping IN Yellowstone this past month and used GOOGLE to find it again: http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=6184
I stand corrected in that this took place at Norris Campground. There have also been several other encounters, injuries, and one (other than the one that happened last week) death in the immediate area. You can read any of the local papers and find this or Google the topic.
Also, the tent campers that got jumped on were at Bridge Bay-which is what I confused with Fishing Bridge: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2010/06/yet-another-bear-lost-yellowstone-national-park6146
We just spent a fabulous week there. I called the ranger station in the Yellowstone area we camped in to get their feedback on the road, conditions, etc. The ranger asked if we were aware this was "Grizzly Habitat? Her next question was, "Do you have a hard-sided trailer?"
Am I trying to scare people away? Never, if you noticed, I actually answered the post and provided information camping information about the area. Was I concerned this year as we traveled-you bet. I am always cautious as I have a family that I worry about. I think people need to know there is a chance to have an encounter. As David and Deb listed they are from OK, I think my question about their trailer was fair as I would never send a tent camper or pop up to places that have frequent bear encounters without telling them the risks.
A couple of you need to take a chill pill, not worry so much about semantics, and, one of you, it might help if you posted something helpful to people at some point in these posts.
David and Deb: you've received a lot of helpful information. September in the park is fabulous-post pictures and let people know where you ended up.
* This post was
edited 07/31/10 09:26am by brrwilliams *
I have a 30' 5er, and my best advice being that your rig is larger is Fishing Bridge. September tends to be not nearly as busy, and I have not had a problem getting a site at one of the CG run by Xanterra, especially if you can call one or two days before you get there.
Norris is a great CG also, but there are only five sites I know of where you could get your rig in easily, but there may be others that I am unsure of.
September can be the best season ever in Yellowstone, but you can also see snow often.
One thing no one else mentioned is the Elk rut. Be very careful if the Elk are in full rut, they have been know to charge cars, but if you are smart and follow the rules, you will have no problems and have a great time.
Do not sweet the CG so much. If you know later in Aug when you will be there call and make reservations than, and here is the number (307) 344-7311 to call to make same day reservations. You will get busy signals, but keep trying. I do this all the time in Yellowstone, and the only time it does not work very well is July & Aug. The best time is at 7-8am MT and at 11am mt time.
A great big thanks to everybody who replied to my post!!! All are much appreciated. Even the debates are constructive in forums like this as long as a tone of civility is maintained.
I will post when we return for sure. I am writing this from tall pines campground near Branson, Missouri, which is a fabulous campground, on my new iPad. What a great tool for traveling it has turned out to be. Wow...
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, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur
, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever
, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
