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Old 08-01-2020, 01:26 PM   #1
dieselguy
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Yellowstone Fall 2020 Question

We have friends with a new Grand Design fiver wanting us to go with them to Yellowstone the second week in September. For those of you that have been there or in the area this year, I have 2-3 questions. "Assuming we could make reservations at this point" ... Are there many campgrounds outside the park itself open to say a weeks stay for 35' to 37' fivers and if so name a couple or three please. Second ... are there enough things open and accessible to justify a 1200 mile trip up there or would waiting till next year assuming things settle down to a mild roar be a better plan? Third, is mid September pushing the weather factor?

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Old 08-01-2020, 01:37 PM   #2
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We stayed at KOA Mountainside in June 2020. Its 8.4 miles outside town. Lots of elbow room between sites. Long pull throughs. Weak cell signal, weak wifi.
We drove around looking at other places.
Yellowstone Park / West Gate KOA. Spaces look very tight.
Yellowstone Grizzly RV park is way above and beyond the best. Absolutely beautiful.
Right outside the gate.
Inside the park:
On the webpage it seems they can only accommodate vehicle + rv total lenght 40'.
https://www.yellowstone.co/maps/campgroundmap.htm

https://www.yellowstone.co/camping.htm
(See the campground/vehicle size description below the tables)
We drove through Madison, Grant, Bridge Bay, and Canyon. They were all tight.
We are 51' TV + RV(5th wheel 35').
Most I would not even attempt to park in. Some loops I would not attempt to drive through with our RV. It seems like all the sites are more suitable for travel trailers and popups than 5ers.
Fishing bridge, (the real RV park) has been closed for the last year (and this year). We drove by it. They are doing a LOT of construction on the main road. We drove into the parking lot. The road in is closed. From what we can see they have a ways to go yet.
Drove by Mammoth Campground. It is closed. There is a GD Reflection just inside the gate on one of the sites. We are guessing it probably belongs to a work camper, employee or host?
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Old 08-01-2020, 02:28 PM   #3
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Madison is by far my favorite camp in the park. It’s close to the Madison river and elk, trout fishing and great places to walk and have breakfast until the pine trees.
West Yellowstone is a beautiful camp well kept nice but I hated it. I’m a country boy and it’s city. Most people love it I’m just not one of them.
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Old 08-01-2020, 03:51 PM   #4
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Another possibility is national forest camps. There are several on the west side of Yellowstone. Do a Google search.
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Old 08-01-2020, 05:45 PM   #5
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RedRock RV Park in Island Park Will be open until about the 26th of September. They are about 20 mile to West Entrance. It’s gorgeous there that time of year.
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Old 08-01-2020, 08:30 PM   #6
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I squeezed my 34 ft Montana and truck into Fishing Bridge maybe 10 years ago. I do mean squeeze - I had my front bumper into the brush in front of the site to get things turned while leaving. BUT... I read somewhere they are adding some pull thru sites this summer and would be done August or maybe Sept. 1. You might give them call to check size and if finished.
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Old 08-01-2020, 08:51 PM   #7
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West or east side? Lots of campgrounds in Cody or greybull will easily fit you. Weather should be nice a little chilly but bearable
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Old 08-02-2020, 06:14 AM   #8
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Last of September 2017 we were making our second trip to Yellowstone. We had left Las Vegas and had to hunker down in Idaho for five days as Yellowstone had received 18" of snow and roads were closed. Yellowstone was beautiful with snow. We stayed in West Yellowstone at Grizzly RV. It is less than a mile from west entrance to Yellowstone.
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Old 08-02-2020, 04:04 PM   #9
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Thanks for the replies so far ... we'll more than likely be coming in from the south. My big question that no one has really commented on ... would the trip from Kansas be worth it in Covid times or should we consider the trip next year? Is there just too much stuff closed that would dull the experience?
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Old 08-02-2020, 07:47 PM   #10
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One other thing to consider. We came back from Alaska and were in Bozeman Mt around Oct 1. Many rv parks were closed. May be a problem if you are in northern states.
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Old 08-03-2020, 05:59 AM   #11
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I see your concern. Would be for me also. To see Yellowstone you will need to walk on narrow boardwalks. Almost impossible to keep 6' distance. Some groups will walk side by side and will not move over.
If you do go don't try to pull a camper into the north-east entrance.
Shame all this covid stuff is going on. Had a trip I would like to make but not too sure. My age I'm quickly coming to the end of my towing days.
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Old 08-03-2020, 06:06 AM   #12
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Been there many times, and September is probably our favorite and most interesting. You don't need the commercial stuff open to enjoy the park. The rivers still run, the geysers still erupt, the wildlife is still there, and the scenery is still beautiful. If you can find a place to park the rig which I'm sure you can it is absolutely worth the trip. Coming from the south take a couple of days and enjoy the Tetons as well. Colter Bay is a great RV park in the Tetons and an easy drive from there through Yellowstone park up to West Yellowstone.
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Old 08-03-2020, 06:15 AM   #13
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Yellowstone is huge and it’s very easy to get away from crowds( except on the roads and at Old Faithfull).
We are outside or in the Jeep by ourselves most of the time.
We like getting in the park well before daylight, hit a few of the busiest spots first. Then search out where we might go the next day. We’re usually back to camp by 2 pm.
Oh ps we’ve never taken the Montana to Yellowstone only our Class C pulling the Jeep.
We do way to much back roading for the F 450
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Old 08-05-2020, 10:47 AM   #14
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As for Coulter Bay reservations, I booked last November and the earliest opening was August 20 or so!! So that is probably out at this time.
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Old 08-05-2020, 02:40 PM   #15
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Coming from south, try Gros Ventre Campground just outside Jackson. Near Grand Tetons
and a short distance from the Park. Beautiful spot. In the park we stayed at Madison Campground at the Madison and Firehole rivers.
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Old 08-05-2020, 03:38 PM   #16
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Holiday RV on Hebgen Lake is open till the end of September weather permitting. We have stayed there twice. Really nice, a few miles out of West Yellowstone but worth it. Right on the edge of the lake.
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Old 08-09-2020, 01:45 PM   #17
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We have stayed at Yellowstone's Edge RV Park, south of Livingston, MT and a half hour north of the north gate (the iconic Teddy Roosevelt Gate). We were there for a month in May and June. None of the park campgrounds were open at that time. Without all the tour buses of foreign visitors the Park sights were quite accessible (although one section of the loop road was closed for construction). Definitely worth it. It can snow in September, or be beautiful. We had snow in June. My vote would be to go for it.
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Old 08-09-2020, 02:06 PM   #18
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We stayed at Henry's Lake State Park about 20 minutes outside the west entrance. Very nice park on the lake with electric and water hookups and a dump station. They do have some full hookups but they were booked the week we were there. We learned that you need to move south to another campground if you want to really see Grand Teton. It was too far and took too long otherwise.
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Old 08-09-2020, 02:13 PM   #19
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Yellowstone just opened up and huge crowds by Old Faithful. NO ONE wearing masks. People from Florida and Washington. Maybe September might be less crowded.
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Old 08-09-2020, 02:24 PM   #20
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Been to Yellowstone every year for years and just booked for the first week in October at Grizzly RV in West Yellowstone. Grizzly RV is by far the best in the area for RVs and the campgrounds in the Park are all very tight. Have stayed in Gros Ventre just North of Jackson is nice but as I recall they don’t take reservations. Yellowstone is great any time of the year, weather permitting, but early spring and late fall are great if you want to avoid the crowds. Be advised that a number of businesses start to close down after Labor Day.
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