Yellowstone Park Advice - Montana Owners Club

scuba dude · 03-20-2013, 05:58 AM

Hello All, I am trying to plan a trip to Yellowstone the last of May and just looking for advice on weather I should try to stay in Rv parks in park or on the outskirts of the park. We will be in a 3400 pulling a small motorcycle trailer if that helps. We are travling from Okla to the Park. Whats the highways like from Colorado to the parks? Never been there. Thanks for any help.
park

Devildog · 03-20-2013, 06:05 AM

Highways are good. In went in through montana , stayed in west yellowstone at grizzly rv and ledt out south through jackson to rockport to rawlins. Drive was good, roads were good and scenic.

restez · 03-20-2013, 06:27 AM

You might want to consider staying outside the park in West Yellowstone, they have rv parks that will handle an rv of your size. The ones inside the park are small and access is limited. We found it much more conveinient to do it that way.

Champ_49 · 03-20-2013, 07:17 AM

If I remember correctly (and thats not real accurate) I believe the altitude in Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone is about 6400'. With it being the end of May my guess is you could very possibly run into snow at that time of year. Plan ahead for just n case.

Dave

Tom S. · 03-20-2013, 07:42 AM

The inside park will accommodate your Montana, but the sites are very small with just enough room for the trailer with the vehicle parked next to it. You MUST make reservations to ensure getting a spot.

mail2us · 03-20-2013, 09:35 AM

When in doubt call some of the location to get a feel for the weather when you want to be there. Grizzly Park in W. Yellowstone MT will surely answer your questions as well has others within the park itself.

scattershot · 03-20-2013, 11:17 AM

When these guys say the spaces in the park are cramped, take it to the bank. We had to pull in our slide to let our neighbor unhook. I'll second (or third) Grizzly in West Yellowstone, it's a very nice park.

One other piece of advice, the park is HUGE! Allow enough time to see everything.

BusyCarol · 03-20-2013, 11:18 AM

We have stayed at Fishing Bridge, inside the park. They will accommodate up to a 40' rig + vehicle but you MUST have reservations. The spaces are fine length wise but close together width wise. They were originally designed for trailers pulled by cars. Most people who stay in Fishing Bridge are off running around the park so you don't set up camp so to speak because by the time you get back to your rig you are exhausted.

You are not allowed to have food or anything like that outside unattended because it is frequented by bears and bison. We stayed for 5 days and LOVED the close proximity to everything within the park. We went to every entrance and all the way down to the Grand Tetons. Here is a picture of our rig in a slightly smaller space (when we set the reservations we had a smaller travel trailer and bought the new rig three days before we left for the trip):

Here is picture that shows you the width of the sites:

Here is a picture of our rig from the other side:

This site is not for everyone but we LOVED it! Just make sure you arrive during the day so you can find your way around because it is NOT well lit and there are lots of trees. Huge SOBs use this site and do not have any issues. We have also heard great things about Grizzly RV Park outside of YNP. No matter where you stay you will REALLY ENJOY Yellowstone! It is truly amazing! Feel free to PM me with any questions you have as we only live a few hours away and visit fairly regularly. In fact we have reservations for the end of May through the first week in June. We are going to change our reservations a little and go around June 1st or there abouts. AS for weather it could snow or be in the 70s. So be prepared for anything and you will have a great time! Make sure to bring binoculars and a spotting scope if you have it!Have fun!

dandt · 03-20-2013, 12:30 PM

Also keep in mind weather. Just talked to some folks we worked with outside Jackson going into Yellowstone via The Tetons and they said they had 22ft of snow. Two years ago when we worked in the area it was a heavy snow year and by Memorial Day WE they did not even have the roads thru the park open and animal movement was very limited. When we drove into the park in mid july there was still snow in the shade areas, on the plus side the waterfalls were beautiful.

Wayne and Carolyn Mathews · 03-20-2013, 01:44 PM

We stay at the Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone, which is just outside the West Entrance to the park. It's likely that the RV park at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone is already fully booked; even if it's not, the spaces are small and tight--not easy to maneuver a big rig around in there. It's also possible that you'll run into snow in and around the park. We live less than 2 hours west of Yellowstone, and from first-hand experience I can assure you the chances are good that you'll get into at least one snowstorm in May. I haven't been keeping up with park road conditions, but last year, many roads in the park were still closed because of snow in early June.

There are other RV parks in the West Yellowstone area, but they may not be open in May, depending upon the weather. And no matter where you decide to stay, be sure to check first if the place can accommodate your setup. Several RV parks right in West Yellowstone can't handle any rig much over 34', and they definitely can't take a rig that's also pulling a small trailer unless you park that second trailer somewhere else.

Carolyn

bobcat92 · 03-20-2013, 03:39 PM

The saying in Montana is wait ten minutes if you don't like the weather. Could be 90 degrees or 28 with snow. YNP is high enough you could run into winter conditions. I would stay in West Yellowstone with the size of rig.

bigskyjimmy · 03-20-2013, 04:48 PM

the KOA outside West yellowstone is I think 8 miles out and Very nice and HUGE,you got that right on staying inside the park MISTAKE! these new 5th's are just too big ,they are for Campers and smaller or mid size TT

twindman · 03-20-2013, 06:16 PM

Ditto on the weather. We stayed in W Yellowstone in July (or August) and our hose froze up!!! So I would guess in May it will definitely freeze.

RickW · 03-21-2013, 12:43 PM

It is hard to say on the weather. We are always in the area in Mid/Late May to Early June. Typically it is near or just below freezing at night. Daytime highs can very to the same as evening to mid 70s. Some nights I have to disconnect the water from the trailer because it gets too cold and will freeze, but most nights it is not a problem.

On Fathers Day 2009 we woke up to 4" of snow on the ground that was not there when we went to sleep. We were at Fishing Bridge (about 7500 ft). Working our way to Mammoth it got much worse. But as we ran down the hill from Mammoth to Gardiner the snow turned to rain and then we had no problems.

The roads are fine. Typically the biggest issue that time of year can be the wind at times. It can really blow out there in the middle of nowhere.

Jay Bird · 03-21-2013, 04:34 PM

As stated before stay in West Yellowstone. We stayed at Grizzly RV Park in Jun last year. The weather was nice. Enjoy your visit.

Fire5er · 03-22-2013, 05:11 AM

We stayed at Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone two years ago in July and LOVED it. You can run into snow in the Yellowstone area at any time of the year. We have frost several mornings in July.

Gkerlin · 03-22-2013, 05:28 AM

Or.... to be the odd man out again...

If you prefer a more natural setting where you can't hear your neighbor sneeze - there is Bakers Hole NF CG about 5 miles north of W. Yellowstone. No reservations but you can usually score a boondocking site.

Or if you need hookups - another option is Henrys Lake SP in Island Park, Id about 15 miles west of W. Yellowstone. A nice State park on a lake with Water & Electric. They take reservations.

scuba dude · 03-22-2013, 11:23 AM

I will try this again. Thanks everyone for all the replies this will help ALOT.

Debbie Asher · 03-22-2013, 03:41 PM

I just made reservations for June 11th - 20th at RedRock RV in Island Park, ID which apparently is about 20 miles from the West Yellowstone entrance. From there we are going to go to Hardin, MT. Grandview RV to see the re-entactment of Custer last stand June 21 & 22.

padredw · 03-23-2013, 04:26 AM

John and Debbie,

Yes, it is about 20 miles to the West Entrance from Red Rock, but a very pleasant drive.

There are some beautiful places to visit other than Yellowstone. Just ask the people who work at Red Rock. One that I will mention is "Johnny Sack's Cabin." Don't miss it, just south of Island Park.

We were fortunate in that a youth rodeo was going on just down the road (less than a mile past the campground) from Red Rock while we were there. Maybe it goes on all summer.

There are some photos of the cabin area and the rodeo on this web site:

http://dwilliamson.com/Yellowstone/Page.html

Hope you have a great visit.

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