Yellowstone Camping

gregory · Jul 31, 2014

Greetings all,

Think I am going to hit Yellowstone prior to the Spearfish hoedown in 2015, and am wondering which campsite is the best to stay at for MC camping.

TIA,

Greg

Pterodactyl · Jul 31, 2014

Good luck finding a space this late. Around Sturgis time the campgrounds are packed with RVs towing Harleys. The roads are packed with groups of Harley riders (20-40) in "Look at me" parades doing 10-15 miles per hour under the speed limit and saving scores of lives with their loud pipes.

We've had good luck staying at a place a few miles south of the south gate on the west side of the road. It 's between Ystone and the Tetons. Good luck.

gregory · Jul 31, 2014

Sounds like a nightmare!

I will edit to show that I am planning on 2015.

Thanks for the info, as I am planning on hitting the Tetons too.

Spud · Jul 31, 2014

It's not that bad....not always anyway. All of the major park campgrounds have nice facilities. Mammoth is like a small town really. They will all be full. Reserve early if you're going to do that, or consider towns on the outskirts with cheaper private campgrounds (west yellowstone, gardiner, mt, jackson hole wy area, cody...)

I just rode through the park a few weeks ago and was pretty amazed that we got right through w/o too many traffic problems. The road out of the NE entrance to Cooke City MT is usually the least traveled in the park, you'll see lots of animals there, and it's on the way to the Beartooth Pass.

Pterodactyl · Jul 31, 2014

We were in Cody last week. After riding the Bighorn Mtns we rode the Chief Joseph and went to Cooke City. It was jammed with bikes, mostly HDs at 4 in the afternoon. We decided to pass on thru and were planning on heading thru Mammoth to Paradise Valley to find a camp site. As we pased thu Silver Gate just outside the park we saw a motel with a vacancy posted. Turns out their sign was broken but they did have one room left. Just dumb luck. We rode thru the park early the next day and there were few other vehicles on the road until we got to Mammoth; as Spud said, this is one of the better routes in the park. There were lots of bison moving towards the river that caused delays, but that is a good thing There was a rally in Red Lodge the previous weekend that is a mostly HD event and many of those folks were still in the area, but they're not the sort to be up and riding at 6 AM, evidently.

Denver_FJR · Jul 31, 2014

I moto camped there a few years ago in June. My first day I arrived late in afternoon via Cooke City and all campsites were full up. I backtracked to a US campground and headed straight to the park in morning to "stake a claim" in a campground. They were already 3/4 full but managed to snag one. Most will fill up well before noon.

SacramentoMike · Aug 1, 2014

There are three or four kind of "full service" campgrounds that will likely be full at busy times, but there are also two (at least) pretty much undeveloped campgrounds (vault toilets, but there are water spigots around) that do not often fill up--almost anytime, and can't be reserved ahead. First in, first served. Don't recall the names for sure, but easily found by asking an employee. The one we stayed at a couple years ago, when everything else was full, was up on the north end near and just south of the Mammoth Village area. Think it was called Indian Creek Campground. Basic, but it was just fine IMO.

Aasland · Aug 1, 2014

Pterodactyl said:
Good luck finding a space this late. Around Sturgis time the campgrounds are packed with RVs towing Harleys. The roads are packed with groups of Harley riders (20-40) in "Look at me" parades doing 10-15 miles per hour under the speed limit and saving scores of lives with their loud pipes.
We've had good luck staying at a place a few miles south of the south gate on the west side of the road. It 's between Ystone and the Tetons. Good luck.

Lizard Creek is a NFS campground on the north end of Jackson Lake. We stayed there one night, it was fine.

After 3-4 rides through Yellowstone I decided it is better enjoyed in a car. Lots of stops and slow speeds means lots of getting on/off the bike, dealing with gear, etc. If they had a shuttle system I would enjoy it much more (like Glacier does). But the roads in the vicinity of the park are excellent.

Geezer · Aug 1, 2014

SacramentoMike said:
There are three or four kind of "full service" campgrounds that will likely be full at busy times, but there are also two (at least) pretty much undeveloped campgrounds (vault toilets, but there are water spigots around) that do not often fill up--almost anytime, and can't be reserved ahead. First in, first served. Don't recall the names for sure, but easily found by asking an employee. The one we stayed at a couple years ago, when everything else was full, was up on the north end near and just south of the Mammoth Village area. Think it was called Indian Creek Campground. Basic, but it was just fine IMO.

It has been a few years since I camped at Yellowstone, but at the time there were only a few campgrounds that allowed tents. Most required hard sided campers due to bears. The campgrounds which do not take reservations are actually closer to the center of the park. At these campgrounds you simply pull in and find an empty unclaimed site and put your payment in a lock box.

Spud · Aug 1, 2014

Yeah, over the years quite a few campers have turned into midnight snacks.... this last serious one a few years ago really put people on edge.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128833170

ts3doug · Sep 22, 2014

We hit Yellowstone early on a Monday this past july and struggled to find a spot. Ended up up with the second to last spot at rainbow point in the Gallatin forest. One of the fellas with us was freaking out about grizzlies and didn't sleep a wink. Of course the campground host had related a story about a fella that was dragged out of his tent and eaten from that very loop. That had been several years passed and I SD kept like a baby (may have been the scotch)

Pterodactyl · Sep 23, 2014

If you are planning on coming to Montana this video will provide you with some useful info... it is all true.

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