YellowStone park and RV's

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Spike1306

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Hi

After having so much fun Rv'ing last year we will be coming over again next year and renting a RV again and we will be looking to pass through Yellowstone park, now I have heard rumors that their is size limitations on the size of RV you can take through there and for RV parks.
is this correct or can you take any size RV?
We will be looking at staying a few nights through out the park and would like to have full hook up if possible, mainly electric and water, if there is a on site dumping station so could people please give us some tips on the best RV parks and which ones would allow a 35ft RV in there.
We will be going in May 2019

Thanks

Spike

Thanks
 
Spike1306 said:
Hi

After having so much fun Rv'ing last year we will be coming over again next year and renting a RV again and we will be looking to pass through Yellowstone park, now I have heard rumors that their is size limitations on the size of RV you can take through there and for RV parks.
is this correct or can you take any size RV?
We will be looking at staying a few nights through out the park and would like to have full hook up if possible, mainly electric and water, if there is a on site dumping station so could people please give us some tips on the best RV parks and which ones would allow a 35ft RV in there.
We will be going in May 2019

Thanks

Spike

Thanks
Click to expand...

They have a website. https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm
 
now I have heard rumors that their is size limitations on the size of RV you can take through there and for RV parks.
Click to expand...

A few years back I took a 45 foot Beaver through Yellowstone and the Tetons. It's been at the RV Park in West Yellowstone and in Colter Bay. Your limitations will be when sightseeing, not camping or getting to a campsite. A lot of folks use small Class C rigs (many are rentals), but some features you visit won't have much parking (or maybe not any) for an RV, especially during the summer season when everywhere is very crowded. And anything much over 28-30 feet will get to be a headache rather quickly.

We will be looking at staying a few nights through out the park and would like to have full hook up if possible, mainly electric and water, if there is a on site dumping station so could people please give us some tips on the best RV parks and which ones would allow a 35ft RV in there.
Click to expand...

John's link should answer a lot of your questions, keeping in mind that you'll need to reserve (most places) well ahead. However the Gros Ventre and Colter Bay (not the commercial one) campgrounds, though they don't have full (if any) hookups are first come first served, and usually have accommodations for most anything if you're there early.
 
We were at Yellowstone last summer just before the big solar eclipse, and stayed at 3 of the campgrounds (Canyon, Grant, and Fishing Bridge) traveling in our 28 ft class A without a car.  Overall Yelowstone with a tow car was doable, however we did have to skip a number of the turn outs driving around the park due to lack of RV parking  and RV accessibility.  The big issue at many turn outs is there are few RV parking spaces and they tend to be hogged by the commercial tour buses, who coordinate to hog the spaces having one tour bus pull out as the next one is ready to pull in.  We were there on at a very busy time though, just before the big Solar eclipse so your luck may be better in May.  As to campgrounds, the only campground in the park with hookups is Fishing Bridge, the others are all dry camping only, though they do have dump stations at the entrances to most of the campgrounds.  Most spaces rv spaces in Yellowstone at the reversible campgrounds seem to be 30 ft spaces, which worked for us at 29'5", though even at under 30 ft the spaces were tight for us, so don't expect to squeeze a 35 ft coach into a 30 ft space (30, 31, maybe  even 32 actual length, but doubtful on 35 ft).  Access roads at Grant and Canyon campground camping loops were very tight too, some places we had to inch by other campers who had slides out with inches of clearance between the trees and some RV's,  the other big issue we ran into were saplings grown up right at the edge of the pavement at the back of the RV sites in all campgrounds, some with limbs encroaching into the sites. Things were right enough that many campers had mini-orange hazard cones placed to mark their slides and corners.  Fishing bridge does have a handful of larger sites some I think as large as 40 ft, but those are very few, 35 ft spaces are also available there, but are definitely in the minority.
 
We stayed at Fishing Bridge last year in mid July. Our motorhome is 35' and we were towing our Honda CRV. We had planty of space on the site as you are told to park the toad next to the coach. Wr then took the Honda out each day for sight-seeing.
 
The campgrounds are one thing, but a bigger one is that you must park in parking lots to see many of the sites, and during the summer, they will be very crowded.  It is not unusual for cars to take up the spots reserved for buses or RVs.

My suggestion is to stay at Grizzley RV park in West Yellowstone and rent a car for a few days of sightseeing within the park.  I did this a couple of years ago.  Grizzley is a very nice RV park and has full hookups.  And the west entrance to the national park is on the edge of town.  There is also  a couple of car rental agencies in West Yellowstone, but you will need to get your reservations in early. 
 
JudyJB said:
The campgrounds are one thing, but a bigger one is that you must park in parking lots to see many of the sites, and during the summer, they will be very crowded.  It is not unusual for cars to take up the spots reserved for buses or RVs.

My suggestion is to stay at Grizzley RV park in West Yellowstone and rent a car for a few days of sightseeing within the park.  I did this a couple of years ago.  Grizzley is a very nice RV park and has full hookups.  And the west entrance to the national park is on the edge of town.  There is also  a couple of car rental agencies in West Yellowstone, but you will need to get your reservations in early.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that idea. that sounds like a great idea seeing as we cannot tow with a rented RV, when we hired one the last time we where in the states they upgraded us to the 35foot one and we thought it might have been too big but we loved it and the space we had so thats why where looking to hire the same type with the similar floor layout.

I will be looking into hiring a care like you say it does seem to be a very good idea to sight see without a big rig.


 
Isaac-1 said:
We were at Yellowstone last summer just before the big solar eclipse, and stayed at 3 of the campgrounds (Canyon, Grant, and Fishing Bridge) traveling in our 28 ft class A without a car.  Overall Yelowstone with a tow car was doable, however we did have to skip a number of the turn outs driving around the park due to lack of RV parking  and RV accessibility.  The big issue at many turn outs is there are few RV parking spaces and they tend to be hogged by the commercial tour buses, who coordinate to hog the spaces having one tour bus pull out as the next one is ready to pull in.  We were there on at a very busy time though, just before the big Solar eclipse so your luck may be better in May.  As to campgrounds, the only campground in the park with hookups is Fishing Bridge, the others are all dry camping only, though they do have dump stations at the entrances to most of the campgrounds.  Most spaces rv spaces in Yellowstone at the reversible campgrounds seem to be 30 ft spaces, which worked for us at 29'5", though even at under 30 ft the spaces were tight for us, so don't expect to squeeze a 35 ft coach into a 30 ft space (30, 31, maybe  even 32 actual length, but doubtful on 35 ft).  Access roads at Grant and Canyon campground camping loops were very tight too, some places we had to inch by other campers who had slides out with inches of clearance between the trees and some RV's,  the other big issue we ran into were saplings grown up right at the edge of the pavement at the back of the RV sites in all campgrounds, some with limbs encroaching into the sites. Things were right enough that many campers had mini-orange hazard cones placed to mark their slides and corners.  Fishing bridge does have a handful of larger sites some I think as large as 40 ft, but those are very few, 35 ft spaces are also available there, but are definitely in the minority.
Click to expand...

Thank you for all that info it gives us something to look at for when we book up, it will definitely be May when we come over so hopefully not as full, but we will do what we can.
 
For the most part travel through the park with an RV isn't an issue. 
There is only one full hookup campground in Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge, and I doubt you will just drop into an open site especially during peak season.

The rest of the campgrounds are dry camping.
 
A couple of other comments about Yellowstone, they do have day bus tours that pick up each morning and drop off in the afternoon at the various campgrounds inside the park.  We did not take one on our visit, but they are available.  Overall dry camping in yellowstone is  is pleasant, no real need for air conditioning with summer night time lows in the 30's and 40's much of the time, there is little if any cell phone coverage at the campgrounds, so no power wasted on streaming TV shows, etc. As long as you have enough battery power for the furnace and propane to cook with you should be good.  (I think generator hours are 8am-8pm)

Also I was amazed at the number of rental RV's in Yellowstone when we were there last year, we counted 27 Cruise America class C's around the parking lot at Old Faithful, and at one point passed 8 in a row going the other way on the road, I just wish all of the rental RV drivers knew to keep their tires on the other side of the double yellow line, in places it was scary on those narrow roads.
 
Isaac-1 said:
A couple of other comments about Yellowstone, they do have day bus tours that pick up each morning and drop off in the afternoon at the various campgrounds inside the park.  We did not take one on our visit, but they are available.  Overall dry camping in yellowstone is  is pleasant, no real need for air conditioning with summer night time lows in the 30's and 40's much of the time, there is little if any cell phone coverage at the campgrounds, so no power wasted on streaming TV shows, etc. As long as you have enough battery power for the furnace and propane to cook with you should be good.  (I think generator hours are 8am-8pm)

Also I was amazed at the number of rental RV's in Yellowstone when we were there last year, we counted 27 Cruise America class C's around the parking lot at Old Faithful, and at one point passed 8 in a row going the other way on the road, I just wish all of the rental RV drivers knew to keep their tires on the other side of the double yellow line, in places it was scary on those narrow roads.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info.

I can imagine a lot of people go from their familly saloon cars to a 30 foot RV with no conception as to its width or length, I drive trucks for a living so an RV will be no problem as it was not last time we where in America.
 
maddog348 said:
" ...Saloon Cars..  " ?????  Missed that one in my growing up.
Click to expand...

;D sorry keep forgetting we brits have different terminology for things, but to be fair no idea what you would call a mid sized car like say a Ford Focus or the like  ;D ;D ;D

 
Well first of all we would call a Ford Focus a small car, as to traditional American names for car sizes.  Prior to the compact cars introduced after the fuel crisis of the 1970's and 80's, 2 door cars were generally considered Coupes (pronounced Coops, not Coo-pay), and 4 door cars were generally considered Sedans, which I think equates to your traditional Saloon car.  So one could have a mid size, or a large Sedan where a large sedan would be the largest of 4 door cars.  These designations were based on specific measurements, so it was technically possible to have a 4 door Coupe.  For the general public Coupe became synonymous with 2 door car, and Sedan became synonymous with 4 door non hatch back cars.

Ike

p.s. this topic reminds me of an internet blog post I read 15 or so years ago, written by a woman who had moved to America from Australia, and experienced the issue of two countries divided by a common language, when she ordered a Lemonade at a restaurant.  Apparently she was expecting a clear carbonated beverage like Sprite or 7-up, and instead received a, well Lemonade (a blend of lemon juice and sugar water).
 
Isaac-1 said:
Well first of all we would call a Ford Focus a small car, as to traditional American names for car sizes.  Prior to the compact cars introduced after the fuel crisis of the 1970's and 80's, 2 door cars were generally considered Coupes (pronounced Coops, not Coo-pay), and 4 door cars were generally considered Sedans, which I think equates to your traditional Saloon car.  So one could have a mid size, or a large Sedan where a large sedan would be the largest of 4 door cars.  These designations were based on specific measurements, so it was technically possible to have a 4 door Coupe.  For the general public Coupe became synonymous with 2 door car, and Sedan became synonymous with 4 door non hatch back cars.

Ike

p.s. this topic reminds me of an internet blog post I read 15 or so years ago, written by a woman who had moved to America from Australia, and experienced the issue of two countries divided by a common language, when she ordered a Lemonade at a restaurant.  Apparently she was expecting a clear carbonated beverage like Sprite or 7-up, and instead received a, well Lemonade (a blend of lemon juice and sugar water).
Click to expand...

It does make me laugh at some of the different terminologies for things.  I think the funniest one for me would have been our(uk) bum bags, you called them fanny packs or something along those lines. A fanny is something completely different to us here. Always cracks me up that when I hear it on a tv show.

So if a ford focus is a small car what the hell do you guys call a ford fiesta, even smaller than a ford focus. I must admit I do get surprised at all the, lets call them normal cars I see in America when looking back some 40 years ago to the 70's where all cars where huge. Well huge by our standards anyways.

I do love America thats why i keep coming back to different parts, as one day I just hope it gets slightly easier for retired people to move there and just live in an RV moving around and following the warmer climates as that is my dream, few years left to go but I can dream.

 
Spike1306 said:
So if a ford focus is a small car what the hell do you guys call a ford fiesta, even smaller than a ford focus. I must admit I do get surprised at all the, lets call them normal cars I see in America when looking back some 40 years ago to the 70's where all cars where huge. Well huge by our standards anyways.
Click to expand...

A Fiesta would be a sub-compact, I think.  So, saloon is Brit for sedan, estate = station wagon, lorry = truck and HGV (heavy goods vehicle) = semi.  Did I miss any, Spike?  Oh, and JCB = backhoe.
 
the issue of two countries divided by a common language, when she ordered a Lemonade at a restaurant.  Apparently she was expecting a clear carbonated beverage like Sprite or 7-up, and instead received a, well Lemonade (a blend of lemon juice and sugar water).
Click to expand...

That's not limited to separate countries, either. A number of years ago I went to a company school in Massachusetts. At lunch time I stopped in a small restaurant and asked for a milkshake -- they didn't know what that was (Why would you shake milk?). They asked if I was wanting a frappe -- I didn't know what that was.

In a bus stop I ordered coffee, and was asked "regular or light?" That was unfamiliar to me so I said "black." She again asked "regular or light" and I said "regular, I guess." So my coffee came with cream and sugar. I had to explain to her what "black coffee" meant, to get coffee I could drink.

And where is Beantown? It's not on a map. Maps call it Boston.
 
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