After our last two clunkers for campgrounds, we rolled in Grizzly RV park in West Yellowstone, MT. The overall condition of the park was much better than we had the last few stops, and was very well taken care of. The pads of the sites were gravel, and ours could have used some more as we had a few rains while we were there and it got pretty muddy. There was an attached cement patio that was nice to set up chairs and the like on, but being in a motor home with the door at the front of the rig we still stepped out on dirt/mud. Luckily I carry a rubber mat I could put down by the door to keep the mess down.
There are over 300 sites in Grizzly and it looks like some are newer than others. We were in site #298 which looked to be in the newer side. The lower number sites looked to be on the older side. The sites appeared to be a bit smaller, and the patios were asphalt instead of cement. Therefore some of the asphalt patios were broken up and in need of repair. We had a back in site as this usually gives us a green space area in back of the rig and no neighbor right behind us. We did note however that the pull through sites were longer, and did have more concrete towards the front of the site to step out onto. We were in a ?Premium? back in, and there were also ?Premium? pull through's. Of course anytime the word premium is put before a RV site description, that means it will cost you more.
We paid $63.31 a day for our site for the 7 day stay. The bathrooms on the newer side of the park were newer as well, but all were in good condition. There are handicapped bathrooms and showers available. The park offers Wifi, but when you check in you get a code for a limited visit on the system. Anything more than that and it costs you by the hour.
One interesting issue came up while we were there. Our rig has a tankless water heater that is made by Precision Temp. It has worked well since we have had the rig, and Diane loves taking unlimited hot showers. The first day she noted that the water wasn't getting as hot as is should, so that sent me off on a few day trouble shooting hunt. I called Precision Temp's customer service line, which was very responsive BTW. After much testing and checking temps the answer turned out to be pretty simple. The ground water in Yellowstone was coming into the rig at 45 to 49 degrees. The tankless while doing it's best to make hot water could only raise it to 105 degrees. The water pressure in Grizzly was respectable, as my on board gauge showed 60#, which I had the regulator set at. With that pressure and water that cold, the water was not staying in the heating tubes long enough to raise the temp of the water to 120+ degrees. The fix was to back off the pressure regulator to 45 to 50# instead of 60. The water was hot again, and the DW was happy.
One sad note to be very aware of is that Grizzly and Yellowstone park are in the mountain wilderness. On our second day there we leaned that a veteran hiker, and seasonal employee of the park was killed and partially consumed by a Grizzly bear while hiking alone on a well used trail near Yellowstone lake. The bear was a female with 2 cubs, but the hiker was unfortunate and probably startled the mother bear. The bear was caught and identified, and had to be euthanized, and the cubs were sent to a zoo. Because the hiker was partially eaten, the bear went past just self defense and could not be trusted to co-exist with humans. Yellowstone has a bear population between 600 to 800 bears, so contact with one can happen while in the woods. Use great caution if you are a hiker, and carry bear spray.
It was a very busy time of year in Yellowstone, so we limited our visits to those attractions we could get into without waiting in extreme lines. We are returning in May of 2016 with a RV Forum rally, so crowds will be much smaller then.
We chose Grizzly to stay in on this trip because of it's in town location and easy access to amenities. There are several campgrounds in the park itself, but for a weeks stay we wanted to be close to shopping and restaurants. The May rally is also here, and I think that is a good idea. The in park campgrounds are a little less money for FHU sites, but also are much farther from town and do not have patios or grass. There are also non hookup campgrounds available if you want to rough it.
This is still a great area to visit and there is tons of stuff to see and do. Reservations are highly recommended in the summer months, as all the campgrounds can sell out. For an over nighter you may get lucky and score a spot, but you will need more time to do any real sightseeing.