YellowStone and Teton Areas

I am planning trip to yellowstone in june and teton area, wife wants to visit gaysers etc, anyone know anything about offroading there and camping i assume nothing park but anything around anyone can share like camping spots etc. would greatly appreciate.

 

Shadow Mountain outside of the Tetons has some great camping spots and views. Get up there early though to claim a spot, it's very popular.






As far as Yellowstone, check out Grassy Lake Reservoir off Grassy Lake Rd. Good dispersed camping there too.

 

i did look at that road, looks like not much is available, is it true that its crazy packed there? and is it even worth going ?

 

Yes, it does get crazy packed and yes, it is worth going. June is prolly peak season there. I’d go when kids are still in school if I could. Don’t forget your bear spray. Little known fact: it is legal to open carry while in those parks, if you’re into that sort of thing. It is a wild place...

 

theres quite a few spots along the road, just have to look around a little bit. We had a ground tent and went up early to claim a spot and then just left it there while we were in the park.

 

Check out this thread for off roading and camping. Helped me a lot when I was planning my trip to that area.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mtgirls-yellowstone-and-grand-teton-travel-thread.302102/

 

You can carry a firearm now in any NP if you have a carry permit that is recognized by the state the NP is located in. But that only applies to outdoors areas. You cannot enter any building with a firearm, open or concealed. Doing that will get you locked up for a long time.

I haven't been to Yellowstone since 2003. It was crowded then and I suspect much more so now. If you go in early June expect cold weather and the very real possibility of snow. In fact it snows 12 months out of the year there, but July and August see very little. Many of the back country areas will still be closed waiting for snow to melt. It is usually a little less crowded then too. Later in June or July the weather is better,but more crowded.

Many of the campgrounds only allow hard sided campers because of bear. Not all allow tents, so check ahead. In 2003 we found a reasonable priced hotel in West Yellowstone MT. It is just outside the park in the NW corner. You could literally see the park entrance form town though. We tent camped on an earlier visit.

The geothermal areas are all fairly close and you'll want to spend a lot of time there. Other than the Bison I think there are better places to see wildlife. But Lamar Valley is the best place to grizz and wolf which aren't everywhere.

The place is huge and hard to wrap your head around. We drove 80 miles between the park entrance before we got to our campsite on the 1st visit. We came in the Eastern entrance and camped in the NW corner.

 

I know nothing about the off-roading in those areas but I will say driving to Yellowstone/GTNP was the best road trip I ever took from CA. I did it a few months after I got my truck. Have fun

 

Wow seriously hard sided campers only?

That's too bad, its really not that hard to lock up your food and the ill prepared spoil it for everyone else.

 

i guess ill scrap this trip, as i have to camp in tent while wife and kid camp in rtt.

 

I'll be up there in late June, but won't be bringing the trail truck. Towing the travel trailer so there won't (likely) be much off-roading going on... :-(

 

Dont want to thread jack, but I'm planning a trip from CA to MT, which route would you recommend?

 

I'm not sure this is the best route or not, but the route I took was Bay Area to Twin Falls, ID (Highway 80 most of the way, then cutting North on the 93). That was a 10 hour drive, spent the night there and that left me with a 4 hour drive to West Yellowstone the next morning from there. Then I spent a few days cruising around inside Yellowstone, and afterwards went down to Jackson Hole WY (Grand Tetons) for a cpl days. I returned home basically the same way I came from what I remember....

 

99% sure You can tent camp in the park campgrounds. And as far as the Tetons goes I have friends who dispersed tent camped there while their kids slept in the Westfalia. The east side, by Cooke city is hardside only, due to a bad griz incident, if you are in Montana, but when we camped in that area we just dropped into a beaut of a spot in Wyoming and were fine.

 

Although you can carry a firearm in Yellowstone, you can’t discharge it legally, so why bother. I have tent camped in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and have never seen soft-side restrictions there, but I have in Glacier National Park. I was able to find first-come/first-served sites in GT in July, but made reservations for YS and I think it’s worth it. While I’m a fan of dispersed camping, it’s a long way to drive to see some of the cool sites in the Park.

 

Fishing Bridge CG in Yellowstone doesn't allow tents or soft sides, but that's the only one with a standing restriction that I know of... (but it's also closed for the 2019 season...)

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishingbridgecg.htm