RV Camping in and Around Yellowstone National Park

It's not too early to start planning next year's trip to Yellowstone National Park! Most attractions in this vast natural wonder with a footprint in three states are wide open to RV campers by early May. Use the following information to plan your Yellowstone RV camping trip so you, too, can see such magnificent sights as Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

RV Camping Inside Yellowstone National Park

With numerous campgrounds operated within the Park itself, and a wide variety of private RV campgrounds nearby, finding a place to park your RV rental isn't difficult. Here are some basic guidelines for finding an RV campsite within the Park:

• The twelve campgrounds within Yellowstone are operated by a private firm, and several are on a first-come-first-served basis for campsites.
• RV campers not planning to stay another night must check out by 10 a.m. at these campgrounds. Arm yourself with a plan for which campgrounds interest you and be there to claim your site.
• Here is a wonderful website with comprehensive information about all Yellowstone campgrounds, as well as many RV campgrounds outside the Park. You can also use this site to find how to reserve campsites in campgrounds that take reservations.
• Camping along roadways or in undeveloped areas isn't allowed at Yellowstone. One more important rule to plan for: generators aren't allowed after 8 p.m. at most campgrounds.
• Yellowstone is a wild and wooly place! Bears, wolves, bison and coyotes are only a few of the species roaming the park. Food, cooking utensils, coolers and anything that might attract animals must be stored inside your RV unless being used.
• Yellowstone is enormous! More than two million acres, spread across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, make this Park the perfect place to camp for a week, or two. It also makes drive times outside the norm. It's common for campgrounds to be twenty or thirty miles beyond the closest entrance, so plan your arrival times accordingly.
• Your RV is a comfortable way to view the remarkable beauty of Yellowstone. Grand Loop Road takes you around the Park to most of the major attractions. Plan several hours to traverse this one hundred forty two mile series of figure eights, designed way back in 1883!

RV Camping Outside Yellowstone

With boundaries in three states, and millions of acres of forest land surrounding the Park, there's no shortage of scenic RV campgrounds outside Yellowstone. West Yellowstone, Montana, for example, boasts more than a dozen RV campgrounds.

Towns like Jackson and Cody, Wyoming also offer campgrounds close enough to use as your base camp. Many offer bus tours to the Park, so why not plan to spend at least one day getting familiar with Yellowstone with an experienced guide?

Use this link to choose the state and town you'd like to camp in and make your reservations early! The National Parks Service site also has a wealth of fascinating information to make planning your trip to Yellowstone easier.

Whether you're coming from outside the U.S., or arriving from another state, Yellowstone National Park won't disappoint. Today's deliciously comfortable recreational vehicles make this trip both an outdoor experience and a relaxing vacation. Allow yourself to experience the wide open spaces of Yellowstone by RV. It's a journey you'll never forget!

About the Author

Joe Laing is the Marketing Director for El Monte RV Rentals, America's premier nationwide RV rental company. You can check out El Monte RV's Monty's Musings blog for more RV Vacation Ideas.