Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and $5 bills. Golden Age and Golden Access Passports give 50% reductions on most
camping fees in national parks and national forests.
When choosing a site, discerning campers scrutinize its proximity to a bathroom, trash
and water supply, whether the ground is level and, most importantly, the neighbors (a scat-
tering of kids' toys or beer cans can be a very bad sign). In general, back-in sites offer a
little more privacy; parallel sites are little more than car parks by the side of the road. A
campground's outer loops are usually the most private.
A few campsites are normally reserved for hikers and cyclists at a discounted price.
OUTSIDE THE PARKS
USFS campgrounds are generally less developed than NPS campgrounds; some don't
have drinking water and require you to pack out all trash. A few of these sites are free.
Many turn off the water supply about mid- September and then either close or run the site
for a while at half-price. At any rate, it's always a good idea to bring a few gallons of wa-
ter when camping.
Sites can be reserved in certain USFS campgrounds in the Gallatin Valley, Targhee Na-
tional Forest and Custer National Forest (around Red Lodge) through the reservation ser-
vice at
Recreation.gov
( 877-444-6777, TDD 877-833-6777;
www.recreation.gov
)
.
It's possible to select and reserve specific campsites online. Sites need to be booked a
minimum three days and maximum eight months in advance.
Free dispersed camping (meaning you can camp almost anywhere) is permitted in some
public backcountry areas. Sometimes you can pull off a dirt road and into a small lay-by
where you can camp, especially in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and national
forest areas. In other places, you must be 0.25 miles from a developed campground and
often not within 0.5 miles of a major highway. Check with the local district ranger office.
Private campgrounds outside the park are mostly designed with RVs in mind; tenters
can camp, but fees are quite a bit higher than in public campgrounds, and sites are nor-
mally crushed together to maximize profits. Facilities can include hot showers, coin laun-
dry, a swimming pool, full RV hookups with phone and satellite TV, games area, play-
ground and a convenience store.
If you don't have kids, you'll find campgrounds to be much quieter outside school sum-
mer holidays.
Lodging
If you aren't camping, accommodations in Yellowstone and Grand Teton are limited to
concession-run park lodges and cabins. Lodges are often grand reminders of a bygone era,
