west yellowstone versus staying in the park

We will be visiting yellowstone the 2nd week in june , my husband ,myself ,my 2yr old and my senior parents. We are traveling up from Jackson hole in our travel trailer and I can not decide whether to stay in the park or stay in West Yellowstone.Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to be able to enjoy and relax in the evenings.

west yellowstone versus staying in the park

If you want to stay in the park then reservations need to be made ASAP. If you have a travel trailer there will be less driving if you are centrally located in the park.

west yellowstone versus staying in the park

If you want hookups.. the only place in YS with them is Fishing Bridge. If you can live without hookups, then stay in Madison and/or Canyon. Visit www.nps.gov/yell for informatin.

I would stay in the park if you can. If you want hookups and amenities... then West YS will work.

Enjoy.

Hello and welcome,

I have taken my trailer many times to YNP and prefer to stay in the paark for the following reasons:

1. I don%26#39;t require power or hookups so by staying in the park I have less commuter drive to get back in each day.

2. By camping in the park I can easily return to my camp if needed during the day as plans change.

3. Being in the park has a different feeling about it, like knowing at some deeper level that you are experiencing something special.

Now that said, if you cannot secure reservatiosn for your dates and West is my next best choice. If I need to stay outside the park, I drive a few miles north of town to a Forest Service campground called Bakers Hole and stay there. There are even site which offer power and water if you rewuire those and they are very reasonable at $15-$20/night. It located along the Madison River and it sits just outside of the park boundry. You can fish the river (with a MT fishing license) and if the weather is warm swimming and playing in the river is nice as the water tends to be warm.

One thing you give up by beingoutside the park is the nightly ranger programs that are offered in almost all of the YNP campgrounds but pretty much all the other rules and food guidelines are the same.

It may also be easir to obtain a site for a larger RV at Bakers Hole than in the park, but it is possible that you can reserve there too.

I hope this was helpful and feel free to ask any other questions,

- Kery

This is a link to a page with a chart that compares the campgrounds within the Park. There are also maps of the individual campgrounds down under the campground descriptions.

www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/camping.htm