RV Trip To Yellowstone National Park

Above, Mammoth Hot Springs. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yellowstone National Park's busiest season is during the summer. It is hard to book a room in the park unless you do it early and it is equally difficult, if not more so, to book a campsite. As such, we made reservations two years ago at the West Entrance/Yellowstone KOA in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Above, Upper Yellowstone Falls. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Generally, there are two main loops, the Upper Loop and Lower Loop, where visitors tour the park in vehicles of all kinds. Traffic during the summer season gets heavy due to the numbers (parking is sometimes hard to find at viewpoints and attractions) of vehicles. Plus, the Yellowstone bison (and occasionally bears) will cause traffic jams with people stopping to let them cross or just observe them.

Above, RVs in a Yellowstone valley. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

RV Techmag has an article (from 2011) that's seven pages long on what RVers can expect during a trip to Yellowstone and tips on making a visit there more enjoyable.

They begin with:

Yellowstone is America's first national park. It's large enough that it's actually found in three states - Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. This expansive area is surrounded by mountains and many RVers are not quite sure about how safe travel is in these areas. Couple that with the fact that travelers approaching from the east also have to contend with the Bighorn Mountains and you have some real questions about just where to drive and still be safe. 

We've been traveling to Yellowstone in various vehicles over the last 25 years and have made countless trips to this area in a number of different sized RVs as well as SUVs. I'll offer up some advice here based on my insight into the various routes that we've experienced. This information will not be geared to travelers in passenger cars or other lighter vehicles because there's really no limits as to which roads they can take. Instead, I'll gear this information towards RVers driving large motorhomes because that's where the unique personalities of the various routes come into play and have some serious affect.

Above, elk in a meadow. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.