Is it possible to find free RV camping near Yellowstone at the height of summer?
In the chaos of selling the house, preparing the RV, and being unsure of our timing, we neglected to make campsite reservations for our visit to Yellowstone National Park, which would happen roughly two weeks into our 18-month journey.
Gary called it an oversight. Truth is, I did think about it—for a minute—but I was banking on grabbing one of the many first-come, first-served sites. However, not every campsite can accommodate our 40-foot RV, and given Yellowstone is one of the country’s most popular National Parks, and that RV travel reportedly is booming this summer due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, my thinking may have been naive. But who’s to say?
We thought we would be clever to arrive right at checkout time, so we could slide into a spot just as others were pulling out. Super sneaky, right? This plan turned out to be incredibly foolish—these non-reservable campsites generally fill by 7 a.m. and we learned there’s a line of campers at dawn waiting to take the soon-to-be-vacant spots. #morelessonslearned
So, when we optimistically rolled into Baker’s Hole Campground just outside West Yellowstone around 11:00 am on a Friday (with all the other “weekend warriors”), the park host informed us there was nothing—zip, nada, zilch—available in ANY of the area’s campgrounds. I’m sure he had a good laugh at our expense as our enormous RV took the “drive of shame” back out from whence we came.
As we headed out of town, I made a last-ditch effort to call all the private RV parks in the area, which Gary had already done several days before. Still nothing, but at least the hosts were kind and did not laugh at my inquiry for day-of availability. At least not to my face.
And then finally, I got a YES! Mountainside KOA had ONE spot available for ONE night due to a no-show, and it would fit our big rig. Staying here one night would allow us to get to the non-reservable sites nice and early to snag up a spot the next day! I gave him all our info to secure the spot, but when he told me it would cost more than $125 for the one night, we decided to take our chances elsewhere.
I still had one Ace up my sleeve—and hoped it would be the winning card. We were heading west toward Henry’s Lake, which sits on a peninsula of Idaho surrounded by Montana. I may not have been organized enough to get a reservation made in advance, but I did research where to camp near Yellowstone and on my intricate spreadsheet outlining our 524-day itinerary, I had noted a free county RV park just 30 minutes from the West Entrance of the park.
It was a beautiful drive around the edge of the lake to Bill Frome Memorial County RV Park. We all held our breath, figuratively, hoping for an open space. There were two! What a relief.
By this time, we were all starving and ready for dinner! Unfortunately, the site was uneven and it took about 45 minutes to get the RV leveled and set up. But these are the kind of things we have learned to be patient about. RVing and being in a hurry just don’t mix.
We are pleased that we found free RV camping near Yellowstone. We saved $200 it would have cost to stay at KOA for one night and a park campground for three more nights.
Other than the aggressive mosquitos, we enjoyed our stay at Bill Frome Memorial County RV Park, and most of all touring the incredible geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone National Park.
