Craters of the Moon/Yellowstone Trip?

[Cudedog]

Good morning!

What better way to spend Labor Day than to plan a trip!! WooHoo!!

I am (again) tentatively planning my very first visit to Craters of the Moon, followed by my very first visit to Yellowstone . Seems that I plan this trip each year. I have been planning this trip each year for the autumn for the last five years (at least), but something always seems to come up. Mostly, it was that all of my best friends were ill and elderly (the four-legged kind) so I always cancelled my trip knowing that a trip was not in the best interest of them.

They have now all gone to Dog Heaven (I miss them still).

Time does march on. My clock is ticking! My Bucket List waits to be filled!

I have wanted to visit both Craters of the Moon (my interest in volcanoes) and Yellowstone (my interest in volcanoes - natch!) for a great many years. I have never visited either place. I am hoping to make this trip this year before the snow flies, and/or the park/s are closed.

Doesn't give me much time!

Driving from the Sacramento area, my overnights are tentatively planned to be Winnemucca, then on to Twin Falls, then to Craters of the Moon (maybe two overnights somewhere in the area), then on to Yellowstone. I plan to drive about 4 hours +/- each leg. I have been paying attention to those on here that are adamant that shorter legs are better! I found that out for sure on my recent eclipse/Mt. St. Helens trip. Gads, I used to be able to drive for ten or twelve hours. These days, after four or five, I am pretty well used up.

I will be camping in my van on the overnights, so if anyone can recommend campgrounds at these stops it would be appreciated! Or names of campgrounds to avoid!

I will say, however, that after van camping at several private campgrounds (including a Passport America campground) as opposed to public campgrounds, I find I MUCH prefer federal, state and local campgrounds (booked a local city campground I found on Allstays - Maupin, Oregon - about 45 miles north of Madras, Oregon, (viewed the totality of the eclipse (was AWESOME!) in Madras). I booked it for the evening after the eclipse.

I was very glad that I had done this - I have never in my life experienced such traffic gridlock. It took me nearly FOUR HOURS to drive the 45 miles to Maupin. The campground in Maupin (it was a city campground) was under a bridge over the river - I could see the traffic on the bridge from my campsite, and the gridlock went on long into the night!!

Anyway, I know that many of you ladies have visited Yellowstone (anyone here ever visited Craters of the Moon?) and I am looking for advice. I will be driving my van from California and don't know which entrance of the park (Yellowstone) to use. Suggestions? My visiting time at both parks will be somewhat limited, so I would like to see as much as I can without being rushed and stressing out. Seeing the animals will be wonderful, but viewing volcanic features is my primary interest.

What with the current earthquake swarm at Yellowstone, I hope I don't see more "volcanic features" than I am bargaining for!!

Sheila? I have forgotten, where are you located?

Any and all advice and suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you.

Anne

[gypsyrose1126]

Hope you have a great trip. This summer I camped at two different spots to see Yellowstone. One was outside the park on the east side and was the best site, however a long drive in. I moved to Grant Campground and it was fine. All pull thru spots, lots of trees, no hookups, but they had a shower house by the laundry facility. Not much privacy as a lot of people, but at least there were a lot of trees, pull thru, tables etc and close to everything. I was to the Craters as a child, so I'm not any help there.

[Cudedog]

Hope you have a great trip. This summer I camped at two different spots to see Yellowstone. One was outside the park on the east side and was the best site, however a long drive in. I moved to Grant Campground and it was fine. All pull thru spots, lots of trees, no hookups, but they had a shower house by the laundry facility. Not much privacy as a lot of people, but at least there were a lot of trees, pull thru, tables etc and close to everything. I was to the Craters as a child, so I'm not any help there.

Thanks for your reply!

Forgot to mention that I will need electric hookup (only), and prefer a campground with toilets and showers.

As for Yellowstone, I don't need to be camped in the park, just somewhere within a reasonable drive.

Thanks!

Anne

[JudyJB]

When are you going? This is important because of crowds. Also, how much time do you have?

I also hate commercial campgrounds, however, Yellowstone is a problem. None of the campgrounds inside the park have electric hookups except Fishing Bridge and it is worse than most commercial campgrounds because sites are very tiny and there is hardly any space between units to even sit out.

You probably will want to come in through West Yellowstone and there are quite a few campgrounds inside and outside of that town. Then you could leave via the south entrance and drive through Jackson Hole which is not too far from where Sheila lives. I like Grizzly in West Yellowstone, but it is expensive. Check for places just outside there. And as you go through, stop for some huckleberry ice cream!

ALmost any of the campgrounds inside the park are fine, but with no hookups, you might want to plan to go in cooler weather. The only one I would not stay at again is the one near Mammoth Hot Springs, mainly because sites were so uneven. Even with boards I could NOT get my RV anywhere near reasonably level. And it was not as scenic as the others in the park.

[snowball]

Anne it's been awhile since I've been to craters of the moon so really can't give any impute about it...although my grandkids went there for their 1st anniversary trip... almost a month ago
I spend my summer's in a town name of Tetonia...since I can't recall any of the numbers of the hwy's it is located about 7 miles north of Driggs Idaho Rexburg is a larger town might be easier to see about 40 mins from there and we are on the west side of the Teton's ....Grand Teton National Park...
from where you are coming I would plan on staying near West Yellowstone...we used to camphost at a campground name of Upper Coffee Pot...in Island Park Idaho it is about 30-40 miles to West...a national forest campground no showers but some sites have electricity it is a beautiful area and at that time probably not that busy....maybe Island Park is a long town think it's main street is miles long don't remember now ....I am about 1 1/2 hours from there ....oh back to IP it's in a caldera so even if you want to stay in West for traveling in Yellowstone would recommend staying there for a night ... in Victor there is a nice campground Teton Valley Campground Sandi can give you the phone number...it is full hook ups
in Jackson there is a private campground close to town the park has several but don't know about hook ups the Gros Ventre is a huge one rarely fills but don't think they have showers ....would love to meet up with you some where some place...
Sheila

[havingfunnow]

Anne, what's this I hear about Yellowstone being on top of a super-volcano? Is that accurate? If so, you'll have double fun, eh?

[avalen]

Anne, when are you planning this trip? I'm leaving Vancouver next week, not sure of the exact day just yet, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. So far my route is scheduled to go Ashland Or, Klamath Falls, Reno, and then Fallon. I'll go farther south from Fallon but not sure where my overnights will be. Taking my time going home but still going directly home.

[Cudedog]

Anne, when are you planning this trip? I'm leaving Vancouver next week, not sure of the exact day just yet, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. So far my route is scheduled to go Ashland Or, Klamath Falls, Reno, and then Fallon. I'll go farther south from Fallon but not sure where my overnights will be. Taking my time going home but still going directly home.

Dang, probably my trip will be cancelled.

Had tentatively planned to leave sometime around the 15th (if I was able to get my act together - I am in the middle of painting/refurbing a house to get it ready for sale).

Just now, plans not looking so good. The work on the house is taking (a lot!) longer than I had planned (I'm sure that many of you know this feeling!).

Add to that the truly dreadful fires that seem to be all over the West this summer (with the attendant lack of visibility and poor air quality), I am giving this trip a re-think. I was looking forward to the beautiful autumn colors on my drive to, and in, Yellowstone. I LOVE autumn colors!

As things stand at the moment the only likely thing I will see driving there and back will be brown smoke haze.

For those of you east of the Rockies, I am sure that the ongoing, impenetrable, smoke haze we seem to have out west here each year these days in "fire season" is difficult to imagine. This year has been the worst for fires in recent memory, maybe ever. I drove through quite a bit of it on my recent St. Helen's trip - due to the smoke, I couldn't even see the towering volcanoes located just about twenty miles west of highway 97 where I was travelling (Three Sisters, Jefferson, and Hood being the main ones). These are all ENORMOUS volcanoes (10,000 - 11,000 feet in elevation)- and I couldn't see them - at all - through the smoke haze.

Just reading this morning about a new fire in the Columbia Gorge. Really terrible news. I just drove through the gorge on my way to St. Helens - my first trip through the gorge area - and it was exquisite, although traffic on 84 became more congested the closer I got to Portland. Have just read that they have closed 84 in both directions at Cascade Locks in the Gorge, as fire is burning on both sides of 84, and has also (reportedly) jumped the Columbia River! This is difficult to imagine, the Columbia river is HUGE!

All of this smoke (and the smoke from all of the other Washington, Oregon and California fires - of which there are many) will be blowing east. Yellowstone is almost directly east (and a bit south) of this new Columbia Gorge fire, and there is another massive fire in central Oregon that Yellowstone is directly east of.

So. . . not a good time for travel, unless the rains come in the next couple of weeks (highly unlikely) to stop the fires and wash the smoke out of the air.

Ava, hope that the Gorge fire does not mess with your plans to return to Arizona.

I wish you safe travels!

Anne

[Cudedog]

Ps. to Ava:

I camped four overnights at the fairgrounds in Fallon, NV. this past May. I don't know what your criteria for a campsite is, but I found it nice. Grassy spots, electric, water and a dump station on the grounds. Plus bathrooms and showers.

For a fast $15.00/night.

My price range!

Anne

[Cudedog]

Anne, what's this I hear about Yellowstone being on top of a super-volcano? Is that accurate? If so, you'll have double fun, eh?

Hi Louise!

Thanks for asking. No, it is not precisely accurate (but probably close enough! ) to say that Yellowstone is "on top of a super-volcano".

It would be more accurate to say that Yellowstone - the entire valley, north-to-south, east-to-west, is a volcano. The entire Yellowstone area is a volcanic caldera. Volcanic calderas are formed when, during a major eruption, all of the magma (molten rock) from the magma chamber within the volcano is ejected. This leaves a void (an empty space previously occupied by the now ejected magma), and whatever remains above this void collapses into this void.

By illustration, Crater Lake is a much smaller volcanic caldera than Yellowstone, created by the explosion of Mt. Mazama about 7,000 years ago. The caldera created by this explosion eventually filled with water, creating Crater Lake.

No one realized, for sure, that Yellowstone was a volcanic caldera until the development of cameras mounted on satellites (the man-made satellites that orbit the earth). The photographing of Yellowstone from space was a real eye-opener!

Thanks for asking.

WARNING-WARNING-WARNING: anyone asking me about volcanoes on here is likely to get a very long, very boring, post in return!!

Anne

[avalen]

Ps. to Ava:

I camped four overnights at the fairgrounds in Fallon, NV. this past May. I don't know what your criteria for a campsite is, but I found it nice. Grassy spots, electric, water and a dump station on the grounds. Plus bathrooms and showers.

For a fast $15.00/night.

My price range!

Anne

That sounds great , electric is a must have when its hot

[Cudedog]

... in Victor there is a nice campground Teton Valley Campground Sandi can give you the phone number...

Sandi, I looked up this campground on the web and it looks nice. Have you stayed there? Would you recommend it?

All: I'm researching camping options for West Yellowstone. If anyone has any suggestions, please chime in (am also searching previous posts for West Yellowstone options).

Looks like JudyJB recommends Grizzly. Checking it out online, it looks good - but still looking!

Thanks.

Anne

[Colliemom]

Annie, I stayed at Grizzly RV Park too. Like Judy said,it is expensive but it is a beautiful park. I lucked out in that I was at the end of the row I was on and had a huge grassy area and a tree for Molly to enjoy laying under. The bathroom/showers/laundry were right behind me across the road and being nobody across from me on the one side, I could look out at the ridge that is the caldron of Yellowstone. The park was a couple blocks from West Yellowstone and just a mile from the west entrance to the park. Very quiet and peaceful. Plan your stay for a few days and break the park into sections, doing one section a day. It will mean driving, but no way around that. Plus you can see wildlife too if you are lucky. By then maybe you will have a new trailer and Grizzly can be your base. I also stayed at the Teton RV park that Sheila mentioned. It was a nice park, sites a little close but not bad. Would go there again. Used that as my base to explore Grand Teton NP. One word of advice. I drove Teton Pass which is the way the road from the park goes to Jackson a few times while going to and from the park. Do not take a trailer over that pass. The grades are at least 15% and curvy etc., needs downshifting. Okay in a vehicle, but white knuckle with an RV. There is another, bit longer route around the pass.

[snowball]

I don't know when you plan on going to Yellowstone....but would suggest after labor day if at all possible
why???? it's less crowded....not only the park but the campgrounds...if doing the summer best get on line and start booking...there are lots of National forest campgrounds in the area area loosely defined within 40 miles. West Yellowstone is in MT there are a lot of national forest campgrounds in that area and all that I've been in really nice don't recall though if they have electrical.. there is a KOA on the outskirts of West Grizzley has been mentioned another one in town don't recall the name though...we camp hosted in Island Park which is about 30-35 miles out in Idaho at a National Forest campground. lots in the area as well and usually in demand...some have electrical most not...there is a campground about have way to IP but don't recall it's name...we used the laundromat there. you will love love Yellowstone but really hope you can go when less crowded Island Park is a caldron as well
sheila

[monik7]

... in Victor there is a nice campground Teton Valley Campground Sandi can give you the phone number...

Sandi, I looked up this campground on the web and it looks nice. Have you stayed there? Would you recommend it?

Anne

Hi Anne. I wouldn’t recommend Teton Valley any longer. I stayed there a couple times when they were a affiliated with Passport America. Then they dropped PA and the CG was sold. So that doubled the price. The last time I was there was last August and I was amazed at the changes. The sites were VERY close together and the electrical post was situated on the opposite side from my cord. I had to toss it under my rig to get to the post. The people on each side of me had to do the same and weren’t happy. They’re also building a bunch of cabins along one side. It’s not very close to Yellowstone, but is about a 30 minute drive over a pass that’s rather steep going down into Jackson and to Grand Teton Nat’l Park. I think I was so upset because I saw the significant changes for the worse from what it used to be. If you don’t mind close neighbors and a wonky electrical hookup, it could pass I suppose. For me, however, the only good aspect of it is it’s close to Sheila where she spends her summers.

For Yellowstone I’ve only stayed at Grizzly RV in West Yellowstone. It’s a great park as far as location and amenities. The rate runs somewhere in the $50s per night with Good Sam so not cheap. As mentioned by Sheila, there are quite a few other CGs, but I don’t know anything about them. I chose Grizzly because of its closeness to the park and I wanted electric. Hope this helps.

I sent you a PM Anne.
Sandi