I visited Yellowstone last year in July. As others have pointed out, staying within the Park is great, staying at Grizzly is also a good bet BUT I will tell you that if you want a wonderful CG with lots of room to run the dogs....and you dont mind traveling 20 minutes to get to the West entrance....then RedRock Cyn CG would suit you. I had my two "babies" with me last year and there is plenty of wide open spaces, the cost is much less than Grizzly, but here again you do have a bit of a drive. We did it for 7 days at Yellowstone and Im ready to go back this year(Sept hopefully)...Have Fun
96 Vogue Prima Vista 37' 350/10.3 litre CAT 3176B, Webasto heat, Howard Steering, 10KW Power Tech.
Mollie (our Baby)
FMCA Member
Rally's- 11 and 1 GNARV Rally
To dolphindog: Yes, you can easily get from Colter Bay to Grizzly in a day, and even do some sightseeing along the way. Two weeks timeframe from the west coast is probably doable; we usually have taken 2 1/2 weeks from the Chicago area, which is much farther, and been able to spend close to a week in the YNP-GTNP area.
Can't comment on the TV hookup as we have always camped w/o TV. Colter Bay has a lot of trees. Unless you have satellite, you won't be getting much TV reception anyway - VERY few TV stations are reachable in that area. As an example, when I worked in YNP, they brought in a television & set up a tall antenna in a small outbuilding behind Lake Hotel, for guests & employees to watch the moon landing (yep, I'm dating myself - this was 1969). We got a very grainy picture on the ONE station available, I think from Idaho Falls, but we were able to watch it live.
Better bring along some DVDs for the kids. You'll probably need them. On the other hand, there is a lot to see & do there, and you may find you'll spend long hours sightseeing.
dolphindog wrote: My question is almost the same, except I'm leaving August 1st for our first trip to the Tetons and hopefully Yellowstone. Have two weeks. Is Colter Bay a good place to stay. We have two kids so TV hook up is a must to keep me sane while I drink a cold one. Will I have enough time to drive from San Diego to Tetons, stay a three/four days? Then onto Grizzly, stay three/four days? Or, should I hit just one park this year and another later. Can I make it in one day from Colter Bay to Grizzly without pushing it. I would like to drive like heck to get there and then take it easy coming back. Any ideas on what parks to stay at on the way back to San Diego from Yellowstone. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Colter Bay is excellent. We couldn't get in in 2005, but we have reservations for this year. We checked it out in '05 and really wished we were there. Best of all, it is on the north end of Tetons and therefore more convenient to Yellowstone.
Not sure where Grizzly is, but we visited Yellowstone from Jackson, WY. It is about 45 min - 1 hour from Colter Bay to Yellowstone, so you should certainly be able to change campgrounds in one day.
We are planning on two days drive time each way from Phoenix, so I suggest you do the same. Cedar City (UT) KOA was pretty nice, if that fits on you route as a half way point. Nice pool and trees, and very clean. It was about 10 hours from Cedar City to Jackson, WY.
With two weeks, I would think you could do both parks. We shorted ourselves a bit by just doing Yellowstone "from the car window." That's an exaggeration, but we should have allowed another day for Yellowstone. If you have 14 days, minus 4 total for driving, ten days should be ample.
Quote: We are headed about the same time you are. We are leaving Orange County early next Friday Morning and spending the first night in Hurricane and then Hwy 9 into Zion and on to Hwy12 and Yellowstone.
Maybe we will see you along the way.
Look for us . . . 3 nights at Watchman CG in Zion then on to Yellowstone!
Ann
Ann & Curt
Southern California
2007 Roadtrek 210P "TOADREK"
1986 VW Westphalia Camper
and a tiny Abyssinian cat, Phoebe
2007 Nights Camping > 71
2008 Nights Camping > 49
Dolphindog--you will not get tv reception at Colter Bay, nor Flagg Ranch, either, unless you have satelite. If your kids are young enough that they must have tv, I think 3 days in Tetons might be too much, not as much to interest them there as in Yellowstone. I would split the trip with more days in Yellowstone. Grizzly RV park has cable tv hookups, and a large playground and game room, so that would be a good place for your family.
Also at Grizzly if you go to the south of the park fence,there is a great area for dogs, where you can throw a ball and let them run. We stay here at least 3 times a year and always request a site on the south fence so that we can take out the dogs and run them, just be aware there are wild creatures in these woods, have had a close encounter with a porcupine and a skunk
Him and Me
06 Dodge drw
06 Crossroads Zinger (searching for our dream fw)
Thanks for all that replied. I'm calling tomorrow (Tues) to finalize reservations. Any more advice on what attractions to hit while staying at Colter Bay and Grizzly RV Park/Yellowstone? I'm sure we'll like it all, but any more suggestions would be great. My only limitation, is once parked I generally don't like to drive more than an hour in the toad to go somewhere. Also, I hear Cody is a fun town--is it something I should consider while staying at Colter Bay, or, should I try to stay a night or two around Cody.
Also, any suggestions on what route to take from Colter Bay to Yellowstone. We have a 37' motorhome and tow a jeep.
Again, thanks for all that responded to my original post.
From Colter Bay to West Yellowstone, just drive through the park. Either going by Old Faithful or going up to Canyon Jct, then west to Norris and south to Madison Jct (west from Madison in either case) gets you there, and will work for your rig. Probably somewhat fewer miles going by way of OF, but time will probably be about the same.
Cody has a fanastic museum (Buffalo Bill Mus.) which has a superb collection of western art as well as other art, and an interesting section on Plains Indian life as well. Worth at least a full day if you have the time. The nightly rodeo is fun too, and kids especially will enjoy it.
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Colter Bay has a lot of trees. Unless you have satellite, you won't be getting much TV reception anyway - VERY few TV stations are reachable in that area. As an example, when I worked in YNP, they brought in a television & set up a tall antenna in a small outbuilding behind Lake Hotel, for guests & employees to watch the moon landing (yep, I'm dating myself - this was 1969). We got a very grainy picture on the ONE station available, I think from Idaho Falls, but we were able to watch it live. 
