Bridge Bay Campground

We stayed in Yellowstone at the end of August for 5 nights. The first day we had some camper issues and within an hour, there were camper repair men at our site. Every site is within sight of a flush restroom that have three toilets and two sinks with a heater. (Showers are located for an extra fee $4.50/person at other campground.) The worst part of the entire Park was that the “pull-thru” sites weren’t large enough for even the smallest Camper Vans to fit in completely. Our third night there, a large MH hit into a truck that was attached to its trailer. The truck did not have an inch to spare and the MH would have hit the tree logs on the other side. HIGHLIGHT: A daddy bull elk visited the camp with its HUGE antlers every morning and evening and the rest of it’s heard stayed within the park all day. Take the $20 ($10 kids) NPS boat tour of the Yellowstone Lake. It is led by a ranger in the morning sessions. Take a walk across the main road (5 minutes paved) to walk down to the shore of Yellowstone Lake. DOWNFALL: The sites are WAY too close to each other and every other campground besides Bridge Bay comes with a shower pass, but we had to pay $10 for two people. Be sure to bring bug spray and citronella candles. Firewood must be bought at the check-in station. Definitely would visit again!

Loved being in YNP. Staff was superb. But were surprised by the the tiny, stingy size of camping spots. Were unable to get out often because of the proximity of vehicles/campers in the 3 campsites next to us. On last day, a huge, expensive coach ran into a truck as it attempted to drive these impossibly narrow loop road. Held up 5 rangers for hours while they attempted to untangle that mess. Would not recommend mid to large rigs here. Upper loops were treed & thus more pleasant but also very tight. And in the lower loops, campfires abound , so you may need to keep your windows closed, too.

Yellowstone is such a big park, it's hard to pick just one campground when planning a visit, so consider staying a few days in one place and then a few days in another. Since we'd never seen this area of the park, I made reservations for three nights here and then three nights at Madison Campground. Bridge Bay is a huge campground (over 400 sites), but even after Labor Day it was full almost every night while we stayed there. It definitely pays to get reservations! Hint: start months early and if you're not getting anywhere with the online system, call the reservation phone number.

In researching this campground I learned that some of the sites are out in the open (A, B, C, and D loops) and some are in the trees (F, G, H, I, and J loops).Which type of site you may want will depend on not only your equipment, but also the time of year. For Sept., we chose an open site since we didn't think weather would be too hot and we wanted plenty of sun for our solar panel. This was a good choice for us. The quality of the sites themselves varies wildly. Some slope not only fore and aft but also side to side, but others are just fine. Fortunately our site was quite level and required minimal leveling on our part. When you make your reservation I highly recommend you ask about the levelness of the site. I observed that in loops A,B, C, and D the sites got less even the further up to the top of the loops you went. So in this regard, staying closer to the main access road is better if you don't want to do a lot of leveling.

There are no hook-ups at Bridge Bay, but there are clean restrooms with sinks, toilets and dishwashing stations. There is a dump station - expect to wait in line! Nearest showers are at Fishing Bridge RV Park, which is open through Labor Day weekend I believe. The staff at check in were pleasant and efficient. We had no AT&T signal at Bridge Bay, but I believe there is an emergency phone at the check-in station.

Our favorite thing about this campground was the beautiful open terrain and its proximity to the Hayden Valley where we saw tons of bison.

We had a beautiful stay here because we were in outer loop. Inner loops closer to office and main road were undesireable, crowed, loud, and trafficky. H Loop and further out was beautiful, serene, quiet, and a MUST. No laundry service here. No showers that I found. There were bathrooms and a dish washing station. No hookups. No bugs. Rangers and staff were VERY serious about bears. There is no messing around here. $275 fine for leaving ANYTHING out at night and they will check. No cell service at all.

We spent our first night in one of the first three loops after the check-in kiosk (pictured). Those loops are spread out in a meadow. There's no shade and no privacy. But there was one HUGE male bison who spent a lot of his time wandering between tents and RVs. The national park staff could not have been more accommodating -- they found us an alternate spot that came available in one of the loops farthest away from the kiosk (past the amphitheater), which were MUCH better. I highly recommend reserving any of the sites in the farthest loops rather than the meadow sites. I found Bridge Bay to be pretty centrally located to the several things to see and do in Yellowstone.

We stayed here a couple of years ago and had a great time. Don't think we could get our new rig in since it's 38 ft. I think the max is 35 ft. It is rustic with lots of camp fires at night so close your windows if you don't want to get smoked out. Did some biking on the roads and hiked the trails around the park. Went to a park ranger presentation at night and took the boat trip on the lake, it's worth it. We always have a great time at Yellowstone, probably our favorite national park.