Colter Bay Village Campground

The great thing about this site is that it is in the park and had plenty of availability. We were there over labor day and I don't think it filled up until Saturday around 1. The spaces are along a u shaped loop and you basically parallel park along the loop on gravel or asphalt depending on the site. The electricity is ADA access only. I didn't realize that until we're got there. That would have changed my planning. The bathrooms are clean and will kept. The was no verizon reception at our site but you could text closer to the stores in the middle of the campground. Nearby Jackson lodge had great reception and a pool that colter bay guests can use. Our site was about a 20 minute walk to the lake. Generator use was 8 to 8.

We were told we wouldn't be able to get in but we go in with no problem. Each day there we noticed there were great spaces that opened up so don't count it out as an option. There is a lake, a great store, grocery store, boat rentals, a beach, and of other great stuff. The location was perfect. We spent part of our visit hiking around the Tetons and a few days in Yellowstone. Our spot had a lot of privacy-we chose not to have hookups but there are spots with hookups if you choose.

If you want to camp in the Teton NP, then this is the place to be. You can't beat the central location of Colter Bay and the view of the Tetons over Jackson Lake from here are spectacular. I arrived about 4pm on 9/13 and got the last generator spot available (no reservations). The site was incredibly uneven but I had been warned. It looked like a lot of the sites required leveling based on the way they were oriented to the road. It's dry camping with generators allowed in certain loops. I think that's pretty expensive for dry camping, but again the location is hard to beat. For close access to the Tetons, I would camp here again.

With the size of our rig, we never thought we would stay in a National Park, but we managed to get a site here. We drove down from Yellowstone to check out our options, and were told by a ranger that we should have no problem after Labor Day. We arrived two days after Labor Day and managed to get a spot, but we certainly didn’t have as many choices as we had hoped for. For whatever reason, the crowds didn’t dwindle and the campground was full the Saturday after Labor Day.

The sites aren’t ideal, our loop was mostly pull throughs right alongside the road, but we managed to fit. Most bigger rigs sit very close to the road, which can be a little nerve racking, but it worked out fine. The living space, for most of the sites, is highly wooded and quite large. We really liked our site and joked about how far a walk it was to the fire pit. This is bear country, and each site has a large bear proof box to keep food, garbage and grills safe.

You check in at the gate, which went fairly smoothly even with three campers in front of us. They assign you a spot, and were very accommodating of us, giving us two options to chose from. The sites are gravel and ours was mostly level. The were no hookups at all in our loop, only the second time we have tried this, but we liked it so much here we extended our stay from 3 to 6 nights. There are electric only sites, but they weren’t even recommended to us, I assume because of our size. They were also pricey, I think they are $58/night and $36/night with a senior pass.

We have a solar system, but the trees interfered and we had to supplement with the generator, a lot. We did get some afternoon sun, which helped, but very little direct sun. Generator hours are 8am to 8pm, which seemed to work out. The trees also prevented any hope of satellite and we had no AT&T or Verizon signal. Our AT&T hotspot with a booster would occasionally get a strong enough signal to update mail, but was unreliable so we just turned it off. There is WiFi in the village, which usually worked well. We were really roughing it! (-:

The bathrooms in our loop were older, but clean. The showers are located with the laundry in the Colter Bay Village. Not overly convenient, we drove when we needed to go to the village. The laundry area is big and at $2 to wash and dry, not the highest price I’ve seen. There are two sets of loops, with the second one being for the bigger rigs, at there is a dump station at the entrance to the second set of loops. There are two dump stations on the way out. The grocery in the village is well stocked for a campground grocery, even if the prices are a bit high. The cafe was closed for the season, but the restaurant was open and the food was good.

Overall, we liked the campground and would consider staying here again.

We stayed here five nights in the middle of June 2018 in site M-268. We were at some BLM in the Bridger-Teton National Forest nearby, but the weather forecasted heavy rain for several days straight, so we decided to move to paved roads. This campground is nice. There are two areas in the campground, one is generators allowed and in the other area they are not allowed. We opted for the generator side because it was going to be rainy for several days and we were not sure if our solar would keep up (it did). When we were here, the campground was not busy at all which was very surprising.

We really liked the layout of the sites. Groups of sites where in a loop configuration with the road being one-way. Each site was pull-in. The best part of the configuration was even though you might have neighbors, it did not feel like you were right on top of each other. Our site was particularly nice because there was no site directly across from us. Even though we were in the generator area, it was very quiet, and everyone observed generator hours (8-8). The Coulter Bay area has most everything you need. There is a gas station (with diesel), a small convenience store for groceries and a laundry facility which also has paid showers ($4.50). We used the laundry facility while staying and it was typical. We did not use the showers but heard from other campers that they were very nice. There is also a visitor’s center, a marina and a swimming area in the lake. We had no cell phone signal (AT&T) at all. We could not send or receive calls or text messages. With a small antenna, we were able to get some use out of the hotspot for internet, but it was mainly only usable in the evening hours. The laundry facility and some of the restaurants in the complex have Wi-Fi which was usable. They have three dump stations. We used the in-coming one to dump before we set-up and one of the out-going ones on the way out. They also had potable water. The maximum length for the campground is posted as 45 feet. We heard that a black bear and her cubs frequented the area, but we never did see them. Overall it was a good place to stay. Wish it had not rained the entire time we were there. I did deduct a star because of cost. $31/night for a campsite with no hookups is a little steep in my opinion. These are the times I wish one of us was a senior! 😊

We would love to stay in Yellowstone, but it always seems all the (good/decent) sites are full and overcrowded. We always go early in the season, but it seems they're always full anyway. That being said, we like to visit sites all over the area including the Grand Teton NP and Jackson. Because of this, Colter Bay Village Campground is a good alternative and centralized to these locations.

The sites seem like they're close together due to the way you park within the loops. Basically, you have "loops" of campsites, where you park parallel with the loop. Each site is a pull-through and you face into your campsite from the appropriate side of your RV. Because of this, your sites are not stacked on top of each other, but the loops get full of a cars lined up along the narrow road. I personally like this setup as it does give you more room from surrounding campsites. This makes access to your site very easy as you don't ever have to back into anything.

Access to a decent grocery store, gift shop/clothing/camping supplies store, laundry, showers, marina, gas station, and a place to buy tickets for activities are located right outside of the campground. Expect to pay the premiums at this locations, so load up outside of the park if you're on a budget. There is a full hookup RV park, lodges, and a restaurant in the village, so you have access to quite a few amenities if you choose to use them. To me this is a great convenience since the campground is right outside of this without ruining the camping experience.

As for campsite amenities, this is dry camping campground. There is water and dumping available and flushing toilets at each loop. The bathrooms are clean, but they're also old, so don't have high expectations no matter how much they clean their bathrooms. Since it's a dry camping campground, expect generators to turn on in the mornings and some take advantage of the generator times throughout the day. Fortunately, it's 8 am to 8 pm, so at night it's well before the sun goes down during the late Spring and Summer months.

Overall, the location is good, the cost is good, the location is good, the sites are decent size. I would recommend this location.

We opted out of our reservations at the RV Park (too cramped) and headed out to one of the non-generator loops in the campground proper. I'm glad we did. Sites are much more spread out, and there's plenty of shade. The Colter Bay village is not far away, and neither is the lake. I've seen other reviewers note that there's not much of a view from the campground (true), but a short walk down to the end of the campground loops brings you to the edge of Jackson Lake, where the views are absolutely stunning.

Since very few camping options are reservable around Tetons, except for $70/nt Colter Bay RV Park, we knew we'd be making a rather last minute decision on where to camp. We camped over Labor Day weekend. We had really wanted to try out some of the amazing boondocking around here, but ultimately, after 20 days on the road, the amenities (read, laundry!) at this campground won us over.

We showed up early from Yellowstone, probably around 10 am. They had a small site immediately available but it was generator free. We decided to go ahead and take it then immediately I went and hung out around the entrance waiting on a generator site to open up. Didn't have to wait long and they let me switch sites. Super friendly and knowledgeable guy checking us in.

The loops all seem to be pull-thrus which is nice, but to be honest, they look kinda rough. Looking down the road, all you see is campers lined up down the road (the pull-thrus only take the camper about 3' off of the road). But surprisingly, hidden on the other side of the camper are large sites looking right into the woods. I was pleasantly surprised with how huge our site was and how private it felt. While this wasn't my favorite set-up, I loved our site.

From the campground you can hike about 1/3 of a mile to the lakeshore that is amazing! It looks over Lake Jackson to the Tetons in the background. There is a formal beach area near the visitor's center, but the whole shore is amazing. Great place to go watch the sunset.

The amenities are the best reason to stay here. There's a great little grocery store/gift shop. They sell liquor, hot food and general grocery items. The ranger said that they're required to charge normal rates for essentials, so milk and such was not jacked up in price. There's a Starbucks coffee shop here!!! They charge about double what you're used to but hey, you're in the wilderness. They have great, free WIFI in the store and laundromat. There's showers and laundry here. It's got about everything you need.

We drove through the RV park and it's TOTALLY different. I know some people have to have full hook-ups but it felt really cramped and had no character. The campground is wooded but they still stack-em up in the RV park. Personally I don't think it's worth 2.5 times the cost.

It's about a 30 minute drive to Jenny Lake but it's pretty. There's also a gas station about a mile from the campground. Overall, this is a great place to experience the Tetons, just know that you'll be driving a good bit as this is pretty far North of all the action.

We drove from Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park. We were in the queue by 11:30 am and there were about 4 vehicles in front of us.

The check in procedure was pretty slick. You don't have to get out of your car to check in. They have two members of staff working the queue and checking people in (taking their card or cash).

We were processed after approximately 30 minutes wait. We received a very basic map and a bear /wildlife warning notice. We had to ask about showers and laundry services.

We drove to our pitch and were immediately disappointed. €30 dollars for our micro tent and the pitch site was covered with stones. Absolutely no attempt had been made to make the site suitable for camping in a tent.

Then toilets were reasonably clean. Out of the 3 male and 3 female toilets, one in each were Out of Order. Thus only two toilets available for each sex for all in section M. The cleaning checklist was being updated but there toilets hadn't been 'thoroughly' cleaned in a while. The 'important bits' looked clean. E.g. The toilets and sink but again not thoroughly. The stains had been their for a while. The water was cold. $30 and only cold water to wash and No soap and No drying facilities. Neither towels or a hand drier! 2 sockets for charging but I didn't try them. I was already disappointed.

As mentioned above we received a notice about the imports of food and cooler safety. Being Hikers how temporarily have a car we don't Haverhill luxury of a cooler but food we do have. As there were no lockers we had to keep the food and toiletries in the car! For $30! We've been to Yosemite and watched the videos where bears break into cars. We weren't impressed at all.

Site covered with large stones and pebbles nowhere suitable for a tent.
No showers on site
Cold water only in toilet.
No soap in toilets.
No paper towels or driers in toilets.
No food lockers despite signage everywhere about the wildlife (bears etc and protecting them and your food).
Noises generators.
Reasonable privacy from others