Madison Campground

Madison campground is near the western entrance of Yellowstone and is fairly central to this very big park. The sites are assigned at checkin and the site sizes are overstated in my opinion so make sure they give you one that is big enough. Also make sure you let them no about slide out locations or you may find that you are sticking out into the campground road. Many of the sites were short half loops that most campers can get into but bigger units could have issues. They really pack the people in but most are gone for the day seeing the may sights that Yellowstone has to offer.

Madison is a very nice centrally located campsite at Yellowstone. No real view but a great location. The ranger said campsite has bears quite often, but we did not see them during our stay. Bear management chased them off the week before. Regardless we felt very safe with how busy the site was.

The bathrooms we clean, but were a little old not the most pristine. We never had to wait for the bathroom despite the full campsite.

Remember that there are no showers so if you’re tent camping or in a small trailer like us you’ll be driving 40min to Canyon for showers.

A good experience overall, we would certainly go back!

It was nice, especially for the price and being in the park. We paid $33 for an rv spot(no hookups). It was nice with trees and all. The only thing we didn’t like was that they wouldn’t allow us to use our class a built in generator after 8pm which we got there just before 8pm. They didn’t have any hookups all, it would be nice if they at least wired electricity since that’s pretty easy. Cell phone coverage was nonexistent of course since it’s Yellowstone. If you need anything, West Yellowstone(the city) is pretty close, but the campground also has a small store for certain things, we didn’t use it so I don’t know about it other than what they told me. Overall a pretty good experience for being in the park.

Fortunately for us we visited Yellowstone a week before the deluge closed the park. Our sympathies go to all those whose plans were dashed or disrupted by this natural disaster, We enjoyed a 2-day visit to America's premiere national park, viewing many of the park's iconic attractions including a 2-hour traffic jam created by a belligerent bison. We chose Madison for it's central location and what we thought were its amenities. It turns out there were none. Madison is a lovely parking lot with public bathrooms. No showers. No Laundry. A fresh water hose that didn't work and a functioning pump out station. This campground is administered by a private corporation (Xanterra) who vacates the premises at 6pm leaving 270 campers with no supervision or safety oversight. There is no phone service, cell or otherwise after 6pm. If you have an emergency in this campground you are totally on your own. This is what the "privatization" of the NPS buys you. Accordingly I would never book a campground site here again in spite of the scenic values this place has.

This is great location for visiting north and South part of park. We have all access pass so the rate was 50% off. Normally about $33/ night with tax. No hookups . There is a dump station. We have a 34’ MH with jeep tow. It was tight just driving the interior roads. Watch for limbs, trees. We had reserved a 40’ space. Luckily they had a space long enough for or our tow available. We checked in early, by 11, hoping that would be the case as they assign when you get there. The very nice people, said there were a few of the 40’ spaces without tow vehicle designation that were long enough, just tight. Ours was 55’ long, so once we wiggled rig in, we could fit jeep. Weather for May is iffy, had snow, then sun, so be prepared. Reservation system showed CG full 6 months out, but maybe the weather scared some folks away, because there were a few empty spaces. I kept checking and about 4 months out our space became available. I think people cancel the last month or even closer.

The campground is busy and big. Most sites are wooded. Bathrooms are heated and clean. Staff is friendly and they take good care of the park. The viewing of the Elk during Rut was very fun to watch. You can just walk over to the river from the sites. Elk frequent he campground. It can be loud at night with tent campers but we had a very pleasant stay and the location is good to explore the park.

We liked being in Madison as we were able to get to all the areas we wanted to see in the park quite easily. Most spots are pull through and our first spot would not work as our neighbor had pulled his rig and truck almost in our area. The nice volunteers up front were able to move us to a new spot that worked better. Lots of trees to navigate and all tires from all vehicles must be on the pavement so be aware of how much space you need while booking. They don't assign you a space until you arrive. No showers but bathrooms were clean and they have a dish washing station. Recycle (yeah) and trash made easy with large canisters. Some spots had bear boxes, others did not. But we did see them putting in brand new bear boxes while we were there. Dump and water fill near entrance to campground. Lots of generators running but thankfully they had to stop at 8PM. WIFI only at or near visitor centers. A must see is the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. Fabulous rescue for bears, wolves and raptors who can no longer live in the wild.

It is dry camping with a dump station on site. Some sites have bear boxes, but no all. So, storing food/perishables inside your hard sided vehicle (not in a soft sided pop up trailer) is expected on many sites.

There is a small store where you can buy ice, pre-made snacks and sandwiches, or other items campers are likely to need. It is usually open daily, but sometimes only from 2:30-5ish.

They do not assign you a site before you arrive. Having camped there I now understand why: There is a large variation on the sites and what each site can accommodate. It helps them to look at a rig when it arrives and decide where to put you based on what they see. Also, we ran into trouble with our vehicle and needed an extra night on site while we got it fixed. They were easily able to accomodate us (a a cancellation occured) without us having to relocate our rig.

The river nearby is fun to swim in. There is also a hotline you can call (number is posted at the camp entrance) which has a recording listing the predictions for local geysers.

We found it useful to get going early in the day to miss crowds and to swim in the river in the afternoon. If you need cell phone reception, one can connect on Verizon near Old Faithful and up at mammoth hot springs.