Mammoth Campground

When we arrived at 9 am on a Wednesday in mid-September, we were 3rd in line for an RV campsite, 6th overall. The campground filled by 11 am. Since it is a walk-in campground, you do need to arrive early, as the rangers keep track of your spot in line and campsites are assigned in order of arrival as the sites are vacated.

The campground is close to Mammoth Hot Springs and the Albright Visitors Center where there is free WiFi available (tip: for best WiFi speed, sit on the front porch of the Visitors Center after closing time). There are plenty of threaded water spigots around the campground (but no dump station — we dumped at Yellowstone RV Park in Gardiner, MT). Cell service was 3 bars Union - US Telephone 3G, but we didn’t get to use it much because of the roaming limit we have on our cell plan.

We were assigned a pull-through site, #12 (I think all sites are pull-throughs) right next to the highway. Other than the road noise, it was a pretty nice site with lots of sun for the solar panel. There was a lot of low brush between campsites, which was nice for a bit of privacy, and we were right next to a threaded potable water spigot. The sites are fairly level and it is pretty easy to get in and out of the campground.

We really liked our time here. All the campsites are pull through with great views of Lava valley. We had elk in the campground daily. All the bathrooms were very clean and whole campground is well maintained. It did fill up daily. Every morning at about 8 a line starts to form which doesn’t make sense because check out isn’t until 10. If you have to be in this place then get here around 10. Otherwise you could probably push it to noon or so but then it is probably going to be close.

The Mammoth Springs Lodge has excellent showers you can use that cost $5. Campground is a short steep hike to Visitor Center and Mammoth Springs.

Cell phone is pretty reliable on Verizon but does tend to drop unexpectedly. ATT doesn’t exist.

Mammoth is the best (and only) option for year-round camping in the park. For this reason, it is my go-to for camping on opening weekend and closing weekend each year. Camp can fill up quickly once the park roads open in spring and close in the fall so arrive early to secure a site. During the off season its not unusual for only one bathroom to be open. Almost all of the sites are level and are pull through, large enough for most RVs. Fire rings, tent pads and tables at each site. Flush toilets and water taps throughout camp. Firewood vending machine is available if needed. If the camp host is on duty to check you in you can ask to drive around and preview the sites before they assign one to you. While your fellow campers are generally quiet and respectful the location of the camp tends to be pretty noisy since the park road is routed around the camp. Be prepared to listen to park employees starting out their day driving by at 5am - snow plows, garbage trucks, etc. Lots of traffic noise all night.
And, if you're here in the fall, you'll get to listen to the bull elk bugling all night long. I'd rather listen to them than trucks any day!

This place fills up fast even in October we stayed here 10-2-18 we want to soak in the boiling river, we did all day long it was great ! the best spots are on the outer rim try for 42 through 49. No showers but they have flush toilets, portable water and trash. Gardiner is close by they have a good pizza place Yellowstone pizza company we eat there twice and if you are looking for free WiFi go to the library in Gardiner and park at the park its right across the street you don't even have to get out of your car.

Located just inside the north entrance, the Mammoth Campground offers outstanding views in a dry, desert-influenced environment. The relative absence of trees made it easy for us to rely exclusively on solar power throughout our visit. We were here during September with high temperatures in the 70s, so we didn’t mind the absence of shade – but this area could be really hot in summer. Mammoth is an outstanding base to explore the northeastern portion of the park, including the Lamar Valley.

Mammoth is a first-come, first-serve campground but with one of the most organized check-in procedures we’ve ever encountered for a campground of this type. Incoming campers parked in designated lanes and were assigned campsites that would work for their rigs as sites became available. We stayed here in the weeks after Labor Day, and the lines started forming around 7 a.m. just about every day, with the line stretching out to the road by 8:30.

We love having wide open views, and really liked the layout of the campground in one long loop along the hillside, which provided good site separation. Both the upper and lower sides of the loop have excellent views across the valley to Mt. Everts. The sites numbered about 29 to 49 on the outside of the loop have particularly good views down the long valley toward Gardiner, but we found that end of the campground had no service on AT&T. We had 2 bars 4G in our site (65) and the sites on the southern end of the campground (the lowest and highest numbers) had the best signal for AT&T. However, the tower was so overloaded after about 8 a.m. that it was worthless during the day. If you need data access, plan to drive the 5 miles toward Gardiner. There is excellent service in town and also in the last several pullouts within the park that are within sight of Gardiner.

The layout of the campground lends itself to privacy since campers are strung out in a long line in two tiers, but it is within a switchback on the main park road so there is definitely traffic and road noise. For us, the road noise during the day – which was virtually nonexistent at night – was a fine tradeoff for the convenience of the location and the great views. Our site was very long and generally level, which was a nice surprise for a campground located on a hill.

There is a walking trail up the hill connecting the campground to the town of Mammoth Hot Springs, where there is a visitor center in one of the historic buildings, restaurants, a general store, a gas station, and of course the huge travertine terraces created by the hot springs. There are also several trailheads within walking distance of the campground. The Lava Creek trail starts across the main road and is used more by fishermen than hikers. One end of the Beaver Ponds Loop is located right behind the hotel.

Mammoth is home to a herd of elk, so be prepared to see elk traversing the campground as they head up or down the hill. We were inundated by elk during our visit in September, with groups of cows and calves in our campsite and feeding throughout the campground, especially in the mornings. The bulls also visited and we heard bugling every night.

Outside of being busy, the biggest issues with Mammoth are that the campground does not have showers, and also does not have a dump station. We ended up stopping at Canyon during our drives around the park to use their pay showers since we were stretching our tanks for an 11-night stay.

The sites are pretty large - we could have fit two Airstream and the truck in our spot. Everything is a pull through and dry camping, but not overly crowded. After staying at the Fishing Bridge RV Park this place felt roomy.

Supposedly had 4 bars of 4G, but it was pretty unstable and slightly frustrating. Sam had to drive out to the top of the hill one morning for a work meeting.

Definitely a beautiful area of the park, and the Elk wander the campground freely.

This is a first-come first-served campground that only offers dry camping. It is set up on a hill with a lovely view of the Mammoth Hot Springs area. The campsites are a decent size and have picnic tables. It appears that leveling is required for most, it was for our site. In some cases the tent sites can be a bit close to the RV sites - our bedroom window looked out over a tent. If a smaller rig were in our site that would not have been the case, however.

There are rest rooms and water spigots throughout the campground but no other amenities. There is also no dump site, they claim there is one in Gardiner, about fifteen minutes away past the North entrance to the park. They do have recycling.

There is a trail to the town of Mammoth Springs, which in turn offers several trails. The town has a brand new and very interesting visitor center. There is also a small general store, one restaurant and a gift shop. Fifteen minutes away in Gardiner, there is a real grocery store, several restaurants, public showers and a laundromat.

Elk come through the campground often, and this is bear territory, so grills, dog food bowls, utensils etc. must be stored inside the RV or car after use. The hill is a very nice place to walk the doggie, provided there is no wildlife around.

Generator use is restricted to between 8a.m. and 8p.m. a good idea since tents and RVs share close spaces.

We had decent internet access, which was a surprise, since that seems not to have been the case in earlier times.

Mammoth campground is a National Park campground near the northern entrance and is the only campground in Yellowstone that is open all year round. In May 2014 it was $20 a night (cash or credit card) with a maximum of 30 nights per year within Yellowstone NP. The sites are spacious and nearly all are pull throughs. We have a 35' 5th Wheeler and we had plenty of room in front and behind for our truck. The sites are not reservable, so it's first come first serve, which isn't an issue in May, as there are plenty of vacant sites here. There are many water taps around the park for you to get water that is drinkable. There is no dump station, but apparently there is one 10 miles away, north of Gardiner. The sites are quiet, clean and have fire rings. There are a number of clean restrooms in the campground with flush toilets, cold water, soap and electric hand dryers. You can use your generator during the hours of 8am to 8pm, quiet time in the campground is 10pm to 6am with a $50 fine for disobeying. Elk and Bison often roam the grounds and keep the grass down! The road around the campground is sealed while the sites are gravel with plenty of space in between. The town of Gardiner is five miles away and Mammoth Hot Springs is a few minutes by car or you could walk.

Stayed again in February 2015 and it's still $20, the bathrooms were heated, water was available and we were the only ones there, surprise surprise - it got down to -12F!