Another Yellowstone Camping Question and also GTN, Glacier, Banff and Jasper

CO Hiker

CO Hiker

Active Member
Dec 6, 2015
288
Colorado
We based out of Grant and day tripped to Jackson, GT is right there next to YS. In fact, get a combo pass for the two parks so you don't have to drop the cash twice. The line at the Ranger station to get in can seem long but it moves pretty quick. Be careful and leave yourself plenty of stopping room. Folks that haven't seen moose or buffalo up close will nail the brakes and stop right in front of you. If that is you, just drive up the road a little and you can find a pull off, not like the elk are leaving the country, but keep a lot of distance between you and wildlife!!!! You can drive around YS in less than a day and I would suggest doing it counter clockwise, everyone headed for Old Faithful first thing and the clockwise route was packed early in the day but the falls parking was fairly empty. Coolers and bear boxes! Though four year olds can ride their scooters all over the park (meals on wheels) past moon rise, if you leave a cooler out to dry there will be a yellow slip on your camper before you can say Yippee Ki Yay. Use the bear boxes on your site for the sake of the bears and you. We only saw the butt end of one up near the northern lodge but they're around obviously. Gas station is right there at the Grant Village. Tow speed; 65mph or less! Across the state. While you're towing. Otherwise a very polite trooper will introduce themself to you and play a quick round of trivia pursuit with ya.
 
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W

Wakita46

Active Member
Mar 15, 2013
286
Having done almost 40,000 miles with an Aliner, I would recommend planning it out and make reservations. I used google maps - pick a place you are going to and then use "directions" to find how long it would take to get the next stop. Then add a minimum of 20% to that time (lunch stop, road work, accidents, etc.). You might plan to see something on the way to the next park, also. I've got pictures of many of the national parks and much of Canada on my web site (hoffsalinertravels.net) along with some tips. I have now been to 47 of the 63 national parks plus 15 in Canada. There is a lot of fabulous stuff to see.
 
S

Safaribabe

Member
Apr 25, 2019
38
CO Hiker said:
We based out of Grant and day tripped to Jackson, GT is right there next to YS. In fact, get a combo pass for the two parks so you don't have to drop the cash twice. The line at the Ranger station to get in can seem long but it moves pretty quick. Be careful and leave yourself plenty of stopping room. Folks that haven't seen moose or buffalo up close will nail the brakes and stop right in front of you. If that is you, just drive up the road a little and you can find a pull off, not like the elk are leaving the country, but keep a lot of distance between you and wildlife!!!! You can drive around YS in less than a day and I would suggest doing it counter clockwise, everyone headed for Old Faithful first thing and the clockwise route was packed early in the day but the falls parking was fairly empty. Coolers and bear boxes! Though four year olds can ride their scooters all over the park (meals on wheels) past moon rise, if you leave a cooler out to dry there will be a yellow slip on your camper before you can say Yippee Ki Yay. Use the bear boxes on your site for the sake of the bears and you. We only saw the butt end of one up near the northern lodge but they're around obviously. Gas station is right there at the Grant Village. Tow speed; 65mph or less! Across the state. While you're towing. Otherwise a very polite trooper will introduce themself to you and play a quick round of trivia pursuit with ya.
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Hey, I need to make final decisions on my reservations. We have reservations to stay at Yellowstone from 6/22-7/4. We need to get to Dubois to pickup my daughter. And we also have a GT reservation as well. We were first going to camp at GT for 4 days nearer to picking up my daughter, and then move up to Yellowstone for another 4-5 days.

But it's a lot of work for us to set up and breakdown PUP camp. Is it relaxing enough to use Grant Campground as base camp, and then day trip GT? And drive to Dubois that one day to get.my daughter? I need to see if GT is ticketed entry though. We aren't worried about entry cost as we have a Lifetime Pass.

It might be a bit of extra driving the day we need to get my daughter, but I would rather drive and see more of the state than setup/break camp twice.

I think we have to hit Glacier and further north another time. :( Father-in-law needs care and we might not find someone to care for him for longer than just going to Yellowstone.

I hope Grant isn't too crowded but we really want easy access to showers. Hubby really likes his showers! Lol
 
PopUpSteve

PopUpSteve

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,475
Southeastern PA
You should be fine using Grant CG as base camp. NOTHING is like a trip to the local store when you're talking about Yellowstone/Grand Teton region. Grant is about as dead center as you can get. And you'll find that you don't measure in miles but in time.
 
G

GaWalker

Member
Nov 30, 2017
38
The Great State of Georgia
Last year we spent 4 days at Canyon Campground, 3 days at Madison and then 3 days at Signal Mountain in GT.

We loved the Canyon area and had a great secluded site. Some sites were much worse as they were located right on the main campground road. Nice showers.

Madison sites were all the same and OK. Close to civilization in West Yellowstone. Nice being close to geysers but those areas were very crowded. The traffic around Madison was bad each evening with people leaving geysers. The drive from Madison to Grand Tetons was long due to a bunch of construction.

We did not stay at Grant but during our visit the drive from Grant to the north of the park would have been a long affair made worse due to construction. Make sure you have all your needed supplies as you are a LONG trip to any supplies outside of the expensive campground stores.

Setting up and breaking camp was very easy with our Aliner, but I would recommend a campsite in the middle of Yellowstone and the move to Grand Teton even if setup was more envolved.
 
PopUpSteve

PopUpSteve

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,475
Southeastern PA
Every year the construction changes and is on going. Look around and you should find a published schedule for this year.
 
MileHigh

MileHigh

Active Member
Jul 18, 2012
557
Colorado
You will be fine using Grant as a base. We stayed there last year for 9 days and loved it. There is a small grocery store and gas station at Grant that you can buy some basic groceries and supplies if you need to. And yes, the showers are wonderful!

Probably 50 miles from Grant to the north entrance of Grand Teton (about an hour drive depending on traffic). I'd plan on leaving as early as possible when you do that day trip.

Enjoy your trip!
 
PopUpSteve

PopUpSteve

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,475
Southeastern PA
I emailed YSNP and received the following:

Thanks for planning ahead! Taking time to plan your visit will make your experience more safe, fun, and rewarding. I do not have an exact date for when we will be updating our road improvements page, but I would check back for updates in March. Most of the projects listed for 2022 will continue into 2023. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,
Ranger Addy Falgoust
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D

Dnodoz

Active Member
Apr 15, 2020
142
Last year we camped in Dubois as base for both GT And Yellowstone. Not by choice but due to flood closures in Yellowstone. Not hard to do GT from Dubois but it was a long day to get in just a little of Yellowstone. Fortunately much has been repaired now. We’d like to go again and actually camp in Yellowstone as originally planned.

One gem we found in our surprise camping in Dubois is the new National Museum of Military Vehicles. This museum is incredible if you’re a history buff. Massive multimillion dollar museum in the middle of nowhere. Awesome collections of equipment and weaponry. You’d expect to find this in a place like Washington D. C. not Dubois, WY.
 
Hilldweller

Hilldweller

Super Active Member
Mar 2, 2021
1,150
Hog Waller, GA
We did Mt Rushmore, Devil's Tower, RMNP, YNP, Glacier, Banff -- Jasper, all in two weeks plus a Monday holiday. Hotelling, not camping though. Jeep --- took lots of shortcuts, lots of 4-wheeling. There was no idle time...

 
gladecreekwy

gladecreekwy

Super Active Member
Sep 25, 2016
1,829
Jackson Wyoming
Dnodoz said:
Last year we camped in Dubois as base for both GT And Yellowstone. Not by choice but due to flood closures in Yellowstone. Not hard to do GT from Dubois but it was a long day to get in just a little of Yellowstone. Fortunately much has been repaired now. We’d like to go again and actually camp in Yellowstone as originally planned.

One gem we found in our surprise camping in Dubois is the new National Museum of Military Vehicles. This museum is incredible if you’re a history buff. Massive multimillion dollar museum in the middle of nowhere. Awesome collections of equipment and weaponry. You’d expect to find this in a place like Washington D. C. not Dubois, WY.
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It’s a great town. The Winds are a spectacular range that’s still pretty quiet. It’s definitely a bit far from Yellowstone that’s what’s saved it
 
PopUpSteve

PopUpSteve

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,475
Southeastern PA
Let's just say I'd like to avoid any Federal entanglements. ;)

You know, now a days, an old man traveling alone with an impressionable young boy, wanting to avoid the authorities, would raise a few eyebrows. 🙀

blue-harvest-still-2.jpg
 
Hilldweller

Hilldweller

Super Active Member
Mar 2, 2021
1,150
Hog Waller, GA
PopUpSteve said:
Let's just say I'd like to avoid any Federal entanglements. ;)
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Well, on that trip, on the way back from Banff to Glacier, I decided to ignore the GPS and took the Jeep up into the mountains. I saw a crooked pigtrail line on the GPS that looked like it went all the way.
Got to a border crossing and two Mounties searched my Jeep thoroughly. Told me "there are two types of folk that use this border crossing, loggers & smugglers. And you don't look like a logger..."

Federal entanglements indeed.
 
Hilldweller

Hilldweller

Super Active Member
Mar 2, 2021
1,150
Hog Waller, GA
kcsa75 said:
.....

Is it Du-boys or Du-bwa?
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That's a great question.
My first ancestor to come to North America fulltime (that I'm aware of) was Luis duBois from Lille in what is now France but was Flanders back then (1660). He arrived in New Amsterdam (NYC), lived in Brooklyn for a bit, went up to Kingston. It was Dutch territory. Then English. Dutch again; English finally.
The Flemish, Dutch, French, etc called him Do-bwa. The English called him Do-boys. There are chronicles of it in the NY archives.
From what I read, he was a character. Ethnically he considered himself a Walloon:
en.wikipedia.org

Walloons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
The family had a castle in the old country; was a "kinsman" of William the Conqueror.

Sorry. Back to your regularly scheduled broadcast...
 
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