Rocky Mountain Campground, Gardiner, Mt

[travel_sb]

Camped here on a very recent return road trip to Yellowstone area. Initially stayed at the Yellowstone RV park Fishing Bridge (more like a parking lot) for 4days having come up from Cody, Wy where we enjoyed the rodeo and the other wonderful sights around Cody. The Rocky Mtn. is a wonderful and spacious campground and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. I would certainly recommend when visiting Yellowstone one of the best places to stay would be Gardiner with the park entrance at only 0.5 mile away making the park easy access any time. Gardiner is a very nice small town and for those perhaps who have never been there to me it reminds me of something out of the old west as compared to other towns around the park especially the popular one like West Yellowstone. We have a 28 foot 5th wheel and stayed in what the park calls a deluxe site which is wider than the standard site but all the sites were nice and spacious with a very wide road through the park for easy turning especially the very big rigs for which there were many there. We spent 4 days at the park and only now wished we had stayed there initially instead of in the park. Should have know better having been there before and knew about the crowded Fishing Bridge RV park. The Rocky Mtn park has a wonderful park store with lots of gifts, etc with very reasonable prices compared to those inside the park plus the town is filled with shops where one can buy lots of western lore for your fancy. For those wishing not to cross the Bighorn Mtn it is just off US 89 north entrance. But I would never want to miss the ride across the Bighorns as it is always an exiting and scenic ride.

 

[dlw930]

Thanks for the park review. I've been to Yellowstone three times in my pre-RV days and hope to go back soon with our 5th wheel. In 2011 we stayed at an old schoolhouse refurbished as a vacation rental in a ranch northwest of Gardiner. We found Gardiner a neat place and a good location for entering the park. Since we now have a 5th wheel and researched RV parks around some of our planned destinations, I was aware of Rocky Mountain RV Park, but it's good to have your positive review. Our rig is 40' long. Would that be an issue for the RV park or the route across the Big Horns? I have a 1 ton TV with DRW.


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[travel_sb]

I am certain the park can accommodate your rig as I saw several there that was at least 40'. They have three types of sites the standard , deluxe, and one especially for the bigger rigs. The roads up and around the park are wide compared to many parks I've stayed plus someone will guide directly to the site of your choice. If you want to cross the Bighorns I would strongly suggest US 16 from Buffalo up and over. Its less of a grade up to the top which is nearly 10,000' however the ramp on the way down is a little more steep but many RV use this route as compared to 14 or 14A which is not very friendly to an RV especially a 5th wheel. Both 14/14A is a very steep climb with all kinds of turns. We have done the 14 highway and it is more scenic than US 16 but towing it puts a terrible strain and workout on your brakes. US 16 is recommended for RVs and it is scenic too. If you go into Gardiner you can easily take a trip over the Beartooth highway in your tow vehicle and I think you will be happy you don't have the trailer in tow. When we took US 14/14A is was against a lot of advice not to take it but we decided to give it a try. For me it was a really hairy ride up and across but the scenery is very spectacular. This time we stay overnight at the Deer Park campground also a very nice campground in Buffalo and made the trip up and across the Bighorns the next morning to Cody. I just wanted add the issue with the 5 wheel in going over the Bighorns or probably any mountain peak is the tremendous load weight that is increased on the truck axle when going downhill. I have a F250 Diesel with and when my trailer is level the weight is about 1800lb riding the axle but going downhill on a steep grade that weight increases tremendously putting a lot of extra pressure on the braking system. Just remember to check your brake controller to make sure you can slow the trailer on a downhill slide to keep truck brakes from overheating which happen to me when we crossed some years ago on US 14.