Hi! Getting ready to leave Fla. in 2 weeks for a 2 month trip to Montana and Wyoming.We will do the National Parks. Wondering if the park attendance is up this year or not with the economy? We have reservations because of the size of our rig so we are covered there. Thanks for any input as always.
most national parks have web cams. I would suggest that you check them out. I look at Yellowstone web cam several times a day. The crowds look "normal". You need to look at the "air quality" webcams because these are aimed at the parking lots. Some days, mostly weekends, it is standing room only, the parking lots are full, there is a waiting line to get in, and the roads thru Mammoth Hot Springs are backed up. During the week, it is not so bad. We have never found a problem wth two slides and 36 feet MH - except some state parks and Cades Cove TN.
Not trying to highjack this thread, but I think we have a similar question. We will be leaving from NC around mid-August, headed to Glacier (should be there about Labor Day weekend) and then swinging down to Santa Fe before returning home about end Sept. I would be grateful to have some intelligence regarding how the RV parks look for capacity during that period, especially around Glacier and Yellowstone. Are good parks going to be fully booked or can we count on finding places to stay without much problem? This is after most schools are back in session. We normally book mostly in advance of departure on our trips, but I hate to do it on this long trip because we want to stay at least a bit flexible. At the same time, we don't want to get into trouble finding places to stay. We generally like full hookups (use our own bathroom) and choose parks with good ratings here. Any thoughts would be helpful.
Been talking to some friends who are at Yellowstone. The parks are all full, 100%. They said that the park they are staying at has been full since mid May. Said that people without reservations are having to to as far as 50 to100 miles outside the park to get sites with hookups. Yellowstone is setting records for attendance. Contrary to a previous post, the park is busier during the week then on weekends. It make sense when you consider the average vacationer gets off work on Friday, drives a couple of days to get to the park, spends the week and then has to leave on Friday to get back to work on Monday. There are few weekenders in the area ( no population centers and the locals tend to avoid the park during peak season, just like people who live near any tourist attraction avoid it when it is the busiest, people on the Florida coast leave during spring break etc). The best source of information would be to call the parks you are thinking of staying at and see if you can get a reservation. Remember, there are no Walmarts and box stores to park in and Yellowstone park does not allow overnighting anywhere but in designated campgrounds. The surrounding towns are the same way, they frown on parking on the streets. Going to Yellowstone is not a spur of the moment choice, so making reservations in advance shouldn't crimp anyone's style. We go there every spring and fall and never, ever without reservations.
QUOTE(jan-n-john @ Jul 23 2010, 11:56 AM) [snapback]23140[/snapback] Not trying to highjack this thread, but I think we have a similar question. We will be leaving from NC around mid-August, headed to Glacier (should be there about Labor Day weekend) and then swinging down to Santa Fe before returning home about end Sept. I would be grateful to have some intelligence regarding how the RV parks look for capacity during that period, especially around Glacier and Yellowstone. Are good parks going to be fully booked or can we count on finding places to stay without much problem? This is after most schools are back in session. We normally book mostly in advance of departure on our trips, but I hate to do it on this long trip because we want to stay at least a bit flexible. At the same time, we don't want to get into trouble finding places to stay. We generally like full hookups (use our own bathroom) and choose parks with good ratings here. Any thoughts would be helpful. Hi! We are starting our trip while school is still out but once the family vacations are finished I think you will be ok. Then again you never know and if I know i want to stay at a certain place then I make the reservation. there are folks here though,perhaps with more time than I that never make reservations. I can let you know about Glacier on this web site as we travel around the area. We cannot stay in the parks as our rig is too big and too like full hook-ups.
QUOTE(A.E.Michell @ Jul 23 2010, 03:06 PM) [snapback]23142[/snapback] Hi! We are starting our trip while school is still out but once the family vacations are finished I think you will be ok. Then again you never know and if I know i want to stay at a certain place then I make the reservation. there are folks here though,perhaps with more time than I that never make reservations. I can let you know about Glacier on this web site as we travel around the area. We cannot stay in the parks as our rig is too big and too like full hook-ups. In case I was unclear, I meant we are looking for private RV parks/campgrounds, not state or national parks. Nothing against the latter, but they generally don't have sewer hookups and wifi, which for us are pretty much must haves--we're not out there to rough it--been there done that thank you. We generally look for reasonably high rated parks, paved if possible, and with 50 amp. sewer, and wifi. Willing to pay more to get those things when necessary, though not anxious to go much over $40/night.
QUOTE(jan-n-john @ Jul 23 2010, 05:48 PM) [snapback]23150[/snapback] In case I was unclear, I meant we are looking for private RV parks/campgrounds, not state or national parks. Nothing against the latter, but they generally don't have sewer hookups and wifi, which for us are pretty much must haves--we're not out there to rough it--been there done that thank you. We generally look for reasonably high rated parks, paved if possible, and with 50 amp. sewer, and wifi. Willing to pay more to get those things when necessary, though not anxious to go much over $40/night. just remeber fishing bridge has no electrical they are in the process of updating. we camped at flagg ranch full hookups 2 miles from the south gate. we arrived 2 days early and they were able to take us in.we were there thru the july 4 th holiday and they seemed to have lots of empty spots.
