Any advice on camping in Yellowstone and Teton in August? What does this have to do with running, you may ask? Well, I'm planning to run. And get my boys running, who'll need to prep for their XC season.
I'm toying with the idea of taking my two kiddos out there for a couple of weeks in August. I was surprised to see that some of the Yellowstone campgrounds have sites still available for reservation, though all of the Teton campgrounds do not take reservations. I like to have at least some sites reserved to ease the stress. I'm good at winging things, but I also don't want to spend two weeks sleeping in a car because we couldn't find anything. While Teton has general statements about when and which campgrounds fill, I'd love to hear some real experiences.
We'd like to stay off the beaten path, for the most part. The more primitive, the better, though I don't think we'll be able to swing any backcountry overnights this trip.
Thoughts on good running trails also appreciated.
Thanks!
Are we there, yet?
Can't help you with any camping suggestions or running trails. It's been many years since I was there, but I doubt you'll be disappointed on any of the trails as long as you avoid the ones frequented by the casual park visitors. Lots to choose from ranging from very easy with little vertical gain to some with a lot. Grand Teton was the park that really turned me on to hiking more when I was younger.
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Tim
Not camping, but stayed at Signal Mountain Lodge along Jackson Lake and at Fireside Resort (where we stayed in a "Tiny House" near Jackson Hole. Both have camping and were excellent areas for running. When you get closer, I can send you areas where we ran in the Tetons. We only did 1 run in Yellowstone as trails there were pretty busy with hikers / sightseers.
I think George gave us the tip on Signal Mt, and it was an awesome place. No TV's or radios anywhere in the rooms.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
We went to Teton/Yellowstone last August and camped in a few different spots. When we wanted access to West Yellowstone we camped out at Red Rock in Idaho with some nice trails surrounding a large lake there - it is pretty secluded and beautiful. There are a lot of trails in the Idaho area that are nice if you didn't want to go within Yellowstone itself. We never camped within Yellowstone, but did stay over in Colter Bay while in Teton. Colter Bay was really nice but obviously a pretty crowded campground and not primitive at all. Alternatively, there are a lot of nice campgrounds near Jackson Hole that are less crowded and more remote where it is a relatively short drive to get to the trails near Jenny Lake. There are always cancellations at the Teton campgrounds, but it is nice to have a back-up plan with a reservation at your (B) choice and if there is a good cancellation policy you can always switch your reservations to your (A) choice if something opens up. I would also caution that even though some places are completely booked now, these things change a lot. We couldn't get into Colter Bay for well over a month, and finally after calling a few times a week we were able to find a spot due to a cancellation.
For running, there are some nice trails within Colter Bay with views surrounding Lake Jackson and it is obviously very convenient to be able to just immediately jump on a trail from your campsite - there are a lot of distances and none of the trails are technical. My favorite run in Teton was the Paintbrush/Cascade Canyon Loop, which is around 18ish miles depending on where you start, and has some good climbing with a possibility of some snow crossings around the divide. You can take the ferry across Jenny Lake and shave off some mileage and just do an out and back either up Paintbrush Canyon to the divide (~10 miles) or over on Cascade Canyon up to Lake Solitude and back (~14 miles). I also did the trail up to Amphitheater Lake, which is 10 miles round trip with some decent switchbacks, and it was a gorgeous trail without being too crowded. I never ran in Yellowstone since I was running alone and was concerned about bear encounters so I can't comment on running in there. Jackson Hole also has some great running on trails as well as some bike paths that have wonderful views of the Tetons.
I know you said you probably won't go backcountry this trip, but I will say there were a good number of campsites both up Cascade and Paintrbush in case you wanted to break up the 18 mile loop into a two-day. People even make the trail up to Lake Solitude an out and back with a stay overnight at Lake Solitude. During my run I saw a good number of people camping at those sites ranging from a boy scout troop to just a few people going alone.
I received a lot of great advice in this forum about the trip from Norther Harrier and some others, which was very helpful for trip planning. Good luck and have a great time with your sons!
Thanks WCrunner, AT and sspharbor! I think I'll go ahead with reservations in Yellowstone at Bay Bridge, which will be our first week, so we'll have a place to stay without having to scramble or worry about it. Hopefully we can snag a site at slough creek or pebble creek once we spend a few days down by the lake. I was looking into Lizard Creek at the north end of teton, as it says that is one of the quieter campgrounds and usually doesn't fill until later in the day. I hope that holds true. I'll check out the camping down closer to Jackson Hole, too.
Unfortunately, August is the only time that we can go, so on we will go with the masses.
And the advice-- Keep it coming! Thanks!
Ultra Cowboy
Check out some of the USFS campgrounds outside of the NPS area.
I would drive by the Crystal Creek Campground on my Elk Hunting Trips. These are all spots along the Gros Ventre River.
Crystal Creek is east of Grand Teton NP and Kelly WY.
Atherton Creek is a little closer along Slide Lake. Very Pretty. This is where they close the road except to Snowmobiles in the Winter.
Further up the road is a number of Trailheads into the Gros Ventre Wilderness and other roadless areas. Most Trail heads have unimproved camping spots nearby.
WYBMADIITY
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