Custer to Yellowstone

[buckee]

We leaving oct8 headed to Yellowstone and will get a rv spot outside the park , what is a good route going across from Custer 36 fifth wheel .

[yeloduster]

The route is not a problem. Thousands do it every year.

The drive into Yellowstone from Custer is LONG. You might want to consider RV parks in West Yellowstone, MT or Gardiner, MT. Both are much closer to the park.

[Yosemite77]

To which side of Yellowstone are you headed? The route I’d recommend would be determined by the destination.

[Mike8253]

1st, I'd recommend a stop in Cody to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West enroute from Custer to Yellowstone. It's a must see (we spent 2- days there), and Cody to Yellowstone is a much shorter and doable leg. Otherwise, you're talking approx 430 miles just to get from Custer to the East Yellowstone gate. That includes going over Powder River Pass on US-16 if you chose that route. If a stopover in Cody isn't a possibility, then I'd recommend US-16 over US-14 to go over the Bighorn Mountains.

[buckee]

We were not finding campgrounds outside east Yellowstone gate due to there closing , so I guess we will look at some parks still open on west side . We should be there oct 11 . Hoping to find some parks with full hookup or at least electric. We can also go on to west glacier area and stay a while if need to . Would like to do both but seems we are at the end of season up there . Or switch to glacier first then back down to Yellowstone.

[twogypsies]

Unfortunately, I think you should skip Glacier. Going To The Sun Road is a 'must' for that park but you'll be there too late. In 2018 it closed Sept 29, 2019 - Sept 25 and 2020 - Oct 9.

https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

Custer to West Yellowstone:

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/index.htm

Average High in Oct. 55 deg
Average Low in Oct. 29 deg
Average Snow in Oct. 4"

The East and West Entrances are open until Nov 8

Custer - I-90 west to Buffalo, Hwy 16 to Worland
20N to Basin then 30 to 14W to Cody
Continue on 14/16/20 into the park and stay in West Yellowstone

490 miles

OR:

I-90 to Bozeman then south on 191 to West Yellowstone - 580 miles

If going to Yellowstone definitely work in Grand Teton Nat'l Park - they're connected and completely different in looks.

https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm

For hookups I'd recommend Colter Bay RV in the park itself. You can get there easily from West Yellowstone by driving south through Yellowstone into Grand Teton.

Have you been to the Utah National Parks? Weatherwise, they would be perfect in October.

[Backcountry1]

Originally Posted by buckee

We were not finding campgrounds outside east Yellowstone gate due to there closing , so I guess we will look at some parks still open on west side . We should be there oct 11 . Hoping to find some parks with full hookup or at least electric. We can also go on to west glacier area and stay a while if need to . Would like to do both but seems we are at the end of season up there . Or switch to glacier first then back down to Yellowstone.

Almost all of the National Forest campgrounds near Yellowstone close in September/Early October, and while there are a few that do stay open they won’t accommodate your trailer. And the NP campgrounds appear to be either full already for your timeframe or not open when you will be there. Same with the “local” State Parks, both Henry’s Lake SP in Idaho and Buffalo Bill SP in Wyoming campgrounds are closed by the time you get there.

In West Yellowstone there are a few private campgrounds that will still be open; Buffalo Crossing RV Park and Pony Express RV Park.

In Gardiner, MT there is Yellowstone RV Park, and a quick search appears to have availability around your timeframe.

[buckee]

Tks to all for the information you gave us