We will be camping in Tetons and Yellowstone in late September. Will be carrying all suppies in minivan and sleeping inside. I've read Nat Park tips for camping in bear country where they say don't keep any food items or cosmetics in vehicle. Is it really necessary to store everything outside hanging or in bear boxes? Are there bear boxes in all campgrounds on parks? Any info you can share will be appreciated.

As a general rule, if bears are a problem/issue in a campground, it WILL have bear boxes. If bear boxes are furnished I would USE them. I would not sleep in the van with anything that remotely smells "good" to a bear. They can open a van side or top like a knife through butter if they smell something good, and are hungry !!!! I'm not trying to scare you, but I would just take every precaution available.

Mostly, just use common sense, read the material, and be careful. With a hard-sided van, and food properly stored, you won't have any problem. Have fun !!!!

Bears are a real problem in the places you mention. By all means ask questions when you check into the campgrounds. Park rangers and campground personnel are very used to dealing with the problems and will tell you EXACTLY what to do and not do. Now as mentioned I don't think you'll have a problem with a mini-van because that will most likely be like a huge bear box in itself. particularly if you keep your food in something like a Coleman chest, it's pretty well made to be air tight. But put your food in one of those styrafoam chests and leave some windows open and the bears may well be attracted to the smell. Be careful of cooking utensils too, we had a propane stove we used every day and were told to wash it down thoroughly and hang it.

By all means talk to the people running the campground since they deal with this everyday.

I am frequently in Yosemite and se first hand what bears can do when sniffing out food around vehicles. They smash windows and slide through soft sides quite easily. The Rangers then have to make out reports, find the owners and site them for federal charges ( Yosemite is considered federal property) and photograph the damage for court and insurance purposes. Is it worth it or would you rather use the bear boxes? I have seen this sort of damage in parking lots near the hotels....not just outside areas where one might expect bears to be residing. Dont take chances....its not fair to the bears, either.

In a parking lot in Yosemite I saw a car which some overnight campers had left with a box of crackers in the trunk. The bear had ripped the roof off, like it was tinfoil, then pulled the back seat out, and got the crackers. I would not take chances. Leave ALL food in the bear boxes or hanging outside of the van.

Please heed all these warnings! You will be in considerable danger if you sleep in a car where there is food, cooking utensils, cosmetics, perfumes, or anything else that has come in contact with food, ie, straws, napkins, sponges etc. Use the bear boxes!! If a particular bear becomes a menace to people, then the poor bear must be destroyed even though it is the peoples' fault. Please be safe.

If there are bear boxes, use them! Much easier than trying to properly hang your food. Even if you're an experienced backpacker, finding the right type of tree and then managing to properly hang your food is not an easy thing. Bears are really good at getting food out of trees even when you do everything right. Sometimes mamma sends baby up the tree to bounce the small limb until your food come down. Then they proceed to "slime" everything they don't eat.