Yellowstone with no reservations?
 

Hello!

How realistic is it to get a non-pre-reserved site in Yellowstone on July 2? They have 450 sites that do not take reservations. We were planning to go spend the night in Cody July 1st and leave early, getting at Yellowstone around 6am to hopefully claim a site.

Has anyone had any luck in the past?

Thank you!

No idea how realistic it is, but the question I'd ask myself is "what is my backup plan?"

Let's quote the NPS, specifically
www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm
"Campgrounds may be filled by 11 a.m.; arrive early to obtain a site."

At Yellowstone, the Thursday before the July 4th weekend will, of course, be far worse than normal. I personally think you'll be okay by arriving that early, but don't yell at the Ranger who tells you all campsites are full, using the words, "But a guy on the Internet said I'd be okay!"

My backup plan would be to check the campgrounds in the national forests just outside the park.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/custer...telprdb5138825

You should know when you drive into the park if any of the campgrounds had vacancies the previous night.

If they were all full, then you will have to wait and hope for someone to check out and try to claim a first-come, first-served site. The problem with that is you won't know which campground or which sites are opening up, so you will be forced to guess and hope for the best. You could waste a good part of the morning sitting around waiting for someone to leave.

If there are vacancies in the first-come, first-served sites on the 1st, you should be able to pick which campground best suits your needs and go register for an open site right away in the morning.

I think you will be sleeping in your car. One thing to consider is the unannounced closing of camp grounds. We had a reservation on our trip, but when we arrived we were told that there had been bears in and near that camp ground, so they had closed it temporarily. We were left with no place to stay and a real scramble to find a hotel outside the park.

I agree.....you better have a good back-up plan.

The problem is those 400 some first come, first serve sites are all over the park and getting to them is going to take some time if the first campground you come to is full. Since you know your date why not make a reservation?

Will you be camping with a tent or an RV?

Utahtea

We ended up getting a reservation for Madison Campground through calling Yellowstone. There seemed to be quite a bit of availability that was not showing up on the website. So if you are in a bind, call! I think as you get closer to your desired date, people cancel so things open. We had a great time there for the 4th of July week.