Yellowstone Madison area

Heading north from Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park takes us to the Midway Geyser Basin (including one of our favorite places, the colorful Grand Prismatic Spring), Lower Geyser Basin, and Madison:

Madison map

The tiny Madison Information Station:

Madison Information Station

Madison Information Station

Madison amphitheater:

Madison amphitheater

Firehole Canyon waterfall:

Firehole Canyon waterfall

Firehole river:

Firehole river

Fountain Paint Pots area:

Fountain Paint Pots area

Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

Nez Perce picnic area:

Nez Perce picnic area

Nez Perce picnic area

Nez Perce picnic area

Midway Geyser Basin:

Midway Geyser Basin

Midway Geyser Basin

Midway Geyser Basin

Midway Geyser Basin

Midway Geyser Basin

Grand Prismatic Spring:

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Midway Geyser Basin

Grand Prismatic overlook via Fairy Falls trail:

Grand Prismatic overlook via Fairy Falls trail

Grand Prismatic overlook via Fairy Falls trail

Grand Prismatic overlook via Fairy Falls trail

Grand Prismatic overlook

Grand Prismatic overlook

Grand Prismatic overlook

Grand Prismatic overlook

Grand Prismatic overlook

Grand Prismatic overlook

Grand Prismatic overlook via Fairy Falls trail

Biscuit Basin:

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Biscuit Basin

Next, see a video from this area.

Yellowstone Old Faithful area

We continue our tour of Yellowstone National Park with the popular Old Faithful area:

Old Faithful map

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center:

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Old Faithful General Store:

Old Faithful General Store

Old Faithful Inn:

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

We had dinner at the Old Faithful Inn dining room, another reservation-only restaurant:

Old Faithful Inn dining room

Old Faithful Inn dining room

Old Faithful Inn dining room

Beverage menu:

Beverage menu

Dinner menu:

Dinner menu

Appetizers:

Appetizers

Mains:

Mains

Dessert menu:

Dessert menu

Dessert:

Dessert

Old Faithful Post Office, where we mailed a Grand Prismatic Spring postcard to Mom:

Old Faithful post office with Grand Prismatic Spring postcard

Old Faithful geyser:

Old Faithful geyser

On another day:

Old Faithful geyser

A bison wandering through near the geyser:

Bison

Looking back at the inn from Old Faithful geyser basin:

Old Faithful geyser basin, looking back at the inn

Hiking around the geyser basin; there’s more to the Old Faithful area than that popular geyser:

Old Faithful geyser basin

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

River

River

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

The Black Sand Basin is also nearby:

Black Sand Basin

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

Geyser

See also a video from this area.

Yellowstone Grant area

I mentioned yesterday that we spent two weeks in Yellowstone National Park. Starting from the Lake area, we next turn to the Grant Village and West Thumb area:

Grant map

Grant Visitor Center:

Grant Visitor Center

Grant Visitor Center

West Thumb Park Store:

West Thumb Park Store

West Thumb Park Store

We had dinner at the Grant Village Restaurant, one of the restaurants that require reservations:

Grant Village Restaurant

The menu:

Menu

Menu

Beverages:

Beverages

Appetizers:

Appetizers

Mains:

Mains

Mains

We saved room for dessert:

Menu

Desserts

After the restaurant, we walked around the West Thumb Geyser Basin:

West Thumb Geyser Basin sign

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Next, a video from clips captured with my 360 camera of this area. Tomorrow, the famous Old Faithful area.

Yellowstone Lake area

We spent two weeks in Yellowstone National Park (staying at the Fishing Bridge RV Park), going out and exploring the park pretty much every day. So I’m going to post about each area of the park for the next week or so, moving clockwise around the park, rather than following our activities in chronological order. That should make these posts a useful resource for people planning to visit the park, but only have time for one or two areas.

Here’s a map of Yellowstone (click to go to the interactive maps on the NPS site):

Yellowstone map

A PDF edition (best viewed in light mode; there’s a toggle in the upper-right corner of the web page):

Yellowstone map

Since we were staying at Fishing Bridge, let’s start with the Yellowstone Lake area. Here’s a map of that area:

Lake map

On our first day we stopped by the nearby Fishing Bridge Visitor Center, one of the smaller visitor centers:

Fishing Bridge Visitor Center

Fishing Bridge Visitor Center

Fishing Bridge Visitor Center

Fishing Bridge Visitor Center

The Fishing Bridge:

The Fishing Bridge

Yellowstone Lake:

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

Lake sunset

We took a drive out east to Sylvan Lake:

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake

Back to the Lake Butte overlook above Yellowstone Lake:

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake

Lake cabins:

Lake cabins

Lake cabins

Lake cabins

Lake lodge:

Lake lodge

Lake Village General Store:

Lake Village General Store

Lake Village General Store

Yellowstone Lake

Lake Yellowstone Hotel:

Lake Yellowstone Hotel

Lake Yellowstone Hotel

A pelican on the lake:

Pelican

Fishing Bridge General Store:

Fishing Bridge General Store

Fishing Bridge General Store

Fishing Bridge General Store

Fishing Bridge General Store

Fishing Bridge General Store

Fishing Bridge gas station:

Fishing Bridge gas station

A bison on a hill by the Fishing Bridge, and a couple of tourons — tourist morons, too close to the bison:

Bison and stupid people

Bison strolling down the center of the road:

Bison strolling down the center of the road

Tomorrow, we head south to West Thumb and Grant Village.

Fishing Bridge Campground, Yellowstone National Park

We stayed at Fishing Bridge Campground in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our third stay in Yellowstone, though the first in our coach; our first stay was in a cabin back in 2011, and our previous stay was in a rented trailer in 2021 (while our coach sat back at our homestead, as the campground we stayed at, Madison, wasn’t big enough; a trip planned before we bought our coach). See the Yellowstone trip posts for details. That’s for the two of us; Jenn practically grew up in Yellowstone, visiting several times as a kid.

The Fishing Bridge campground (at 7,790 feet elevation) is the only one big enough for us in Yellowstone, and was recently significantly overhauled to include nice big paved sites in the E loop.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-07-22
  • Check out: 2023-08-05
  • 14 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny for most of the time, drizzly and thunder storms the last few days
  • High temps ranging between 58-80°F, lows around 48-52°F
  • Some wind, up to 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Not much neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #E302, pull-through, concrete
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Level
  • Concrete pad about 70 feet long by about 12 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 12 feet wide
  • Mature trees around campground, few within
  • Concrete patio with picnic table
  • No fire pit

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 75 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 105-122 Mbps down, 2-10 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
  • Verizon: 13-17 Mbps down, 3-6 Mbps up, 75-625 ms ping (unreliable)
  • AT&T: 0.5 Mbps down, 0.02 Mbps up, 1500 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: no service
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • National Park

Our review on Campground Reviews:

FHU in Yellowstone? Yes Please!

I’ve been coming to Yellowstone since before I could walk. I’ve camped in the rustic campgrounds and stayed in lodges. The only other option if you have a big rig and need full hookups is to stay outside the park and wait in traffic every day to get in, so for for my money, this is the best option around. We had a nice pull-through site in the new section and were very impressed with the concrete pads. The site was level and had excellent hookups, even if the water spigot was a bit weird. There are few trees around the campsites, so there was a good Starlink connection if you need to stay connected. We camped at Fishing Bridge RV Park in a Motorhome.

The campground map:

Map

An interactive map, still showing the old layout of the campground as I write this:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

On a non-rainy day:

Our site

We were very glad for our Starlink dish and flagpole, as there was little cellular coverage:

Starlink on flagpole

Starlink on flagpole

Check in area:

Check in area

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

A nice campground, and with a park the size of Yellowstone, certainly beneficial to be able to stay within the park. We’ll definitely stay here again in the future.