Yellowstone Old Faithful area

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

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center:

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Old Faithful General Store:

Old Faithful General Store

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

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

River

Geyser

The Black Sand Basin is also nearby:

Black Sand Basin

Geyser

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):

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

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

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

Fishing Bridge Visitor Center

The Fishing Bridge:

The Fishing Bridge

Yellowstone Lake:

Yellowstone Lake

Lake sunset

We took a drive out east to Sylvan Lake:

Sylvan Lake

Back to the Lake Butte overlook above Yellowstone Lake:

Yellowstone Lake

Lake cabins:

Lake cabins

Lake lodge:

Lake lodge

Lake Village General Store:

Lake Village General Store

Yellowstone Lake

Lake Yellowstone Hotel:

Lake Yellowstone Hotel

A pelican on the lake:

Pelican

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

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

Check in area:

Check in area

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.

Travel from Alpine to Yellowstone, Wyoming

We drove our coach 270 miles, over four hours of very scenic driving, from Alpine, Wyoming to Yellowstone, Wyoming.

Here’s the map route, heading north:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops; we only actually stopped at Flagg Ranch:

Leaving our site:

Leaving our site

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving the RV park

Alpine:

Alpine

Snake River:

Snake River

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Snowmobile:

Snowmobile

Jackson:

Jackson

HQ of the rafting company we patronized:

HQ of rafting company

Snake River

Entering Grand Teton National Park:

Entering Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Paladin in his safe space:

Paladin in his safe space

For some reason, the entrance station for Grand Teton National Park is nowhere near the entrance:

Grand Teton National Park entrance

The built-in GPS in our coach claimed that no RVs were allowed (and the wrong speed limit); bad data:

GPS claiming no RVs allowed

Grand Teton National Park

We stopped at Flagg Ranch for lunch, since it had a huge mostly empty parking lot:

Flagg Ranch

Paladin on upturned dining chairs:

Paladin on upturned dining chairs

Entering Yellowstone National Park (with people taking selfies in front of the sign, thanks for that):

Entering Yellowstone National Park

The Yellowstone south entrance station:

Yellowstone National Park

Lewis River:

Lewis River

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Continental Divide:

Continental Divide

West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone:

West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone

Fishing Bridge over Yellowstone River:

Fishing Bridge over Yellowstone River

Yellowstone General Store:

Yellowstone General Store

Checking in to Fishing Bridge RV Park:

Fishing Bridge RV Park

Arriving at our site for the next two weeks:

Fishing Bridge RV Park

Such a scenic drive!

Snake River whitewater rafting

While staying in Alpine, Wyoming, we did a whitewater rafting experience on the Snake River. My first time.

The rafting trip was between West Table Boat Ramp and Sheep Gulch Boat Ramp:

A nice thing about staying at Alpine Valley RV Resort was a van to take us to the starting point, instead of having to go all the way to Jackson. We had the van to ourselves:

Van

Everyone else arrived by bus from Jackson:

Bus

Boats:

Boats

Jenn with a life vest:

Jenn with life vest

Ready to go:

Jenn and David

On the river:

On the river

Selfie:

Selfie

Rafting

Swimming stop:

Swimming stop

Our guide:

Our guide

Pulling people back in:

Pulling people back in

Rafting

Rapids

GIFs:

GIF

Beaver den:

Beaver den

A slo-mo video of going over some rapids:

Professional pictures; Jenn and I are at the back:

Rafting

Finishing:

Finishing

Us afterwards:

Jenn and David afterwards

Grand Teton National Park

We visited Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on three days while staying in Alpine, about an hour south of the park.

Passing through Jackson with its antler arches:

Jackson

A stop at the National Elk Refuge visitor center just north of Jackson (where we didn’t see any live elk):

National Elk Refuge

Entering Grand Teton National Park:

Grand Teton National Park

Park map:

Map

Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center:

Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center

Grand Teton National Park

Colter Bay Visitor Center:

Colter Bay Visitor Center

Grand Teton National Park

Mormon Row, and the iconic barn:

Mormon Row

Bison:

Bison

Grand Teton National Park

Rockefeller Parkway Visitor Information Station:

Rockerfeller Parkway Visitor Information Station

Flagg Ranch:

Flagg Ranch

Jackson Lake dam:

Jackson Lake dam

Grand Teton National Park

Jenny Lake:

Jenny Lake

Grand Teton National Park

A scenic national park.

Alpine Valley RV Resort

We stayed at Alpine Valley RV Resort in Alpine, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A new RV resort at 5,670 feet elevation, where we stayed to visit Grand Teton National Park, an hour north.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-07-13
Check out: 2023-07-22
9 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 79-88°F, lows around 50-58°F
Some wind, 26 MPH gusts

Noise:

Some road noise
No train noise
Some neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

#20, pull-through, concrete
Kinda needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Level
Asphalt driveway and concrete pad about 70 feet long by about 10 feet wide (rather narrow)
Grass between sites about 12 feet wide
Young trees
Concrete patio with table and chairs
Fire pit

Utilities:

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

Internet (in usage priority order):

Campground Wi-Fi: 80 Mbps down, 90 Mbps up, 5 ms ping
T-Mobile: 21-40 Mbps down, 7-16 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
Verizon: 3 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 200-1000 ms ping
AT&T: negligible service (phones work, MiFi didn’t)
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage pickup from site
Package delivery to site
Coffee shop and grocery store in walking distance

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Beautiful new park, beautiful mountain views

This is a very nice, new park that definitely has had a lot of care and attention put into it. Sites were immaculate, with spacious grassy areas and concrete patios. When the trees grow up a bit, they’ll provide nice shade, but for now, you get really nice views of the surrounding mountains. At check-in, we were escorted to our site and guided in, which is always a nice touch. When folks checked out, each site was cleaned and prepped for the next arrival. Not every place does this, but the best ones do. Another small thing that makes a huge difference is the frequent trash pickup from your site. My only regret was not getting a back-in site so we’d have fewer neighbors and better views, but that gives me something to aspire to for next time. We camped at Alpine Valley RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Book a whitewater rafting trip with Dave Hansen with pickup from the resort. You basically get concierge service between the resort and the river, which makes for a fantastic experience. Broulim’s is a nice grocery store within walking distance from the resort. Good coffee at Punkins, also within walking distance.

The campground map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Interesting water faucet; looks like they can remove the tap for winterizing:

Interesting water faucet

Adding the Teton sticker to our coach:

Adding Teton sticker

Other sites:

Other sites

A path to a river overlook:

Path

Snake River (no access from the campground; there’s a steep bank):

Snake River

The park is still under construction; they have a temporary building for the office currently:

Office

A white-water rafting water feature also under construction:

Water feature under construction

Playground:

Playground

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Nearby gas station:

Nearby gas station

A nice nearby grocery store; it was very convenient to walk to get groceries:

Nearby grocery store

Nearby Subway etc, also in walking distance:

Nearby Subway etc

Nearby mercantile:

Nearby mercantile

Nearby coffee shop:

Nearby coffee shop

A nice park. We’d stay here again, though would choose a back-in site next time, for an un-obstructed view over the river to the mountains.

Travel from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming

We drove our coach 270 miles, over four hours of driving, from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming.

Here’s the map route, heading east:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Our actual stops:

Preparing to leave:

Preparing to leave

Mural:

Mural

Snake River:

Snake River

Love’s travel centers have been adding RV parks; this looks like a decent one, with pull-through sites:

Love's RV park

Wide load:

Wide load

Shoshone:

Shoshone

Zoomed perspective of the road (highway 26):

Zoomed perspective of road

Another wide load:

Another wide load

We chose this route so we could visit Craters of the Moon National Monument:

Craters of the Moon

It has some RV parking, which barely fits us, so we were able to visit on a travel day — a first for us:

Craters of the Moon RV parking

We unhooked our truck, and drove around the park (see a forthcoming post about that):

Craters of the Moon RV parking

When we got back, the RV parking was full:

Craters of the Moon RV parking

Onward on US-20:

US-20

Arco, Idaho, the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power:

Arco, Idaho

We made an unplanned stop at a rest area, to take a break from unnervingly high wind gusts:

Rest area

Peaks:

Peaks

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

We had to wait for a long time due to an inconsiderate truck driver that had parked and gone inside; the convention at truck stops is after fueling you can pull forward and stop for up to 15 minutes, but this driver was gone much longer than that:

Inconsiderate truck

Potato fields:

Potato fields

Snake River:

Snake River

Palisades Dam:

Palisades Dam

Palisades Reservoir:

Palisades Reservoir

“Welcome to Wyoming”:

Welcome to Wyoming

Our destination:

Our destination

Y Knot Winery RV Park

We stayed at Y Knot Winery RV Park in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A brand-new RV park, still installing landscaping, plus a winery and restaurant.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-07-11
Check out: 2023-07-13
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 94-99°F, lows around 58-63°F
Some evening wind, 23 MPH gusts

Noise:

No road noise
Train horn noise (didn’t hear it overnight, fortunately)
No neighbor noise (no neighbors!)
A little construction noise

Site:

#24, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; left it connected
Fairly level
Gravel about 60 feet long by about 12 feet wide
Grass between sites about 15 feet wide
Young trees
No picnic table etc yet

Utilities:

50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
80 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
Good sewer connection, very inconveniently located (4 10-foot pipes needed; could have managed with 2 if parked the truck in front of the coach)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 17-22 Mbps down, 26-32 Mbps up, 52-115 ms ping
Verizon: 11-27 Mbps down, 16 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
AT&T: 120 Mbps down, 8-20 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Winery and restaurant

Our review on Campground Reviews:

So new, still under construction

We stayed here for two nights on our way through Idaho on I-84. We were in the new section, which was being landscaped as we arrived. We were originally in site 31, but they hadn’t finished landscaping it yet, and I could tell from a distance that it was going to be far too short and sloped for us. Since we had the place to ourselves, we pulled into site 24 and called the lovely ladies at the winery to explain the situation. They were more than happy to swap our site and also noticed that I had (like another reviewer) accidentally selected 3 nights, instead of 2, through the online booking site, so she gave me a refund for the extra night. This place is going to be really nice when they finish the landscaping, and I look forward to coming through in the future. The restaurant at the winery was also very nice and worth a visit. We camped at Y Knot Winery RV Park in a Motorhome.

The campground map; we had booked site #31, but ended up in site #24 (read on for why):

Map

This was site 31, occupied by sod pallets:

Site 31

I asked them to move them, but we then realized that the site was very unlevel (several inches front to back, and some side-to-side), plus they were still working on it. So we decided to take one of the sites that already had sod, and was much more level:

Our site

Our site:

Our site

The sewer hookup was super inconvenient; good thing I have 40 feet of hoses:

Our site

Sometimes I think we could offer an RV park design consulting service, to help people avoid mistakes like this.

Sod cleanup:

Sod cleanup

Other sites; there were only two other RVs in the park:

Other sites

A truck with a load of trees:

Truck with trees

They took a corner a bit too sharp, and broke the sewer cap (another reason that’s a stupid place for it, though to be fair RVs wouldn’t normally be going that way around the corner):

Broken sewer cap

Unloading the trees:

Truck of trees

Distributing trees

This RV park is across the road (and part of) the Y Knot Winery; we went there for dinner:

Y Knot Winery

The finest wines of Idaho (video clip):

Wine

Bread:

Bread

Charcuterie board:

Charcuterie board

My steak and baked spud:

Steak and baked spud

Jenn’s dessert:

Dessert

Vines:

Vines

The old campground; we wouldn’t fit in most of those sites:

Old campground

The new campground:

New campground

Travel from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho

We drove our coach 242 miles, about four hours of driving, from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho.

Here’s the map route, heading southeast:

Route

Interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Another interactive map, with the places we actually stopped:

I-84:

I-84

Cementworks:

Cementworks

Rest area stop:

Rest area

Snuggling with Paladin:

David and Paladin

A video from our internal security cam while our coach was driving down the road; it’s a rolling earthquake, but much more stable than a trailer. If you look closely, you may notice Paladin asleep on the stacked dining chairs in the lower-right corner:

River:

River

I-84:

I-84

“Oregon Thanks You, Come Back Soon”; yep, we’ll be back every year, as we tour around the country and return to Washington each year for health checkups etc:

Oregon Thanks You