Maps of travel routes and campgrounds.
We took a drive along the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway in northwest Wyoming.
Here’s an interactive map of our route:
Info sign:
Interesting rocks:
A screenshot of my map, showing lots of switchbacks:
Switchback gravel road:
A picnic spot by a river, which was rather flooded:
Flume trail:
Cooke City:
We stayed at Cody KOA Holiday in Cody, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A busy KOA, especially with lots of motorcycles from people heading to or from the big Sturgis rally.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient to Pancakes
The campground was convenient for exploring Cody and the area. Our site was right next to the office and pancake area, which was nice. The angle to get our big rig out when we left was a little hairy, however. The trailers and smaller rigs in the site next to us usually backed out of their site to avoid the hard left turn around the dump station and propane fill area. Some of the turns in the park were also a bit difficult in a big rig, especially when folks at the ends parked their big trucks into the road. The site itself was level, and all the hookups worked. We camped at Cody KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a must-do. Head over to the Bighorn Canyon and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway for some amazing scenery. The Buffalo Bill Dam is also pretty cool.
The campground map:
Our site:
We went out for a scenic drive one day (see forthcoming post), but as we arrived back in town it started to rain heavily, with lightning in the area. When we arrived back at our site, we waited in our truck for several minutes while it rained and hailed heavily, before making a run for it when it eased up briefly:
The campground experienced some ground flooding:
Video of heavy rain, campground flooding, and lightning:
A screenshot of several nearby lightning strikes via the handy LightningMaps.org website:
Flooding:
All that water washed away the landscaping gravel:
Hail residue:
The campground entrance:
Gazebo by the entrance:
Office:
Pools:
Playground:
Jump pad:
Family room:
A nice feature of this KOA is free pancakes for breakfast every day, with sausages and other food available for purchase:
Speaking of food, some samples of other places we patronized in Cody; first up, More Burgers and Shakes:
A close-up of that bear decoration:
There are bears on the back of the bear:
Not overly impressive:
We had a lot of BBQ in Texas, so it was interesting to try Wyoming’s edition at Bubba’s Bar-B-Que; a bit different, but not bad:
Finally, some pizza at Tossers Pizza and Beer; decent pan-style pizza, but not the best:
We were planning to attend the famous Cody Nite Rodeo, but after reading the reviews on Yelp and elsewhere, we decided it wasn’t for us — overly religious, political jokes, sexist jokes, etc. It would have been painful. And apparently not good rodeo anyway.
But they kept trying to drum up customers, driving though the campground every day offering discount coupons:
And a bus to pick up people:
One of several occupants of our driver-side neighboring site, a small toy hauler trailer:
One section of the park has tight buddy sites:
Other sites:
A newer section, where it looked like a couple was shoveling the gravel to make it somewhat level for parking after the flooding:
Tent sites:
Teepees:
Cabins:
Our site again, preparing to leave:
We drove our coach 80 miles, about 2.5 hours of very scenic driving, from Yellowstone, Wyoming to Cody, Wyoming.
Here’s the map route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops; we had lunch at Newton Spring Picnic Site, and got some fuel at the Sinclair station:
We paused bringing in the slide to let the pooled rain drain off:
A GIF of checking the brake controller; the air brakes of the coach triggers this piston that pushes the brake pedal in our truck for proportional braking assistance:
Checking the truck lights:
Another check, moving the coach forward a couple of feet to engage the tow bar and make sure the truck wheels turn freely (reversing GIF):
Leaving the campground; starting the Bluefire app for coach info:
The coach GPS mistakenly said “No Recreational Vehicles Allowed” again inside the park:
Yellowstone Lake:
One of the last glimpses of a geyser:
And a bison:
And deer:
A very scenic drive on the way out of the park:
Leaving from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park:
The scenic drive continues outside the park; rather Utah-like:
We stopped at Newton Spring Picnic Area for lunch:
Lunch:
Paladin sitting on upturned dining chairs:
Onward:
Three tunnels by Buffalo Bill Reservoir:
Cody:
A fuel stop at a Sinclair station; not needed, since only down a third of a tank, but gives us peace of mind, since there are no truck stops along this route, other than stations like this:
Unexpectedly, the fuel pump stopped at $75; 16 gallons doesn’t help much. So we did two of these to get mostly full:
Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum:
Downtown Cody:
Our destination:
Pulling in to our site:
The Canyon area of Yellowstone National Park includes a village of shops and lodges, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and Hayden Valley:
Canyon Visitor Education Center:
We saw these stickers, and (later) bought the Grand Teton and Yellowstone ones for the back of our truck canopy:
Otter Creek picnic area:
We found our initials carved on the table — no, we didn’t do that:
Reversing GIF of a bison having a dust bath:
Chittenden Bridge view of Yellowstone River:
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone:
Bison in Hayden Valley:
Bison on the road:
Mud Volcano area:
Bison on the road:
Check out the video from this area, including some cute otters.
In the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park is the Tower-Roosevelt area, with Tower Fall and Lamar Valley:
Heading up Chittenden Road to the Mount Washburn trailhead:
On to the Tower General Store:
They have ice cream, which we had as a snack:
Tower Fall:
Interesting rocks:
Bison in Lamar Valley:
The Mammoth area in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park has some interesting terraces and buildings:
A picnic lunch:
Albright Visitor Center:
We headed out of the park to Gardiner, just north of Mammoth:
We had pizza for dinner:
Back into the park:
The Roosevelt Arch:
Back to Mammoth to hike a bit:
Next, a video from this area.
Halfway up the west side of Yellowstone National Park is the Norris Geyser Basin; like many of the areas along this side of the park, it is very popular, with a long wait for parking during the day; we visited on a couple of evenings, when things are much less busy:
Another nearby geyser basin is Artists’ Paintpots:
Next up, a video from this 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:
The tiny Madison Information Station:
Madison amphitheater:
Firehole Canyon waterfall:
Firehole river:
Fountain Paint Pots area:
Nez Perce picnic area:
Midway Geyser Basin:
Grand Prismatic Spring:
Grand Prismatic overlook via Fairy Falls trail:
Biscuit Basin:
Next, see a video from this area.
We continue our tour of Yellowstone National Park with the popular Old Faithful area:
Old Faithful Visitor Education Center:
Old Faithful General Store:
Old Faithful Inn:
We had dinner at the Old Faithful Inn dining room, another reservation-only restaurant:
Beverage menu:
Dinner menu:
Appetizers:
Mains:
Dessert menu:
Dessert:
Old Faithful Post Office, where we mailed a Grand Prismatic Spring postcard to Mom:
Old Faithful geyser:
On another day:
A bison wandering through near the geyser:
Looking back at the inn from Old Faithful geyser basin:
Hiking around the geyser basin; there’s more to the Old Faithful area than that popular geyser:
The Black Sand Basin is also nearby:
See also a video from this 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:
The Fishing Bridge:
Yellowstone Lake:
We took a drive out east to Sylvan Lake:
Back to the Lake Butte overlook above Yellowstone Lake:
Lake cabins:
Lake lodge:
Lake Village General Store:
Lake Yellowstone Hotel:
A pelican on the lake:
Fishing Bridge General Store:
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 strolling down the center of the road:
Tomorrow, we head south to West Thumb and Grant Village.
