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.

Video

Video: Alpine to Yellowstone, Wyoming motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 136 miles from Alpine, Wyoming to Yellowstone, Wyoming.

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!

Replacing bathroom faucets and soap dispensers

Jenn didn’t like the bathroom faucets and soap dispensers that came with our coach, as the faucets were rather splashy, and the dispensers let water into them, diluting the soap.

So we bought replacements from Home Depot, and I installed them.

Here’s the old faucet in the rear bathroom:

Old faucet

The new faucet:

New faucet

Looking under the sink, one can see manifolds of hoses to various parts of the bathroom (sink, toilet, shower, and washing machine); the sink hot and cold connectors are on the top:

Hoses

This being an RV, of course the hose for the faucet was non-standard, so I needed to get a “hex nipple” to adapt the 1/2 inch MIP hose connectors:

Hex nipple

Disconnected:

Disconnected

The old and new faucets:

Old and new faucets

A new hose, with the hex nipple adapter on the left, and the adapter that came with the faucet on the right:

Hose and adapters

Holes in the counter for the faucet and dispenser:

Holes

New hoses connected:

New hoses connected

New soap dispenser:

New soap dispenser

The soap dispenser bottle installed:

With soap dispenser

The new faucet and soap dispenser installed:

New faucet and soap dispenser

Similarly, the old soap dispenser and faucet in the half bath:

Old faucet in half bath

Hoses under the half bath sink, nicely labeled:

Hoses under half bath sink

Disconnected hoses:

Disconnected hoses under half bath sink

The new faucet mounted:

New faucet mounted

Connected hoses under the half bath sink:

Hoses under half bath sink

The installed new soap dispenser and faucet in the half bath:

New soap dispenser and faucet in half bath

Finally, I also replaced the soap dispenser in the kitchen. That was the most difficult to get to. I accessed it by removing the drawers:

Behind kitchen drawers

A peek of the old soap bottle:

Soap bottle

To install the new one, I reached back through the drawers space and poked the assembled soap bottle and tube up through the hole, before screwing the top on:

Soap bottle and tube

The new soap dispenser in the kitchen:

New soap dispenser in kitchen

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.

Craters of the Moon National Monument

A first for us: we visited Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho with our coach on a travel day. We parked our coach at the visitor center, unhooked our truck, and drove around the park, plus walked around a bit.

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Info sign

Visitor center:

Visotr center

Relief map; the red circle lights show the moving magma hot spot that is currently under Yellowstone:

Visotr center

Old lava:

Old lava

Tree

Path

Old lava

Tree

Old lava

Tree

Old lava

Crater:

Crater

Snow in the crater:

Snow in the crater

Old lava

Selfie

Old lava

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