Yellowstone RV Camping: Which Campgrounds Fit Big Rigs

Last updated October 28, 2026 · By RV National Parks Guide Editorial Team

If you want hookups in Yellowstone there is one answer, Fishing Bridge RV Park, and it takes hard-sided rigs only, up to a combined 95 feet. If you can dry camp, Grant Village takes 50 feet, Madison, Bridge Bay and Canyon take 40, and the small Recreation.gov campgrounds in the north take 25 to 45 feet depending on the site. Nothing on the park’s roads limits RV length, so the campground pad is the only constraint, and the real problem is getting a reservation at all: every reservable site opens exactly six months ahead and the popular ones go that morning.

Two things changed recently that most older guides miss. The concessioner, Yellowstone National Park Lodges, states that from the 2027 season its five campgrounds move to Recreation.gov, ending the split booking system. And Fishing Bridge’s Upper Loop has been rebuilt with paved pull-throughs up to 95 feet. This guide covers every campground’s length limit, hookups, dump station, generator rules, 2026 and projected 2027 dates and fees, drawn from the NPS campgrounds page, the NPS operating-dates page, the concessioner’s campground pages and Recreation.gov, all read in October 2026.

All twelve campgrounds, with the numbers that matter

Sources: NPS campgrounds table and operating dates; concessioner campground pages; Recreation.gov Mammoth listing. Dates are subject to change; the 2027 projections are below.

A note on the 40-versus-60 conflict. The NPS campground table ends each row with an unlabeled number that reads 60 for Madison and Bridge Bay. The concessioner pages for those two campgrounds say in plain sentences that the maximum RV length is 40 feet. We could not reconcile the two, so the safe reading is 40 feet; if you are between 40 and 60 feet, book Grant Village or Fishing Bridge, or email the park before relying on a specific long site.

Fishing Bridge RV Park: the only hookups in the park

Fishing Bridge sits near the outlet of Yellowstone Lake, central to everything: Hayden Valley and Canyon to the north, Lake Village and West Thumb to the south, the East Entrance road over Sylvan Pass to the east. It is also prime grizzly habitat, which is why the rule is absolute: hard-sided units only. The NPS wording is “no tents or tent-trailers”; the concessioner adds “no campers with tent-style slideouts.” A pop-up, a hybrid trailer with canvas ends, or a truck camper with a soft pop-top will be turned away.

What you get, per the concessioner’s page as of October 2026:

• 310 sites, all hard-sided RV. The Upper Loop has 172 renovated, paved sites from 40 to 95 feet; most are pull-through, the 40-foot ones are back-in. The Lower Loop is gravel, 30 to 35 feet, back-in, some single-width.
• Full hookups: water, sewer and electric at 50 or 30 amp (the Upper Loop also has 110-volt outlets). The concessioner warns electric supply is limited and temporary outages can occur on hot days, which is a reason to carry a surge protector with low-voltage cutoff.
• Combined length up to 95 feet, motorhome plus towed vehicle, depending on availability. When booking you enter the combined length, and that is what the site is matched to.
• Dump station near the entrance, closed when it freezes early and late in the season. Showers and coin laundry in the registration building; two showers per night are included in the rate.
• Generators 8 am to 8 pm only, under 60 dB at 50 feet. Quiet hours 10 pm to 6 am.
• Picnic tables only in Loop E. Sites may not be level; the sister site has a short primer on leveling an RV if yours lacks auto-levelers.
• Fee: $94 plus tax per night on the NPS table. The Senior and Access pass discount does not apply here.
• Season: May 8 to October 17, 2026 per the NPS (the concessioner lists October 18); projected May 14 to October 17, 2027.

For a 40-foot Class A towing a car, or a one-ton dually with a 40-foot fifth wheel, this is the only campground in the park designed around you. It is also the most expensive camping in Yellowstone by a wide margin. Our hookups-in-national-parks list puts the price in context against other parks.

Grant Village: 50 feet, dry, and open latest

Grant Village is on the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, close to the South Entrance and the road to Grand Teton. The concessioner lists over 400 regular sites and 8 group sites, with RVs up to 50 feet in pull-through and back-in sites, no hookups, a dump station that may be shut in freezing weather, and the standard 8-to-8 generator window. It opens last of the big campgrounds, June 26 in 2026 and a projected June 18, 2027, and closes in late September. The $45-plus-tax rate is the same as Canyon. For a 42- to 50-foot combination that does not need power, this is the campground, and it is the closest in-park base to Headwaters and Grand Teton, covered in our Grand Teton RV campgrounds guide.

Madison, Bridge Bay and Canyon: the 40-foot campgrounds

Madison (276 to 278 sites) is the geyser-basin campground, 14 miles from Old Faithful and 14 from the West Entrance at West Yellowstone, which has fuel, groceries and propane. It opens first, May 1 in 2026 and a projected May 7, 2027, and runs to mid-October. No hookups; dump station; $38 plus tax.

Bridge Bay (431 sites) is on Yellowstone Lake near the marina, three miles from Lake Village. It had the shortest season of the five in 2026, May 15 to September 13, with a projected May 21 to September 13, 2027. No hookups; dump station; $38 plus tax. The concessioner says RVs up to 40 feet fit pull-through and back-in sites.

Canyon (272 sites) is the highest and coldest of the group at about 7,900 feet, next to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. May 29 to September 19 in 2026; projected May 28 to September 19, 2027. No hookups; dump station; $45 plus tax; 40-foot maximum.

At all three, generators run 8 am to 8 pm at RV and combination sites only, not at tent-only sites, with a 60 dB limit. All three offer pay showers nearby. None is level by design; expect blocks.

The Recreation.gov campgrounds in the north

These are smaller, cheaper and more exposed, with vault or flush toilets and no dump stations confirmed on the pages we read.

• Mammoth (82 sites, $25) is the only year-round campground, near the North Entrance at Gardiner and the one road that stays open to cars all winter. The NPS footnote gives a 45-foot limit May through mid-October and a winter limit from mid-October through April, which Recreation.gov states as 30 feet from November through April. Reservations are required from mid-April; sites are first-come, first-served from October 15 to April 1. Generators are prohibited 8 pm to 8 am. One road note from the NPS park-roads page: the Gardner River High Bridge near Mammoth is closed to oversized vehicles (8 ft 6 in or wider, 75 ft or longer, 80,000 lb or more) from April 13 to November 24, 2026. That describes commercial trucks rather than RVs, but a wide-body coach with a long toad should check.
• Indian Creek (70 sites, $20, 35 feet), between Mammoth and Norris, June 12 to September 14 in 2026.
• Lewis Lake (84 sites, $20, 25 feet), near the South Entrance, June 15 to October 11, 2026. Small trailers and vans only.
• Tower Fall (31 sites, $20) carries an NPS footnote about a hairpin curve; Slough Creek (16 sites, $20) is marked “assess first.” Both are off the Lamar Valley road and suit truck campers and short trailers. Read the individual site dimensions on Recreation.gov before booking either.
• Pebble Creek (27 sites) has been closed since the June 2022 floods and the NPS says it will stay closed until further notice.

Reservations: six months out, and the 2027 switch

The NPS states that reservations open on a rolling basis, so a July 20 stay becomes bookable on January 20. For the Recreation.gov campgrounds that has always been the system. For the five concessioner campgrounds, Yellowstone National Park Lodges says that beginning with the 2027 summer season reservations for Bridge Bay, Canyon, Grant Village, Madison and Fishing Bridge RV Park will be handled through Recreation.gov, opening about six months in advance, with individual site selection; the campgrounds themselves stay under the concessioner’s management. In practice that means booking a 2027 stay at Fishing Bridge in the same Recreation.gov account as Mammoth or a Grand Teton campground, and entering your combined rig length so the system offers only sites that fit. Our Recreation.gov guide for RVers covers filters, the 10 am Eastern release and how to set a length that is honest without being pessimistic.

Two rules worth knowing: the NPS prohibits delivery or pick-up of out-of-park RV or camper rentals inside the park, and dump stations across the park close when temperatures drop below freezing, which can mean the first and last two weeks of the season. The park entrance fee ($35 per private vehicle for seven days, $80 for the America the Beautiful pass, plus a $100 per-person surcharge for non-US residents aged 16 and over without an annual pass) is separate from camping.

Roads: no RV length limit, but a short season

Yellowstone’s interior roads have no general vehicle length restriction, and big coaches drive Dunraven Pass and Sylvan Pass every day in summer. The constraint is the calendar. For 2026 the NPS projected the West Entrance and Madison-to-Old Faithful roads opening April 17, the East Entrance over Sylvan Pass May 1, the South Entrance and Craig Pass May 8, and Dunraven Pass between Canyon and Tower last on May 22. Most roads closed October 31 and Dunraven on October 12. Only the North Entrance to Northeast Entrance road stays open to regular vehicles all year. If your campground is open but the road to it from your entrance is not, you are driving around the outside of the park. Check the NPS park roads page for the current year before committing to an early-May or late-October booking.

Which campground for which rig

Mistakes to avoid

• Booking Fishing Bridge with a hybrid trailer. Canvas ends make it soft-sided. You will not be admitted and the rate is not refundable for that reason.
• Entering only the motorhome length. Fishing Bridge matches sites to combined length. A 38-foot coach with a 16-foot toad is 54 feet plus the tow bar.
• Assuming a dump station is open in May or October. They close in freezing weather at every campground that has one. Know where the nearest gateway-town dump is; the sister site explains how to use a dump station if it is your first season.
• Counting on 60 feet at Madison or Bridge Bay. The concessioner says 40.
• Trying to winter-camp at Mammoth in a 35-footer. The winter limit is 30 feet.

When to go and how long

Late June through early September has every campground open, every road open and the most competition for sites. Early June and the second half of September are the sweet spot for RVs that do not need hookups: Madison, Fishing Bridge and Grant Village are open, crowds thin, and the Hayden and Lamar valleys are at their best for wildlife. Five nights split between two bases, one in the Madison or Old Faithful area and one at Fishing Bridge or Grant, covers the loop road without three-hour drives each day. If you are continuing south, Grant Village to Colter Bay is under an hour, and the combined trip is the most common big-rig itinerary in the Rockies. For how Yellowstone’s limits compare with Glacier’s 21-foot road rule or Zion’s tunnel, see our national park RV size limits roundup.