susanigoodman

“Easy Free Overnight Stop Right outside Yellowstone NP”
Reviewed 11/17/2020

Nightly rate: FREE!
Days stayed: 1
Overall Rating
This is a large pullout on Highway 191 just a mile or so outside of West Yellowstone. It has 6 or so marked lanes for 18-wheelers as well as RVs. There’s also plenty of space for small rigs and vans to park along the edge, leaving the lanes for the bigger guys. There are no restrooms or trash disposal bins. It is bordered by the forest, so has a nice place to walk the dog (remembering that bears share that forest).

We arrived about 5 to the identical parking pullout across the street and were the first ones there. It got about half full overnight, including some 18-wheelers, but no one idled for any length of time. The road noise was not noticeable after 10pm (and I am sensitive to noise). There is an identical lot on each side of the road. Highway 191 is a small road, and it is easy to pull into whichever lot is best for you.

This is a large pullout on Highway 191 just a mile or so outside of West Yellowstone. It has 6 or so marked lanes for 18-wheelers as well as RVs. There’s also plenty of space for small rigs and vans to park along the edge, leaving the lanes for the bigger guys. We parked in the far left lane and had room to put our slide out. There are no restrooms or trash disposal bins. It is bordered by the forest, so has a nice place to walk the dog (remembering that bears share that forest).
We arrived about 5, and were the first ones there. It got about half full overnight, including some 18-wheelers, but no one idled for any length of time. The road noise was not noticeable after 10pm (and I am sensitive to noise).
There is an identical lot on each side of the road. Highway 191 is a small road, and it is easy to pull into whichever lot is best for you.
We found this spot very convenient on the day we left Mammoth Campground in YNP to head south to Idaho. We were able to grocery shop, buy propane, and do laundry in West Yellowstone before coming to stay overnight here.

Very level parking on a fairgrounds parking lot. They have raised the rate to $20 a night, but were only charging $10 because the water was down for repairs. It was about 30 minutes to the Falls, where entrance was free with a national parks pass. We made two trips to the Falls because the light for photographs was much better late afternoon to sunset. Also fewer people in the park. We checked out the nearby dump station, we’ll use it when we leave but know that it does not have potable water.

We drove out to the tip of the peninsula using the coordinates listed for this place, but with the wind and less than great access to the water for our canoe, we drove back a little ways. Stayed in the small bay on the south side of the peninsula, where there’s an island a short ways offshore. A perfect spot for us. We were at 40.985357 -109.546894.

There were a number of rigs at Jug Hollow, but plenty of room to spread out. We had trees buffering us from our neighbors. It was a little noisier than we’re used to, but we thought that the location was worth it. We were able to launch the canoe right from the silt beach by our camp, and the bay was easy to paddle around, without getting out in the deeper lake with the power boats.

Coming from the south, we filled our water tank at the RV threaded water fill at Firefighters Memorial Campground On Highway 191 near Dutch John. My husband took a guided fly fishing trip down the Green River with Collin Carlson of Old Moe guide service. Caught many fish (catch and release) and had the time of his life!

We had good cell coverage and internet access off our AT&T hotspot. We were also lucky to see the herd of pronghorn that live on the peninsula.

Do watch the wind. Came up every afternoon, and one evening we had a gust that lifted our staked-down Clam dome and threw it into the bushes. We guess it was 40+ mph. Only lasted a couple minutes. The dome was fine, after we spent an hour untangling it!

Traveling north from here, we used a dump station in Green River WY. The one at the Maverik gas station was closed, but they kindly referred us to a free one at Green River’s municipal horse corrals, 220 E. Teton Blvd.

We stayed here in late September. Access is mostly on a good road, but when you turn onto the dirt road watch for potholes. They were easy to maneuver around, but we were there before any rains. We stayed up on the ridge line at 46.942626 -103.584885, but there were plenty of other spots along the ridge line.
The access to Theodore Roosevelt NP was great, about 15 minutes to the south unit. We saw lots of wildlife, including the wild horses. Another day we drove to the north unit, and were glad we did. We thought the landscape in the north unit was more dramatic, but saw less wildlife, just bison and prairie dogs.
The wind really picked up during our stay, causing us to bring in our slide one day over concern for its awning. There was no sitting outside any day for us, We did enjoy driving the full length of the dirt road, going up the hill that offered beautiful views.
We had good AT&T cell coverage, and were able to access the internet and stream Netflix/Amazon Prime Video.

We stayed here over Labor Day weekend, arriving on Thursday. This is a large meadow .4 miles SE of Hanna Campground. The meadow has an entrance/exit at each end. Pulling a trailer, we used the entrance/exit on the side nearer Hanna Campground as it was less steep. We drove across the meadow (there’s a worn path across) to camp in the pull thru on the grass on the far right. A great spot by the creek with trees for shade, easy to level. Over the weekend there were a half dozen other campers spread across the meadow, all tent campers. Nice quiet folks.
We wouldn’t want to try this area if the ground was muddy. It was a nice location to visit Lead and Spearfish Canyon. We had cell coverage (AT&T) and internet streaming.
Taking others advice, we went to Hanna Campground and asked the host if we could fill our eight gallon water jugs. He said no but we could get water at Cheyenne Crossing. Asked there and the lady said they had no water available. Luckily we were able to make do with what we had.

Great parking behind the restaurant, with nice grassy areas for our dog, After many weeks of being on the road, we appreciated that there is a Costco nearby off the same freeway exit, which we visited first. Good AT&T cell coverage, and after weeks of no cell service, we spent time downloading Netflix, Wondery, etc. It is near the freeway, but we heard no road noise at night and had a good night’s sleep. As always at Cracker Barrel, we enjoyed the Maine blueberry pancakes the next morning!

We first drove to the national forest Soldier Creek small equine campground, through and west of Fort Robinson. It was all full, so after checking on Campendium we gave this place a try. It worked out great as an overnight stop on our way to The Black Hills of South Dakota.

First of all, let me say how pretty this area of Nebraska is! Rolling hills, pine trees, it was gorgeous. Not so much right at the camp spot, which is a large pull out in front of the gate to the wildlife area. We were able to get level both directions on the first try, so a win to us. No one joined us, and we didn’t hear any traffic on the road (U.S. 20) after 10pm. Pretty area to walk around, and the sunset was beautiful.

We had great cell coverage and internet access off our AT&T hotspot.

This dirt Forest Service Road is off Scenic Byway 12 on Boulder Mountain, and is the next road north of Singletree Campground. Going north on 12, it is to the right. There’s a green road sign readable from Byway 12 that says Happy Valley Road FS4040S. But you won’t find that designation on the Dixie National Forest map. On the map, it is Forest Service Road 172. At the end of the long road is a Happy Valley “subdivision” of cabins so perhaps the sign is their doing. Regardless, the sign is easy to spot coming from either direction.

We went in 1.3 miles on a dirt road with some wash boarding, Our coordinates are the ones listed above. It very doable for any size rig in dry weather. We did pass several sites on our way in, mostly by meadows, that looked fine for any size rig. Our large spot was near the edge of the mountain and within a few yards of amazing views across the valley, with dramatic cliffs. Only room for one rig and not near any other site. Some sun for solar, we never had to run the generator. Easy to level.

We got water at Singletree Campground, where they have a threaded RV water fill, as well as spigots for jugs. When we were leaving, we spent a night at Thousand Lakes RV Park in nearby Torrey to use their sewer hookup and laundry. And they have an amazing gift shop, with lower prices on Native American jewelry than elsewhere.

On Boulder Mountain, the weather in mid to late August was warmer than we expected, in the mid-80’s with lows in the 50’s-60’s. But it was about 10 degrees cooler than down in Torrey and nearby Capitol Reef National Park. We have been to Capitol Reef before, and with the heat (and our advanced age), we didn’t even try a hike. We do recommend, however, that you get pie and/or sourdough bread at the Gifford House in Fruita, inside the Park. We did enjoy some hikes right from Happy Valley Road. There’s a forest service trail about .7 miles further down,Happy Valley Road from our camp.

Our big outing was to drive to Boulder town on Byway 12 (about an hour), then drive the Burr Trail Road. SO amazing, we found it more stunning than Capitol Reef, The seven-mile stretch through Long Canyon is Unbelievable. The paved road changes to dirt as it enters the southern end of Capitol Reef National Park, and then crosses over Waterford Pocket. We continued on the Burr Trail Road down to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell. Then took the Notom-Bullfrog Road back north to Highway 24 and the main road through Capitol Reef National Park, and back to camp.

This is a driving spot, in our 10 days we drove 500 miles sightseeing around the area. That included a couple attempts to fish in some of the 70 or so high country lakes on Boulder Mountain. The dirt roads were too rough and slow for us, and the lakes were all over 10,000’ in elevation, too high for us for medical reasons. We did enjoy fishing in Lower Bowns reservoir, about an hour from camp.

No cell coverage (We have AT&T). We had to drive down almost to Hwy 24 intersection to get coverage. We needed to get a couple packages, and the small post office in Teasdale was the closest for general delivery and were very pleasant and efficient.

If we were to return, we would use Happy Valley Road again, especially in the summer.

We passed by the first pullout with information signs and continued on to the second pullout, which is on the right. Nice bench with shade shelter and interesting information signage on the Canyon. We liked the idea of overnighting on the California emigrant trail. Two other rigs and there was room to spread out. Leveled side to side a bit and didn’t have to unhitch, so it made an easy overnight stop. Quiet nights sleep. Other’s directions were spot on, and we did retrace out steps to continue east on the freeway. The nearby California Trail Interpretive Center off I-80 was still closed because of Covid, but we have been before and highly recommend it.