susanigoodman

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.

When you turn into the Mammoth Community Water District parking lot, a sign directs you to the RV dump station. No need to go into an office, you put the $10 fee into a drop box at the dump station. No potable water, but you can fill your RV water tank easily at Crestview Rest Area about 8 miles north on Hwy 395.

We had a great time here. The host was friendly and welcoming. The weather was cool with rain in the future, so only two other rigs there. We were told to pick out a spot we liked, and we got a large spot on the river. There are not marked and numbered sites, which ended up feeling like great boondocking. There was a big fire pit at our spot, and we were encouraged to pick up loose wood to burn, so we had a nice fire the first night. The weather was too inclement the other nights.

We loved that we could ride our bikes from our site to the Chief Ladiga Trail. We rode each day in between rain spells, going as far as Cedartown in Georgia and east 7 miles to Piedmont, where we enjoyed Elevated Grounds coffeehouse, which caters to cyclists. Elevated Grounds is right off the trail, as is WM grocery store where we could reprovision (surprising how much you can fit in panniers). The Chief Ladiga Trail is great and goes through very pretty country. At the Georgia border it becomes the Silver Comet Trail, which goes all the way to Atlanta. Both are very well maintained and a joy to ride.

Had the weather been better we would have stayed longer, and we plan to return next fall if we are coming back east.

This is one of our favorite campgrounds, for its wooded sites, small number of sites, and closeness to Sylvan Lake. We reserved a year in advance for site 34. Beware of site 34! We arrived on the Monday of Labor Day, during the beginning of a snowfall. After many attempts to back into the site, we had to abandon the effort. The host said it is a very difficult site because of its odd angling, and offered us site number 2, which he keeps out of the reservable pool so he can offer it to folks whose reserved site doesn’t work for them. We were grateful.
If you are interested in a guided fly fishing trip in the Black Hills, we arranged a half-day trip through Dakota Anglers in Rapid City. The guide met us in nearby Hill City, and provided an excellent and informative trip. We each caught several very large brown trout, rainbows, and brookies. We used some of what we learned to fish in Sylvan Lake, catching fish every time and bringing back to camp a couple dozen rainbows. We mostly fished from shore, and from our canoe a couple times. They rent canoes at the gift shop at the lake, and a trip on the lake is phenomenally beautiful.
The campground is far from the wildlife loop, but we drove it three times, often combining it with also needing to go into Custer city on errands. We saw the most wildlife the days we drove it early morning, starting on the drive at 7:30. We saw hundreds of bison, with a couple of traffic jams.
Needles Highway was also a spectacular morning drive, driving down Hwy 89, across on 16A, and starting the Needles drive going north on 89. Put the morning light at the most dramatic angle. Try for a blue sky day as the colors are spectacular.
There is a good laundromat in Custer, and the burgers & milkshakes at Black Hills Burger & Bun are excellent (take-out re covid).
The campground sites are all electric hookups, and the bathrooms (flush toilets) were spotless. We didn’t use their showers because of covid concerns. There were water spigots around the campground. We used the dump station at Game Lodge Campground for free. We also filled our water tank there.
For us, this is the best campground in Custer SP because of Sylvan Lake, with its fishing, canoeing, hiking, and drop dead beauty. Before we left, we reserved eleven days next May; it will be great to see the baby wildlife.
We had no cell coverage (AT&T).

We used it for an overnight to get away from I-80 noise. Our GPS took us Off I-80 at exit 211 and soon onto a dirt road to reach the paved Sage Creek Road toward the reservoir. It wasn’t bad, but next time I’d look at picking up Sage Creek Road in Rawlins. We left that way...a much better way. There were no entrance/exit ramps to I-80 though at Sage Creek Road. .

Only one other rig at the campground. We took the large site near the vault toilet. It was level and we didn’t need to unhitch. We didn’t take advantage of the nice picnic table as there was a very cold wind. The campground did look nice and would be fine for several days, especially if there are fish in that reservoir. Even though it was 15-20 minutes from the freeway, we thought the drive was worth it for the peace and quiet of the campground.

We camped here in late October, having headed down from Yellowstone. It was a good spot for traveling between West Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons as the south road out of Yellowstone was closed for the winter. BTW, if you’re traveling to the Tetons, the drive through Alpine from here to Jackson WY provided spectacular scenery.

We had our pick of spots with only 3-4 rigs in the campground. We were alone in loop B. After the one snow day here, when it got down to 5 degrees, the skies were clear and blue, and temps rose above freezing after two days. The park has full hookups, but being winter the water was off and restrooms closed. The loops and each site are paved, which provided ease of movement in inclement weather.

It is a very pretty campground, with lots of trees. It’s a nice walk to the reservoir, and walking around the park was pleasant too.

We filled propane tanks in Rigby at the Sinclair station, also did laundry, and shopped at Braulim’s grocery there. Braulims was a very well-stocked grocery store for a small town. We took a 30-minute trip to Idaho Falls to fill an RX at the Walgreens there. And they also had a Costco, so did some provisioning.

We had good cell coverage and internet with AT&T.

We really enjoyed this park. We usually prefer the space and solitude of boondocking, but visiting here in the winter provided the same experience! The electric hookup let us run our fireplace some which was a treat, although at times we had to be mindful to keep the furnace running to heat the trailer’s undercarriage so tanks wouldn’t freeze.

We called the ranger station to see what campgrounds might be open (with no facilities) in October after a September official closure, Most are physically blocked off, but she told me that Rainbow Point campground Loop A (it has 19 sites) was being kept open. Water was turned off, but pit toilets were available. We were surprised when we got here October 1st to see that there was no fee. We arrived about noon on a Thursday and had over a dozen sites to pick from. By evening, the loop was full. Sites are spaced far apart and everyone was quiet.
We were a 20-minute drive to the west entrance of Yellowstone Park. Easy access to the Madison River and the geysers down to Old Faithful. Over the days, we saw many elk along the Madison River. There’s a good information center in the town of West Yellowstone, shortly before the park entrance. Yellowstone allows fishing within the park with the purchase of their permit, you don’t need to buy the pricier Wyoming fishing license. Permits are sold at the fly shops in West Yellowstone. We used Swans laundromat in west Yellowstone, which was good, and had good take-out bison burgers from Bullwinkles. With summer over, we struggled to find a huckleberry milkshake, but did find one shop still making them.
The campground sits on Hegben Lake, which we fished with no success (MT license required). From the campground, we also enjoyed a day trip north to Ennis. Pretty drive and chance to see more MT scenery, and enjoy a good Mexican meal at Nacho Mama’s on their outside patio.
A week into our stay they posted a sign that the campground would be closed in four days to perform maintenance. That was okay with us as we had already been thinking of moving into the park to Mammoth Campground (the only one still open) to have easier access to the northern and eastern sections of the park.
We had good AT&T cell reception and streaming at Rainbow Point campground.

We arrived on a Monday in early May at 9 AM and there were half a dozen sites to pick from. Site 15 was a large grassy site that was fairly easy to level. The cost reflects our access pass. No amenities, not even trash receptacles, just a pit toilet. No AT&T cell service; there was cell service down the road in Gardiner. There was no host, but a forest service employee drove through most days. We loved the views, and that it was 10 minutes to Gardiner, 20 minutes to Yellowstone’s north entrance, and an hour to Lamar Valley. One afternoon, we had a herd of elk spend the afternoon in the campground.

For photography, we entered the park about 5 - 5:30 AM and generally had no trouble driving or parking in the Park. A couple snow days, but they cleared the roads very quickly. In Gardiner, we highly recommend Wonderland Cafe, amazing bison burgers and sweet potato fries. We went in May to see baby animals and were not disappointed. Lots of newborn baby buffs, and we saw a mama grizzly with two cubs by the Lamar River early one morning.

We liked the convenience of the campground’s access to the northern sections of Yellowstone, but it did take us three hours to reach Old Faithful with a bison traffic jam and some photo stops. In our nine days, we drove 700 miles within the Park—Yellowstone is huge!

We were there mid to late October. While there are no hookups, we did like the heated rest rooms with flush toilets, hot running water, and electric plugs (we used our inverter but saw several times that folks were charging their phones in the restrooms). We were arriving on a Saturday, so we got in line at the entrance at 5:55. There were 3 rigs ahead of us and many came after. The rangers started processing site assignments at 7am. We were assigned a site a little before 8am. The pull-thru site made setting up quick, which was nice since it was 26 degrees outside.
We liked the proximity to Lamar Valley, and drove it many times. Saw bear, bison, pronghorn, an eagle, coyotes and wolves. Even saw coyotes with a bison kill. On one of the days that had snow, we enjoyed a drive through Lamar Valley to Cooke City. Great burgers at the Bistro Cafe. The scenery heading out of the park and on the way to Cooke City is spectacular and worth the drive.
We also drove to the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful and Midway Geyser basin from Mammoth, although they are easier reached from other campgrounds in the park (but they were all closed for the winter).
There was no cell coverage in the campground, but a short drive toward Gardner brought us in range, at a large pullout before the entrance gate. Added benefit, we saw bighorn sheep along the way! The campground is near the main highway, but I was surprised that the road noise was no bother. Of course, with the winter temperatures and being on the go most of the time, we didn’t sit outside. We did go through propane, and refilled our tanks at the Sinclair station just outside the northern edge of Gardner. All the dump stations in the park were closed for the winter—before arriving we used the dump station at Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone. We had hoped to use them again when we left Mammoth, but they were closed. We were driving south into Idaho so we used the dump station 95 miles south in Rigsby at Bob’s Kwik Service.
The elk herd that stays around Mammoth headquarters/store did come down to the campground one day, fun to see (keeping a distance). Another day a large bull elk with 2 females across the road did an impressive display of bugling, countered by another bull up behind us.
Many of the days we were at Mammoth were snow days, and park staff worked quickly to clear the roads. Finally the weather predictions were for -10 degrees in a couple days, and it was time to head south! By the time we left, the campground had only about four occupants.

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.