Ponderosa Campground

Recommend
We stayed two nights at Ponderosa Campground in our 33’ travel trailer while traveling to Yellowstone. We didn’t have reservation but the friendly and helpful staff allowed us to go look at and choose from the few spot they had left. We spent $114 for two nights in July 2019. Nice, quiet family environment. Lots of shade trees. Full hookups including cable and WiFi. Many clean showers, laundry (~$4 per load wash and dry), large community room with TV, pool table, etc. Campground office offered many essential items and souvenirs for sale. The staff was knowledgeable about and eager to tell us about local attractions and restaurants and answer our questions. Centrally located to all major attractions, services and stores in Cody.

We probably had the worst site in the parkas it was next to the street, but would still give it 5 out of 5. Within walking distance to many attractions and a very friendly staff.

We stayed here a week to re-stock supplies and catch up on chores after 2 weeks visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone. There's quite a variety of sites, from gravel or concrete back-ins with trees, to parking-lot style sites (yellow lines painted on asphalt) for some smaller RVs, to long gravel pull-throughs in a different section with no trees. Our back-in site right along the highway was level, and while we had a small grassy lawn between us and our neighbor, the sites were pretty close together. The highway noise was worse than we expected. Lots of loud trucks, loud cars, and loud motorcycles going by all day long. The campground WiFi worked surprisingly well, which was good since even with our booster AT&T was unusably slow all day and Verizon had only two bars and was very slow in the evenings. There's a steep road down to the tent area near the river and we walked with our dog there a couple times, but otherwise didn't find anyplace good nearby for longer walks. We found the Cody dog park a couple miles away which had a large fenced park with lake access so we ended up going there on several evenings (local folks show up around 5:30pm). The Buffalo Bill museum was extremely impressive and not at all what we expected - well worth visiting! This is a good place for a night or two on the way in or out of Yellowstone and we'd certainly stay here again for that purpose, but probably wouldn't stay a full week next time. Be advised, making a left out of the parking lot (from any of the 3 entrances) in a big rig is very difficult due to the blind turn.

We were in site 54 with W/E/S, there are numerous different rates for this park depending on what you want. The sites range from true camping sites for tents, cabins, teepees and aspalt parking spaces. Make sure you ask what you are going to be parking on so you are not surprised.

The park is dirty because the spots are not cleaned between occupants, there is litter and dog poo left from time to time.

It is hard to make a left out of the three different driveways to go toward downtown. Going right to the rodeo is OK and after the rodeo the police are great to get you back. So if you are coming here for the rodeo this is thee spot.

If you are coming here to work using the Internet, don't. At least in the summer both AT&T and Verizon are overloaded. The camp WiFi is OK for email and Facebook, that is about it.

Would we camp here again, even with the issues? You bet. It is a great location compared to some of the other parks we drove by that are just dirt parking lots. This is a great central point for travel to Yellowstone, WWII's Heart Mountain Relocation Camp, etc.

Check out the blog post for all the things we did from this base.

We had a back in site which was level, but required us to park on the grass beyond the gravel parking space since the sewer hookup was oddly placed way at the back. Our neighbors used 2 to 3 sewer hose extenders to reach the sewer connection. It's an odd set up.

We couldn't get wifi to work at all from our site. AT&T worked fine in the day, but at night was overloaded with users.

Camp staff are nice and it has a good location in Cody, but the sites are very close together so it's not much more than a parking lot.

Like others mentioned, there was trash on our site when we arrived that we had to clean up.

If we were in the area again, we'd stay at one of the beautiful campgrounds in the Shoshone National Forest between Cody and Yellowstone. They are gorgeous and right on the Shoshone River. Although they don't have full hookups, they seem to be a better option not too far away.

Close sites but great, friendly people, nice store, and a fantastic location. Free cable for opening day of NFL season was a big plus. Neighbor had trouble getting WIFI but information confirms WIFI may not be available at all sites. Pick up for Trolley on site and easy walk or bike ride to museums (and a Dairy Queen right outside the park). Easy bike ride or a bit longer walk to downtown area (4.7 miles on bike odometer roundtrip past the museums, visitor center, city park, downtown restaurants and a few detours down side streets to get off the main ride and behind memorial drive for a sunset view).

I called a year ahead, a month ahead, the day of on the way-didn’t matter. Did not get a pull thru much less a pull thru by the “dog walk.” Got a back in, too small for a 29’ motorhome. I told them that wouldn’t do, so got to stay in their parking lot in a yellow painted square with water, electricity, and sewer. Everyone is crammed in, also. Great location to town, friendly staff, just not what we asked for. I even emailed them numbers of sites we would like. Everyone coming in or going out drove by us. No trees, no grass, no picnic table, just a spot on the asphalt. Was going to move to a longer back in the second day, but as mentioned in another review, the sewer was off the pad too far. We would have had to use 3 hoses to reach it.

10/03/19 thru 10/06/19 - 3 Nights - $162.00 (incl taxes) - $54 a night. 42' 5th Wheel - Pull thru Site

Ponderosa RV Campground - 1815 8th Street, Cody, WY 82414 - (307) 587-9203 - Space 135

FHU - 50A electric. Gravel / Grass side yard. Very close quarters. 2 Shower Houses. Clean.

Cable provided. Local antenna - Can pick up a few stations.

Cell Service - Verizon - 3-4 bars - Samsung Galaxy 9 Note.

This location is on the main street in Cody, Wyoming. It is convenient to everything the town has to offer.

Some spots are better than others. If you have a short rig, you probably won't have any issues. For longer rigs, you may have trouble getting out when pulling forward if you are in a pull-through slot next to the fence. Our pull thru was great for the rig to get into but we had to back out as there are trees placed at the end of certain slots. You can't make the turn when pulling forward. Luckily, there was no one in the slot behind us and we backed in and then pulled out. If there is no tree at the end of your slot, then you should be able to get out OK. Some street noise but not too bad. This park is on the main drag. Front desk personnel are friendly. Cash ONLY at this location.

Gift Store and Supplies on site.

There are a few fast food restaurants in town. Dairy Queen is adjacent. For site down, we dropped in on Granny's Restaurant. It depends on who you get in there when it comes to service. We did not leave a tip. The food was good though.

As an alternate, you may want to choose the Buffalo Bill campground outside of town. It is by the reservoir. There are certain sites there that are reservable. Many are not. Be sure to check your rig size there.

Site seeing in the area is the old western village and the Japanese internment camp during WWII. One can also tour the Visitors Center at the Buffalo Bill Dam.

This place is right in town but it’s basically a parking lot with a bit of grass between each space. Not my kinda place but it was getting late and everything in the National Forest had no cell service. However, I now regret not staying in one of those lovely campsites in the NF. It’s a nice enough place but just not my speed. The bathrooms and laundry were both closed due to COVID. The only real redeeming thing was the walk down the back hill to the river where folks can tent camp.

If you are NOT looking to hang out in nature, then this is fine for a Cody layover. And Cody has so much to offer, you'll be out and about ! Ponderosa is close to everything, esp if you do not mind walking. We walked to the Buffalo Bill Museum ( a must see ), to the shops and restaurants downtown (fun), and we rode our bikes to the rodeo (2 miles) and to WalMart (.7 mile).
Our side of the park was nicely shaded, the newer side is exposed. We were happy with #24, nicely shaded, had a patch of grass, although it is a tight squeeze. The best sites are #s 83, 84, 85- because they have shade, grass, and back up to the river canyon- so a view and some breathing room !
When I called, I asked for a shady site. They obliged. The check in ladies are very friendly and helpful. Plus, the store is a good one. Bathrooms and showers were very clean, although a bit old. The tent sites way down the hill on the river looked awesome, but only have a vault toilet.