Canyon Campground

We stayed at the Canyon Campground in September and found the sites to be VERY close together. When our neighbors went to use their table and fire we had to all decide who's table and fire ring were who's. Not that it really mattered because we were all about 30 feet from each other.

The check-in process was smooth and ran more like a hotel. The laundry facility was great to have. We did not expect to use it but ended up needing it. We really like the shops and visitor center that were just across the street from the campground entrance. We also took a bus tour while there and it picked us up right there. This is bear country so be prepared to not leave much of anything outside. We spotted a grizzly in the road not far from the camp on our way back from the tour.

All in all the campground was fine, we were just closer to other people than we like. It is a nice northern central location. This was nice with the road closures that were in place as it allowed us to hit both sides of the main park loop easily. I would suggest looking at your activities and think about where you are staying as driving can take a lot longer than you expect. You might want to consider staying at a campground and focusing your activities in that area and then moving to another campground for activities in that area.

Next time we are in Yellowstone I will be checking out other campgrounds before we stay back at this one. That being said I overheard several people say that Canyon was better than the others in the park.

It could have been the site we got but everything was terrible: very small site, impossible to get level, the picnic table was suspended on rocks, neighbours very close, flies everywhere...
Madison campground was so much better!
We left after 1 night.

Canyon CG is probably not the best or most beautiful place you could camp in Yellowstone, but for us it was a good choice. We towed our popup from New Mexico all the way to Yellowstone and set up base camp at Canyon CG. From there we were able to explore the park for 3 days by car. This allowed us to take much more time to enjoy our time in Yellowstone.
Upon arriving we checked in at the registration building. The staff was very helpful and informative. There are some rules and restrictions you must be aware of when camping at Yellowstone, so it's important to be informed. There are showers and laundry at the registration building for a fee. With registration you get 2 free showers per day. We are a family of 4, so we planned to pay for some fresh smelling kids, but the way it turned out - other campers had left unused shower punch cards to help out and we ended up not needing to pay.
The campsite itself was adequate with a fire ring + grill grate, picnic table, shared bear bin (we just kept our food and toiletries in our vehicle), and a fairly level spot for our popup. Some of the sites are not very level, however. No hookups are available at the site, but there is a dump station and fresh water (potable water) hookup area near the registration. We were not sure if there would be a way to get water once we were at Canyon CG, but rest assured, you can fill your tanks once you arrive. Don't haul water all the way there. In the end - we used our refillable water bottles a lot and brushed our teeth at the shower house every night, so we never even used much of the water in our tanks.
Each campground loop has its own bathrooms, dish washing station, and water fountains. We just refilled our bottles there every morning. You cannot connect a hose at these sites to fill your tanks. Do this at the area next to registration.
Cell service is not great. We were not able access much on our phones, but there is enough signal to call and text.
The best thing about this campground in my opinion is the central location in the park and the nice visitors center, general store and restaurant options that are right there. It's not the most beautiful or exciting place we have stayed, but it allowed us to be right where we needed to be in order to have a great time in Yellowstone.

The reservation-only campground at Canyon has a very eclectic mix of site styles and sizes, so it is critical to book a site that actually works for your rig based on total overall length (not just trailer size). We are 46 feet and fit just fine in our “up to 40 feet” spot, but we saw plenty of campers in similar rigs trying to fit into “up to 30 feet” spots and they ended up awkwardly blocking the loop road even when the tow vehicles were parked perpendicular to the trailers. Shorter sites also tended to be extremely unlevel, with short level parking areas that would work for a van or very small RV but involved significant elevation change on the driveway. Some of the tent sites have weird arrangements where the tent pads are quite far from the parking area. Overall, a very mixed bag of sites and of course campers don't really get to select individual sites.

Our biggest challenge with Canyon was that the very thick lodgepole pine forest made it virtually impossible to generate solar power, and we were completely reliant on our generator. Some sites might have more open sky, but most of the campground is heavily forested. The trees might be a real benefit in hot summer temperatures, but we had temperatures below freezing every night and being in the shade all day made it seem even colder. This did give us great privacy, however, and plenty of chances to watch clever squirrels in action.

The services at the campground were really convenient. The “camper services” building has large shower facilities (at least 12 showers each for men and women) and a generously sized laundromat. Camping fees include 2 showers per day, and laundry was $2.50 wash, $2.00 dry. The two-lane dump station is easy to access when entering or leaving the campground. The Canyon Village area has a very nice visitor center, lodge with restaurants, general store, and gas station. The campground is enormous and spread out, so be prepared to get in your vehicle to drive down to use the showers or to visit the visitor center or Canyon Lodge.

The campground is of course incredibly convenient to both the north and south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and it was great to get out to popular lookouts like Artist Point before the crowds arrived. Canyon is also very close to the Hayden Valley, perfect for morning and evening wildlife viewing. It is also reasonably close to the Norris Geyser Basin (12 miles) and the northern end of Yellowstone Lake (16 miles). All in all, Canyon makes a very good base for exploring the eastern side of the park.

Internet service was terrible. We had 1-2 bars 3G on AT&T but it became unusable after 8 a.m.

Central location within Yellowstone
When you make a reservation at Canyon, you do so for a site which is then assigned to you by park staff. You are not told of your site number until 11 am of the day you are to arrive. It was explained to us that this is to prevent people from pushing out those in the site you wish to occupy too early. This campground is HUGE (275 sites in 10 loops)! Since we were assigned to Loop A, we never saw how big it actually was.

We had a pleasant stay here for one night (could only make a reservation for one night in ANY campground within the park back in March). The bathrooms were clean. Every loop except ours had a dishwashing sink; we were instructed to walk to another loop by the person who checked us in but once in our loop, there was a sign telling us to dump dishwater in the toilet. Since I use very little water when washing dishes, this worked out fine.

The one thing that this campground had that differs from every other national park campground we’ve been in is that they have showers (one per person) and laundry facilities. We wanted to get an early start the next morning, so we did not take advantage of either service, but it was good to know.

What I appreciated most was the recycling program that included just about everything (except 3-7 plastics), including small propane canisters.

We stayed at Canyon for 5 nights in August 2019. Reservations must be made well in advance. We managed to book a res by checking online every day until we found availability probably due to a cancellation. Check in was easy, we arrived around 2:30 PM and there was no lineup. Campsites are assigned by management and we were fortunate to get a fantastic site in K loop. Our site was large and well shaded. Laundry and showers are available. 2 showers are included per day. Canyon Village is across the street with dining, shopping and a beautiful visitor center. Although the campground is very large it never felt over crowded. Location is great for exploring Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley wildlife. Really enjoyed our stay here. 5 stars.

Very tight and unleveled sites. Picnic table and fire ring locations vary significantly from site to site as does each site’s individual size. Dump with freshwater. Convenience store and post office with dining options are a short walk (all closed or limited hours during our stay). Very short drive to canyon area and trails. Very green and lush region of YNP.

This is a good base camp to explore the park. Be sure to reserve months in advance. Spaces are pretty far apart. 1 bar of Verizon LTE 2 with Wee Boost on but with so many people using it, you can only get or receive an email or text once in a while. If you log on super early, it is pretty fast. No service with AT&T

Some of the signage could be a little better, but overall a good camping place in the park.

Canyon and Norris are reserved now through yellowstonenationalparklodges.com also known as Xanterra. I reserved through them before and they are helpful and polite but last check the sites were 39 for a site with no Golden Age senior discount. If you go to the recreation.com site it will refer you to web site and phone no

When booking they are picky on camper and overall camper length. My trailer is 13' and pickup about 17' so barely fit within their 30' site length when booking. However, my site had plenty of room, but that could vary if assigned a different site number. Site 204 on the J loop is great because you don't have anyone behind you and there is a reasonable amount of space on either side. Appreciated the large updated bear boxes. Site had a slight drop to the back, which works for us. The campground roads are very rough. Had to go very slow to avoid bouncing the single axle camper around.

You get two free showers per night with your site. Busy times for showers are 5-9p. Showers were clean, nothing to brag on, but they worked. Using a tent shower at your site is not allowed unless grey water is contained and disposed of at the bathroom. Cell service is dependent on where your at in the campground and around Canyon Village. With a Weboost we had reasonable service, but without it was hit and miss.