Norris Campground

We arrived at Yellowstone on a Saturday morning and were very surpised to hear from a ranger at Old Faithful that we should be to find a camp site so we headed straight to Norris. We scored a camp site on loop A (lower loop near to the meadows). The rangers here were very nice and the ranger museum is also there. They sometimes have campfire talks at night and we learned a lot about the Shoshone/Sheep Eater Indians from a new ranger.

Be aware though.... This camp site is very near a lot of wild life. It is Yellowstone. Our first day there 3 bison came into our camp, large 1k+ lb males. They simply grazed on grass. Always keep a distance from Bison and if they look at you and raise their tail and arn't poopin, take cover because they will likely charge. A few days later when I awoke in the morning I saw the same bison running up the road and they ended up charging straight through our camp within feet of myself who was getting ready to duck under a picnic table and my husband who was peaking out the tent. Just be safe and remember wild animals though beautiful are wild and should be respected as such.

OH. I also saw what is apparently a rare site in Yellowstone near the restroom in A loop. A yellow bellied weasel. It was very neat

Is this a dog friendly park and does it accept tent campers?

We loved our stay at Norris! We got there early and were able to grab a walk-in campsite in loop A, site W6. We woke up to Bison every morning.

We dry camped in tent area. Good access point in a huge park. Wood available as well as a few other souveniers from a vendor. Loop a had plat sites for small rigs, other loops were a bit tighter and not level as first glance but htere were many people all over the area. First come first served.

Good ranger programs by campfire a t night.

On Site ranger museum. Very attentive hosts that keep things working smoothly. Would stay here again. Centrally located in a very big park. Had a walking trail to a hot springs basin - one of hte best in the park!

no cell service. not much in the park to begin with.

A nice location as it’s one of the more centrally located ones in the park. It’s first come first serve which we knew about in advance. We were actually camping in Teton Natl. Park and got up at 3:30 am to drive 2 hours to Norris and when we arrived at 6am was still 10th in line for a site. Fortunately about 25 vacancies opened up that day. This was during the peak time of about the third week of July 2016.

Tent camping, which we did is easy but a lot of the sites would require significant leveling for RVs. There’s an interesting interpretive center about 200 yards away that gives a nice history lesson on the early days of rangers in the park. Also rangers give talks in the evening.

Bear boxes are in every site and rangers will make sure food is either in the boxes or in a vehicle as bear can come into the campground as well as bison.

Be aware that when the breeze blows from the southwest you can get a whiff of sulfur smell from the geyser basin a couple of miles away but it’s not too bad.

The restroom is clean but no showers.
Overall a good campground and good experience.

We arrived here on a Sunday morning at around 7:15 AM. We would have arrived earlier, as we waited to enter Yellowstone at a truck stop in West Yellowstone in order to arrive at Madison at 5:30 AM. We had to wait there, to no avail, until an attendant arrived at 7 AM to tell us they do not take first come first served. Since we have a larger rig, we were worried that Norris (and the other Yellowstone campgrounds besides Fishing Bridge) would not have space for us. We were fortunate to get assigned probably the best spot in the whole campground, after a bit of waiting. The check in process is a bit antiquated, as it is all done by paper and they bring people into the office 1 by 1.... so dress warmly, because the temperature drops significantly at night and it was in the mid 30's while we waited 1.5 hours to get our assignment.

It is a dry camping spot, and we did have to do a fair amount of leveling (back was much lower than the front). However, we backed up to the Gibbon river and there was nice spacing between the sites. There are no showers, but there are flush toilets and a place to wash dishes (cold water). There is also fresh water, but no dump site. The campground hosts are very committed and attentive. They go through a lot of rules during the check in process. The nightly ranger talks are great, as is the ranger museum.

We camped here mid week and by 4pm campground was full. Not really a big rig friendly and our site was uneven. Less crowded than mammoth and less privacy too. Still a great base camp when exploring ynp. No att cell service

Arrive early or you will wait in line for a while and may shorten your chances of getting a site. We got there around 830 am to find a decent size line putting us around 10-11 people back. Sites are given as first come first serve and are assigned to the new comers as people exit the park. Check out time is at 10 am so you could be there in line till then or maybe even longer. As you come into the park you will see the line of RVs depending on the time you get there, do not just sit in the line and wait to move forward. You need to exit your vehicle so you can get the paperwork to get in line. We had no complaints about our site, it was a decent size and plenty of room to the left and right. Site 63 leads right into a trail so you can take a small hike after lunch or dinner. The park is in a good location and offers you quick access to canyon village which is about 10 miles or so. You honestly won’t even spend much time in the site since Yellowstone has so many different things to see and such beautiful natural sights. My suggestion get in where you can and enjoy the show.

According to the Yellowstone N.P. website this campground is closed all 2021.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm