Travelling from UK, new to RV, Denver to Yellowstone, looking for advice

[Floss71]

We’re a couple travelling to US for 2 weeks, road trip flying into Denver, up to Yellowstone, Grand Teton and back. We were going to stay hotels, motels and cabins but looking at cost thought renting an RV might be more run, cost effective and allow us to stay in Yellowstone. So a few questions and advice please:

1. Best place to rent RV in Denver? Thinking of standard size 25’, with a bed already set up, will need bed and kitchen kit. Total novices so will need guided tour. Seen a few negative reviews about Cruise America, but good reviews for a smaller company.

2. Any tips for first timers, where best to stay in Yellowstone to cover the sites? Don’t mind a bit of walking, if there are camp ground close to any sights? Or will we need to use RV every day to go up and pitch up again at night? Is driving a 25’ any problem or parking in any of the car parks at sites? Tips for booking sites, or getting a Pitch. Travelling September 2025, not sure exact date yet.

3. Water and dump stations? For a couple with this size RV how often will we need to fill/ empty and is it easy to find stations?

4. Are there gas stations in Yellowstone? And supermarkets?

Any other tips gratefully received.
Thanks

 

[Isaac-1]

I will give this a shot, though keep I have a 28 ft Class A and have not been to Yellowstone since 2017, so some details may have slightly changed.

1, Check out B&B RV rental in Denver, I have not dealt with them but have seen their RV's in campgrounds in the region, and have spoken to a few people that have rented from them, that seem happy with the experience.

2, There is almost nothing walk-able from one point to another in Yellowstone, even walking places like the visitor centers from the major campgrounds would be a major excursion. Yellowstone is huge (3472 sq miles, more than 1/3 the size of the UK). You will need to break camp and use the RV for transportation each day, as even the campgrounds are huge, we stayed at one that was over a 10 minute drive from the check in station to our camp site, of course this was at 5-10 mph driving speed. As to getting around the park in a motorhome, it can be done, but is also challenging to find parking, as RV parking at the points of interest is limited, when we were there we had to skip several of them due to lack of parking even after circling the parking lots for 15-20 minutes trying to snag a spot. Yellowstone with its narrow roads, and lack of shoulders is also not a place I would suggest learning to drive a large RV. Having said my suggestion is a smaller motorhome, something in the 22-24 ft size range, as a standard full size US parking space is 22 ft long, so something around 23 ft of so can shoe horn into such a space and only hang over the curb minimally. I will not comment on reservation systems as those have changed significantly in the last few years, but I will say you can see cold weather at Yellowstone in September, keep in mind much of the park is over 8,000 ft elevation.

3, Each of the major campgrounds in Yellowstone have dump stations / water fill stations by the entrance so, water / waste water concerns are not a big deal. As to how often you will need them, this depends on how good you are at conserving water, and how big the tanks are on the RV you rent. My wife and I can go 5+ days with minimal water conservation on our coach, though we do have 80 gallon fresh water tanks, which is probably double what you will find on a 23 ft coach. Note this allows for a single 3-4 minute shower per person per day, an RV shower flows about 2.5 gallons per minute, and assume an average of 0.5 to 0.75 gallon per toilet flush if you want to do the math.

4, There is a few gas stations and grocery store in Yellowstone, I am not sure I would call it a supermarket, as it is a bit on the small side for that, as well as a few smaller "general stores" If possible try to do most of your shopping on the way to Yellowstone depending on your route in Rawlins, Jackson, Casper, or Cody where prices are MUCH cheaper. The same goes for buying gasoline, it is MUCH cheaper outside the parks.

 

[SeilerBird]

Issac covered it pretty good. As he said Yellowstone is huge. Personally I prefer GT over Y. But you are going to one of the most popular tourist sites in the US at the most popular time. Expect crowds.

 

[TonyL]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
First things First, you've not said when you are traveling as weather may cause some issues, snow comes early in Yellowstone.
Secondly, it's over 550 miles from Denver to the west side of the park so even if you drive hard, as a novice it's going to be 2 days each way.
Besides cruise America, we've seen a lot of rental RV's from a relatively new company called Indie. They also seem to rent units very similar to UK motorhomes if you're worried about size. (Don't be, the first rv we rented was 36 ft.)
There's also another called El Monte which have been around a while. I can't say what either companies standards are like.
I'll answer further later as we're about to move.

 

[Isaac-1]

As mentioned expect Yellowstone to be a full 2 day drive from Denver, once you get things sorted out a bit, we can make suggestions on routing and where to spend those nights. There is some spectacular scenery and interesting places between Denver and Yellowstone, there is also a good bit of barren nothingness.

 

[Floss71]

Thanks so much everyone. Now more confused and not sure if RV is the way to go. We’re planning to visit in September 2025 for 2 weeks. Was thinking about a few days drive from Denver via Casper, Cody, up to Gardiner, then into the park, when we were not doing RV was looking at a few nights at West Yellowstone cabins/ hotels but put off by price and booking so far ahead, then queues to get in park. Was then going down through park with 1 or 2 nights in G Teton. Then back to Denver via Dubois (for tank museum) , Rawlins then Denver. Would love to do the RV experience but not sure if Yellowstone is very RV friendly after your comments.

 

[rvlifer]

Check the entrance requirements and road conditions at the national parks before you go. Yellowstone can have a lot of road construction going on and i dont know if they got everything open from the flooding a while back.

In peak tourist season you may need a daily pass in addition to the park pass to get in and it can take hours to get to the most popular sites in the park.

We spent months at yellostone a few years ago but boondocked outside the park. It was great but lots of mosquitos.

If you have the time Beartooth Pass is very close to Yellowstone and worth the visit. It is one of the most scenic roads in the US. Again check the road conditions cause it closes often due to snowfall.

Got one of my best pictures ever camping near yellowstone. Beautiful area.

 

[Kirk]

One thing not mentioned so far is the availability of campsites inside of the park. Since you plan to be there in September, there will be less competition, but I would still recommend you get reservations well in advance. Also by late September, snow is possible pretty much the entire route. I lived in Cheyenne, WY for 18 years and only two of those years did we not have any snowfall in September. Yellowstone almost always has some snowfall in the month of September but it nearly always melts off in a day or two. Accumulation isn't usually until into October but you can expect to have some cold nights and chilly days. Typical temperatures in Yellowstone NP will be in the 40-60°F(4-15°C) for daily high temperatures with most nights falling below freezing. Temperatures will drop rapidly after the sun goes down. Pack warm, weatherproof clothing, like a softshell, even if the weather forecast is warm and sunny. But you will have far less crowds and there will be more active wildlife where you can see it. It will be mating season for much of the wildlife and so extra caution about getting too close is required. Yellowstone National Park

 

[Floss71]

Check the entrance requirements and road conditions at the national parks before you go. Yellowstone can have a lot of road construction going on and i dont know if they got everything open from the flooding a while back.

In peak tourist season you may need a daily pass in addition to the park pass to get in and it can take hours to get to the most popular sites in the park.

We spent months at yellostone a few years ago but boondocked outside the park. It was great but lots of mosquitos.

If you have the time Beartooth Pass is very close to Yellowstone and worth the visit. It is one of the most scenic roads in the US. Again check the road conditions cause it closes often due to snowfall.

Got one of my best pictures ever camping near yellowstone. Beautiful area.

View attachment 175636View attachment 175637

Thanks so much! Maybe Yellowstone is not the best place to start our RV adventures. Think we may park that idea for our next visit, if you have any suggestions of best RV holiday places in US.

If we’re doing Cody to Gardiner (in SUV or similar) we were going to take Chief Joseph highway, but would you say better to loop round and do Beartooth? Anything worth seeing in Clark, Belfry, Red Lodge? Or try and do both? Don’t want to miss out on great sights and spend too much time with the crowds in YStone.
Thanks so much!

 

[Floss71]

One thing not mentioned so far is the availability of campsites inside of the park. Since you plan to be there in September, there will be less competition, but I would still recommend you get reservations well in advance. Also by late September, snow is possible pretty much the entire route. I lived in Cheyenne, WY for 18 years and only two of those years did we not have any snowfall in September. Yellowstone almost always has some snowfall in the month of September but it nearly always melts off in a day or two. Accumulation isn't usually until into October but you can expect to have some cold nights and chilly days. Typical temperatures in Yellowstone NP will be in the 40-60°F(4-15°C) for daily high temperatures with most nights falling below freezing. Temperatures will drop rapidly after the sun goes down. Pack warm, weatherproof clothing, like a softshell, even if the weather forecast is warm and sunny. But you will have far less crowds and there will be more active wildlife where you can see it. It will be mating season for much of the wildlife and so extra caution about getting too close is required. Yellowstone National Park

Thanks so much, that’s really helpful. Good to know it will be quieter. Trying to decide how late in September to leave it but sounds like mid month would be the latest to get benefit of slightly warmer weather? Fair brits so don’t want it too hot anyway

 

[Tom]

Trying to decide how late in September to leave it but sounds like mid month would be the latest to get benefit of slightly warmer weather? Fair brits so don’t want it too hot anyway

Warmer is relative, but you can check the current 10-day weather forecast for Yellowstone here (temps are in fahrenheit). Note the below-freezing overnight temps.

We don't spend much time in the park, but spend our summers 100 miles/2 hours south in a small valley (the valley floor is at 5500-6000 feet); We have less snow, later than Yellowstone. One of the local Docs told me that he's seen snow in our valley every month except August, and some older friends of his have reported seeing snow in August.

 

[Isaac-1]

I am not sure what to say here, on the one hand I feel Yellowstone is spectacular, however the problem with Yellowstone is that it is so spectacular, it can easily lead to to sensory overload after you have seen your 7th world class waterfall, thermal feature, etc. of the day. It just can be too much, too crowded, too whatever, particularly if you are trying to cram it into a short visit. At the same time if not for Yellowstone drawing all the attention there are many other areas of spectacular natural beauty through out Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and northern Colorado. Places that would normally be rated as a 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 get muted down to a relative 5-6 by the proximity to Yellowstone.

Having said that as already mentioned weather in Yellowstone can start turning cold in September, how much varies from year to year, so keep that in mind with your travel planning. This leads to the next question, are your dates fixed, and do you want to plan a US trip to somewhere other than Yellowstone that might be more weather appropriate for September, perhaps the national parks of Utah and northern Arizona (Grand Canyon, Petrified Forrest, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, etc)?

 

[rvlifer]

Red Lodge is a cool town but not much there. Most people who do Beartooth stay overnight in Red Lodge and get an early start. The entire area has fabulous views and scenery so it is hard to go wrong there.

My favorite national park was Olympic in Washington state but every national park is worth it imo.

one of my favorite trips was glacier np in the US then headed north to jasper and banff in canada then vancouver. After vancouver we headed to olympic.

The US is extremely large and more than you can see in a lifetime. Every part has cool stuff so it is hard to pick. Grand canyon and canyonlands are must sees imo though

 

[Tom]

The US is extremely large and more than you can see in a lifetime.

Isn't that a fact! We've lived here over 40 years and RV'd for most of that, and we haven't seen more than a fraction of the US.

One thing we've seen countless times with potential visitors from the UK is that they don't always grasp how big the US is or how long the travel distances are. When I used to talk to a long-time Cockney (Londoner) friend about our travels here, he'd say "if you attempted to travel that far in the UK you'd fall into the sea"

Ex-pat Taff (Floss71 will understand that) exiled in California

 

[rvlifer]

We spent some time in europe and it seemed like the us is similar to all of europe and each state was like a different european country. Where we lived on the east coast i could be in 4 different states withing an hrs drive . In europe we could drive to 4 different countries in an hr

 

[JudyJB]

Personally, I prefer slightly cooler weather than hot, and September or May would be my choice for Yellowstone. However, I am not sure it would be very cost effective, but you need to do the math. Denver to Yellowstone and back is about 1,000 miles and that RV would get about 10 mpg, so would use about 100 gallons of gas at about $3.80 per gallon, maybe a bit cheaper or more expensive. That will add $380 for gas for your trip, added to the roughly $1000 per week rental cost.

While you are checking rental costs, you might consider Salt Lake City, Utah or Bozeman, Montana. They are a little closer. Bozeman has a terrific dinosaur museum, by the way.

Most of us limit driving to no more than about 250 miles per day, but you might be able to drive 330 miles per day. Driving too much cuts down on ability to stop to see things along the way.

I am glad you are not trying to see too much in two weeks, at least, as some travelers from Europe do because they are not familiar with how far things are apart in the US.

Also, you mentioned about parking in "parking lots" overnight, and that is going to be illegal in national parks, and most towns and cities.

 

[JudyJB]

Also you asked about where to stay in Yellowstone to cover the sights. Frankly, you will probably want to stay in two or three of the national park campground there. Think of Yellowstone as a gigantic figure 8. Driving the 8, except for the middle crossing is 167 miles!!! (Windsor to Sheffield?) So you would probably want to spend a night or two at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Lake, Canyon Village, Old Faithful, and maybe a 40 miles side trip to the town of West Yellowstone to pick up some groceries, is going to take a LOT of driving between campgrounds!! And there are a lot of places to pull over and walk around on that drive--some like Old Faithful or Yellowstone Falls taking at least 2-3 hours to visit each.

Plus driving around Yellowstone is not freeway driving! Even off-season, a bison or two may cause a long traffic backup because it decides to stroll right down the middle of one of the two-lane roads. And considering that a big bison can weight 2,000 pounds, he can walk wherever he wants to walk!!! Drivers just have to wait patiently until he decides he wants to walk elsewhere. (And if you try to honk at him to get him to move faster, he might just take a swipe at your vehicle with his horns, so don't even think about it!)

 

[Floss71]

I am not sure what to say here, on the one hand I feel Yellowstone is spectacular, however the problem with Yellowstone is that it is so spectacular, it can easily lead to to sensory overload after you have seen your 7th world class waterfall, thermal feature, etc. of the day. It just can be too much, too crowded, too whatever, particularly if you are trying to cram it into a short visit. At the same time if not for Yellowstone drawing all the attention there are many other areas of spectacular natural beauty through out Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and northern Colorado. Places that would normally be rated as a 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 get muted down to a relative 5-6 by the proximity to Yellowstone.

Having said that as already mentioned weather in Yellowstone can start turning cold in September, how much varies from year to year, so keep that in mind with your travel planning. This leads to the next question, are your dates fixed, and do you want to plan a US trip to somewhere other than Yellowstone that might be more weather appropriate for September, perhaps the national parks of Utah and northern Arizona (Grand Canyon, Petrified Forrest, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, etc)?

Ah thanks! Although we're coming to see Yellowstone, I don't want to get so obsessed with seeing it all and then miss out on any lesser spots - as tbh it's all going to look spectacular to us! We've done a couple of driving holidays before; Vegas, G Canyon, Zion, Phoenix, Tucson in two weeks, then Chicago, Tennesee etc for a couple of weeks, so know what to expect in driving distances (in a car at least). Just the massive open roads in the US are a novelty for us! And don't want to spend all our time rushing around and not stopping to take it in. We'll definitely plan sensibly.

 

[Floss71]

Red Lodge is a cool town but not much there. Most people who do Beartooth stay overnight in Red Lodge and get an early start. The entire area has fabulous views and scenery so it is hard to go wrong there.

My favorite national park was Olympic in Washington state but every national park is worth it imo.

one of my favorite trips was glacier np in the US then headed north to jasper and banff in canada then vancouver. After vancouver we headed to olympic.

The US is extremely large and more than you can see in a lifetime. Every part has cool stuff so it is hard to pick. Grand canyon and canyonlands are must sees imo though

Thanks so much. I think we might divert off to Red Lodge to do the Beartooth then, and forego one of the nights in Yellowstone. We have done a couple of road trips so kind of know what to expect, and don't want to get too obsessed with seeing all of Yellowstone and miss out on some other great sights. Thanks again!

 

[Floss71]

Isn't that a fact! We've lived here over 40 years and RV'd for most of that, and we haven't seen more than a fraction of the US.

One thing we've seen countless times with potential visitors from the UK is that they don't always grasp how big the US is or how long the travel distances are. When I used to talk to a long-time Cockney (Londoner) friend about our travels here, he'd say "if you attempted to travel that far in the UK you'd fall into the sea"

Ex-pat Taff (Floss71 will understand that) exiled in California

Hi Tom, oh yeah we're gonna be realistic! We're always amazed how long it takes to get half-way through France! Trying to plan 2-3 hours driving a day, with a few 2 or 3 night stops on the way. It's a holiday after all, not an endurance. I know we're not going to see it all! We have done a couple of US driving holidays before, just aware need to plan a bit more for this one as it's such a popular tourist destination.