Forest Road Camping in Teton and Shoshone?

Three buddies and I will be in YS and Grand Teton in mid June and we are wondering about camping in the National Forest areas. We are coming from Virginia where we often camp in the George Washington National Forest. Usually we camp off of a fire road in established camp sites so as to avoid the crowds in public camping areas.

How plentiful are camping sites along the forest/fire roads in the Teton and Shoshone area? Do you suggest 4WD or will 2WD be OK? Any suggestions on camping sites?

Forest Road Camping in Teton and Shoshone?

Check these individual forest service websites. Keep mind that you will have to store all food, toiletries etc in bear proof containers or in your car. Most likely a 2wd will be just fine. If you are renting a car, most rental companies don%26#39;t allow you to go on unimproved roads. Have a great adventure!

Bridger-Teton www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/

Gallatin www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/

Custer www.fs.fed.us/r1/custer/

Forest Road Camping in Teton and Shoshone?

Here is a link to the YNP campgrounds that may be helpful: nps.gov/yell/…camping-in-yellowstone.htm

Camping is not allowed outside of the campgrounds within YNP, and I assume that GTNP has the same restrictions.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Ten years ago I did a fair amount of camping in the national forest areas surrounding Grand Teton. Three other guys and myself quit our jobs with the Grand Teton Lodge company and needed a place to stay for a few weeks. For most of that time we set-up camp in the Bridger-Teton national forest. If you take the Pacific Creek Road (a couple miles west of Moran, a couple miles east of Jackson Lake Lodge) to the end, there is a fairly primitive campground there with a pit toilet and minimal amenities. As you near the campsite there are spots along the right side of the road that are in a field about 100 yards off the road that butt up against the treeline running along Pacific Creek. We had the place all to ourselves the whole time. Very nice to build a good fire using downed limbs and plenty of solitude. FYI...there is a good amount of bear activity in the area though. The end of that road gets about as close as you can get by road to one of the most remote areas in the lower 48 (southeast corner of Yellowstone). There is also a trail at the end of the road that makes for a decent hike. I only backpacked in a couple miles and set up camp but it was a pretty good hike where I ran across no one for those 2 days. Anyways, let me know if you have any additional questions. If you like solitude, and can live without running water, bathrooms, showers, etc... its a great option.

Thanks for the quick response guys. That’s exactly what we are looking for stl cardinals! I do wonder what the travel time will be like to Yellowstone since we will be outside the park. We plan exploring Teton for two days then Yellowstone during our stay. Can you guys give an estimate on how long it will take for us to get to the park from the northern part of the Teton Forest?

The Bridger-Teton National Forest may not be ideal for exploring Yellowstone. Since that very remote roadless area separates you from the park, you have to take a round-about way to get there. Looking at about a 45 minute to hour drive to the south entrance of Yellowstone from that National Forest camping area. Then you have the rest of the driving to do through the park. I might suggest looking into the national forests north and east of Yellowstone (Custer and Gallatin) as a place to camp and explore Yellowstone. In my opinion, the southern part of Yellowstone offers less in terms of wildlife, hiking, and views (but still incredible, none-the-less)...

I%26#39;d start off by beginning your trip in Jackson, WY. Stock up there with food and beverage. Then set-up camp in Bridger-Teton. If you need to replenish provisions, you can either drive back to Jackson or you can gear up at the much closer (but much less options) at Signal Mountain or Colter Bay. Then once done with Grand Teton, I would drive through Yellowstone, and head either to Custer or Gallatin National Forest and make that your basecamp for Yellowstone.

A bit of useful info is to know that there are pay showers at Colter Bay Campground (about 20 minutes from your National forest camping area). And there are pay showers at Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge (Northwest corner of Yellowstone).

Oh, and I wouldn%26#39;t completly discount using the campgrounds in the parks. Signal Mountain campground in Grand teton has sites that are fairly private. You won%26#39;t be able to have a huge fire or be loud as late as you may want, but its a nice campground. You may want to check it out on your way to Bridger-Teton NF. All the campgrounds I%26#39;ve camped at in Yellowstone have been a little more crowded. But, I%26#39;ve heard good things about the more primitive campgrounds (like Pebble Creek and Slough Creek)

And I forgot one other thing....Just south of yellowstone there is a road called ';Ashton Flagg Ranch Road';. If you zoom in on google maps you can see it. We camped off that road before. It eventually enters, what I think?, is a national forest area. There are some natural hot springs about a 1/2 mile from Flagg Ranch. We camped by those one night and soaked in the springs. I honestly can%26#39;t say if that is allowed (legally), but a couple other people were there and there were no signs stating you couldn%26#39;t camp or enjoy the hot springs. That was a nerve racking nights sleep with a bear wandering around that night.

Anyways, the entrance to that road would put you about 5 minutes from the Yellowstone entrance. Not sure how far you would have to drive down that road to safely camp. If I remember correctly, the road gets pretty rough, and 4wd/high clearance will eventually be required. That road also is the starting point to a trail that I%26#39;ve really wanted to hike. I believe it is called Webb Canyon hike. Not very often traveled, takes you to a part of the park seldom see, and goes into an area with very high concentration of bears.

U are a GURU stl cardinal. I saw that road near Flag Ranch already. The Gazetteer list it as Glassy Lakes RD. We will check it out for sure while in the Tetons. And thanks for the advise on Slough Creek and Pebble Creek camp sites in the park.