Best Equestrian Camping near West Yellowstone, MT

Very close to West Yellowstone, about 25 minutes away. Close to Hwy 20. Lots of camping sites that are in the trees or out in the open. Dirt road has ruts, but many large rigs were camped here.

Very large KOA. Had a tent site next to the creek/pond. Very quiet at night. Check in was a breeze. Camp store appeared to be well stocked. Bathrooms were spotless, large and well appointed. Showers are not on a timer. Note there are 2 KOAs in West Yellowstone. They're only a couple of minutes apart but your navigation may lead you to the wrong one. "Mountainside" is the one you're looking for.

This campground is about 10-15 minutes from the west entrance of the national park. Once you enter the park you still have a ways to travel before you reach the junction for the ring road. So it's better to stay at a campsite in the park if you want to maximize your time for sightseeing. The KOA could be used as a home base for visiting the national park but it will entail a lot of driving. This campground is best as an overnight before entering the park, or as a base to explore the town of West Yellowstone and it's attractions, or to partake of the countless activities in the Targhee National forest.

This review is specific to tent camping which I don’t think is the focus of KOA locations.

For the good, the facilities we super clean and there were personal shower/bathroom rooms for use. The shower was great after a week of car camping.

The camp store had the basic and was convenient.

The location was very close to West Yellowstone and the west part of the park.

However, the tent camping left something to be desired. Our loop was around the back of the campground, with the basics of a fire ring and picnic table, it there was no tent pad and the ground was generally pretty sloped.

The tent sites overall were sort of fit into extra spaces and had little privacy.

As far as KOA campgrounds go, this one was nice.  The sites were close which was no surprise but we didn't spend much time at our site anyway.  There are some RV sites along the creek side that have a lot more space and they also have nice swing benches.  The store is well stocked and the staff is very friendly and helpful.  The showers are private and clean and plenty of hot water.  I didn't use the laundry machines but they look clean and updated.  The location of the campground is perfect.  It is very close to West Yellowstone and the entrance into the park.  You could hear the traffic on the highway but it wasn't too bad.  The campground was quiet at night.  I would stay here again.

Just outside the west entrance of Yellowstone, the campsite was pretty awesome with the walk in reservation we made. We wanted to snag a campsite inside the park but it was full. We came across a few tent sites just around West Yellowstone, with rain in the forecast and a long tiring drive, we drove past KOA and made a quick u-turn. They had tent availability, free showers and laundry facilities that we desperately needed.

The site itself was close to restrooms and was a small but cute layout, however, the dirt was too soft for gusty winds, we were right under a street lamp and we were so close to the entrance that we could hear all conversations and cars that drove in and out of the park.

The showers and restrooms were nice and clean. A little pricy for what we would usually pay for a no hookup tent site but at the end it gave us exactly what we needed.

My daughter(5) and I are tenters. We love the KOA campsites for their amenities and generally above primitive camping features. This KOA at Mountainside does not have a lot of Kids stuff to do like a lot of other places. Of course all my reviews will hold the buildings KOA as the standard bear for camping with kids. But getting back to Mountainside, it only has a playground, but the staff is really really good. We were in tent site number one which they said was unlevel, but it was fine. It backed right up to the stream that gave an incredible calming sound all night long. There were two fire pits and electrical. It is spread out, lots of tent spaces, the bathroom facilities were excellent. 

 The store was well stocked, and not overly priced. They have a pizza place that I have heard was excellent, but we did not try it.

I continue to be impressed with the KOA experience (with the exception of the West Yellowstone KOA). 

Yellowstone National Parks back country campsite WF1 sits on the edge of a large meadow of wildflowers with amazing views of the mountains to the west. Campsite WF1 is the first back country site along Black Butte Trail in the North West corner of the park. It is about a 2.2 mile hike to the campsite from the trail head. Campsite WF1 is open to backpackers and stock animals, however I could see no evidence of any stock animals using this site recently. The site has a large rock fire ring in the cooking area with logs sitting around it to sit on. An arrow on a tree with the site number points to the sites toilet just up hill in the trees. Don't get to excited about the toilet, think of an outhouse with out any walls, and the hole in the ground is not very deep, but a back country site with a seat to sit on is a rare treat. Just on the other side of the large trees at the cooking area is a meadow full of wildflowers, the meadow slopes downhill making a flat area in the field for your tent hard to find, but you can find spots at the edge of the field just in the trees with flat spots for your tent. Water is no problem at this site, the creek is just next to the cooking area, best spot to filter the water is right where you cross to enter the campsite.

Black Butte Trail head(WK2) is located on U.S. Hwy 191. The trail head is easy to miss, the sign for the tail is on the east side of the Highway where the trail starts, the parking area is just south of the sign on the west side of the highway. You will need to obtain a back country permit to stay at WF1. The closest place to obtain a permit is at the visitor center in West Yellowstone. The cost is$3 per person with a maximum of$15 for the night. Site is limited to one group of ten.

Eagle Creek campground is a nice small 16 site campground a few miles above Gardiner Montana and only a few minutes from the Yellowstone entrance.  Getting to the campground requires a steep 2 mile drive which the road recommends 4 wheel drive for to help with the incline and to prevent washboard.  Sites sit in a grassy open area with willows and other small trees and bushes around the edge.  Small creek runs along the campground.  Site #1 would the site to get it you can, out of view from the rest of camp and has two picnic tables.  The site has a vault toilet.  All sites have a metal fire ring and picnic table. Bear proof food lockers for food storage at most sites.  No water or trash service.  I filtered water from the creek.  Their is a horse Corral adjacent to campground.  Campground was nice and quiet at night with great view of the night sky.  No cell service.

The campground is usually well maintained. I’ve camped here quite a few times, but this past week I was a little disappointed. The grass at the site was very long. The picnic table hadn’t been mowed under. The bathrooms were mostly clean. The sites here can accommodate larger trailers, but the road up to the campground can be washboard, depending on the time of year. The road within the campground was a little hard to navigate with my Mazda 6 - there was an area with a hole and also a larger bump. Some sites are pretty small, while others are quite large. There is very little shade during the day. You may get lucky with some early in the day or later, depending on your site location. Eagle Creek runs along some of the sites, which can make mosquitos an issue. There is a corral for horses and a large turn around area for trucks with trailers.

Water can be acquired at Arch Park in Gardiner.

HeadWaters Rv campground is located in the perfect place right between Yellowstone and The Tetons. Perfect for exploring both Parks. The cell service is pretty spotty, but it’s great to just put down your phone and enjoy your surroundings. It is only 5 minutes walk from the campground to Snake River access. Fires are allowed at this campground. There are Rv, tent, and cabins to stay at. The cabins in the camp area are small but have full sized bunk beds and a desk and dresser. These cabins do not have water or electricity, but there are other cabins with power up the road. The tent and Rv spots are on gravel with lots of shade, a picnic table, and fire ring. Rv sites are Electric and water. There are so many activities to do. Along with the activities they have every day there is horse riding, guided fly fishing, hiking trails for everyone, bus tours, jr. rancher classes and so much more Also on site at the campground is a dish washing area next to the clean bathrooms and showers. There is a propane fill, fresh water fill, restaurant, gift shop, ATM machine, gas station, and bear boxes. I would definitely recommend this campground for any duration of trip.

This RV park is simply just a place to park. Many of the spaces do not have any tree coverage although most sites do have full hook ups. You are right on top of your neighbor if you don’t mind that there are picnic tables at each site too. But maybe only 20 sites available. This RV park is part of the motel. 

We stayed in a large pull through site in our van because it was all that was available during last minute booking. We enjoyed a single night here on a level gravel pad with clean private showers nearby, and we were able to sleep in because of a long travel day.

The staff was great. Shop open 8-9 and had everything you might need, drinks, ice, and keep sacks. There is also a pizza shop attached. The shop delivers to your site or you can eat in.

only real down sides are no pool not much privacy between sites, no cash back at store so bring cash if you want to get quarters for laundry, and here and there there is a bit of mud in the rainy season

Be aware there are two KOA’s just a few miles apart. The mountainside one snuck up on me and I missed the turn, had to turn around at the other KOA.

Short drive to Yellowstone west gate. Friendly staff, good location. Good sites. More tent campers than your average KOA.

Lots of campfires here every night, so if you are sensitive to smoke be aware of that.

We had a good stay here, would return.

The park looks nice. The slot we have is no real level so we had to park in the middle of the slot so we barely have enough room for the pick up. We are here for a week so I may add to this other the week.

It took us a while to get set up so we ordered pizza from the KOA Lodge Pole Pizza and they delivered. Wow I am impressed the pizza had a really good flavor. Great pizza!

This campground is e well kept and clean, the staff is friendly and fun to be around. We loved the park and the creeks behind the campground. The store was well stocked and has a fantastic gift shop. We could have gotten all our Yellowstone souvenirs right at camp. We had a wonderful week here; everyone in my family loved the clean and, in their words, amazing showers.

We are going to be booking ❤️😁2022 here real soon! Thanks, guys.

Campground is in a great location close to Yellowstone entrance. It’s a big campground and as expected it can be a little cramped. I recommend getting a site away from the main road and traffic noise. It has a large indoor pool that the kids loved, also has a coffee shop, breakfast grill, a dog area, and a large playground. All-in-all a very solid campground with a convenient location.

This campground has all of the amenities and it is a short drive to Yellowstone Park.

Very clean campground, lots of amenities. Showers were very clean. Tent sites are a little bit cramped but it was okay. Felt safe from both people and animals.

I think the other KOA close by has more food options, but i liked this one just fine.

Great site, primitive, but nice. Park is amazing, so it’s nice being close. Watch out for fire season, can get Smokey.

Lots of bears!!! This park is huge and the camping is in close proximity to all the super cool mineral pools and hot springs.

Love this KOA!  It had plenty of room for RV's and tents with lots of amenities.  The showers were very clean and spacious with plenty of hot water.  The staff was very helpful and friendly.  We enjoyed our stay here and loved that it is close to Yellowstone.  We will definitely be back!

This campsite was our second KOA campsite we’ve stayed at. We only stayed here because all the campsites in Yellowstone are closed due to covid, but we are glad we did! It’s about an hour from Old Faithful. It was similar to the other KOA in that it has a small convenience store, nice bathrooms and showers, and friendly, helpful staff. It rained the entire time we were here so we didn’t get to explore much. We slept in the back of truck because we didn’t want to set up camp in the rain. The morning after our stay on June 6, it snowed! This campsite was the most conveniently located for us at the time to explore Yellowstone. We would stay here again!

Can’t say enough about how much we enjoyed this campground. Yellowstone is an awesome place but the crowds can get very intense. This campground was an excellent place to get away from the crowds and relax after a day in the park. Locate about 6 miles from the west entrance, it’s location was very quiet but conveniently located near a town. The staff was professional and very welcoming. There was some construction at the KOA but thy kept it quiet for the most part. The campground has a nice store and a small pizza restaurant. The bathroom facilities were the nicest I have ever seen. Large private bathrooms with showers. They were extremely clean. The staff works so hard to provide a clean and quiet place to stay. I can’t say enough about this place.