Canyon Campground — Yellowstone National Park

Perfect location for whole park.

When cloudy and wet it's a little dark, but that's the weather's fault!

Great showers included in price and close to village for preprandial drunks

We were only able to book 1 night online. However when we checked in we asked if they had an extra night & we got lucky to get one as the person in front of us canceled his reservation! So don’t give up if u can only get one night!

Loved this campsite. We were in loop J and our side was semi-private. Fires were allowed. Each campsite has a large bear box. Bathrooms were good and each location had a dishwashing station with drinking water near it. Generators not allowed from 8:00 PM-8:00Am A handful of shops around and a gas station near by. Showers were awesome & clean & they have TONS of washers & Dryers for Laundry!! By far one of the best NP campgrounds!

This was the perfect place to stay for our Yellowstone trip. You are super close to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and the campground itself has incredible amenities- laundry, free showers, clean bathrooms, and stores nearby. No complaints about this campground!

This place was great! Very peaceful and quiet. Not super private but a lot of trees for shade and privacy. Easy access to Lamar valley and Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

Showers are included and are awesome. Very clean and hot water. Great laundry and you can buy a cup of coffee that has free refills. People who work at the campground are very nice and helpful.

For cyclists and hikers … Canyon campground does have a hiker/biker campsite, and one thing that marks this out from other Hiker/Biker sites is just how quiet it is. There are lots of pitches, with food storage, picnic tables and fire pits. The staff at reception said that they had never turned a hiker or biker away. No charging facilities, but I discreetly charged a power pack at night in the toilet block. Recommend staying 2 nights and touring all the Yellowstone Canyon viewpoints.

This is probably the nicest national park campground we have been too so far. Sites were large and with good tree coverage provided shade and some privacy. Each loop has restroom and dish was station and each site has its own bear box. The main building can be further away but has laundry and showers. This is the perfect place from where to visit the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" but it could also be use as your base to visit all or most of Yellowstone.

This campsite was beautiful.

The sites are spread out and spread between the trees.  Even with every site full, you still have space.

Every site has a fire ring and a bear box.  Each loop has its own restrooms and dish wash station.  Each loop is farther back from the main road and the overall campground is large.

The check in building also has laundry and showers.  You get a punch card when you check in that gives you one free shower per person per day for your stay, and additional can be purchased.  This building also sells ice, firewood, and other essentials.  

Several gift shops, food options (gasp), and a gas station are just across or down the main road from checkin.

At checkin we were told there were less bear sightings as some of the other campgrounds in the park.  They still have a bear policy that says no scents outside of hard sided vehicles or bear box.  We were told the rangers are more likely to give you trouble for breaking the policy than the bears were, and while bear spray was recommended, it would not save you from a ticket from the rangers.   

Quiet hours begin at 8pm, after which rvs cannot run their generators.  The rangers actually drive around and enforce this, which is wonderful!  

I would recommend making sure you have enough gas to get you out of the park to the nearest town.  While there are several 24 hour pumps in the park including one right near the campground, the entire park lost power during our visit, and none of the gas pumps worked on the day we were leaving.

Also if you have T-mobile, there is coverage for emergency calls only in this part of the park.

I loved this campground. The bathrooms are clean; there were 2 in my loop. There is a main shower house for the whole campground- most people drove to it, myself included- I was in the very last loop. I’m a tent camper who booked an RV site so the site wasn’t that level for a tent but I made it work. The campground staff were very nice and on top of things. Bear boxes for each site.

The first clue of how large this campground is, is during check in. A whole row of agent's are checking campers in. Once you enter your loop however things become quiet. I stayed in a tent camping loop, where almost all campers were sleeping in their vehicles like me. The problem is, tent sites have on-loop parking, there is no driveway, so it was literally a string of parallel parked rigs on both sides of the road, and the road was sloped. Each site had a private bear locker for personal storage. Bathrooms have nice, enclosed large kitchen sink for meal clean up to prevent bear attracting smells at your site. This is a high altitude camp and was very cold (high 20s) at night. Great base for explaining Canyon country and Hayden Valley. Nearby lodge, shopping and groceries.

Loop A is tent only and surrounded by a peaceful pine forest for the outside sites. There are some crowded inner loop sites that are next to the bathroom.

The campground is large and very well maintained. Excellent restrooms, clean water, close the Canyon facilities.

Personal bear proof food box, dishwashing sink by the bathroom which had some recycling as well, clean bathroom, super close to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Stayed 4 nights at Canyon Campground tent only loop B. We used it as a base to explore the park. Most other tent campers only stay 1 or 2 nights. While this is definitely the cheapest way to stay inside the park there are some MAJOR cons.

1. All the sites are right on top of each other and there is no privacy at all.
2. Loop B (where they seem to stick single small-medium tents) is literally off the registration/laundry/shower/Recycling/garbage/dump station. (Read more below about specific sights in loop B)
3. Because it’s Yellowstone all types come here—including people who have absolutely no clue about camp etiquette. (We were woken up two of the four nights because two different people in the loop behind us decided to use their car lights to set up or (no clue what the others were doing) their sites—we’re talking 1 am car lights shining directly into the tents or ignoring rules about locking all food related items (containers and grills) away when not in use.
4. Related—Guests can check in whenever—like at 1 am
5. You’re right off the exit of North Rim Drive. (Some of the sights in loop b back up to the road). It is heavily traveled. Also there are rivets in the road to warn people to stop near by—at about 6 am you wake up to construction crews, workers, and guests driving over them.

The positives: restrooms were clean, but by the first week of September half of them were closed despite the loop being full.

LOOP B SITES to avoid: 31, 32, 33, 34. These literally overlook the RV parking lot for the registration/garbage facilities. (Pics below)

There is no walk-in reservation access this year for YNP camping. One must have advance reservations.

Canyon has intermittent & spotty cell connection. Canyon, like Old Faithful, is a prime location within the park and has amenities like showers  (not during Covid) & access to a well operated cafeteria and visitor center.

If you are tenting, try to avoid loop A for certain--- and possible loop B.

For RV people you must reserve in advance the length of vehicle you are pulling.

For tent people, it is best to reserve a "large tent" space even if you do not have a large size tent. You will achieve a more versatile site.

Many sites are not level, but if you arrive early in the day the campground office personnel will work with you to achieve a better site if possible.

Most large tent sites will stand 2 tents. Reserve accordingly if you have 2 cars…and the length of your cars. They need details. Bathrooms are serviced often and are in good condition. 

wifi hint:  At Canyon campground the best wifi is located at the nearby gas station parking lot.

It’s a campground , but a nice one. Lots of kids running around but as you will see in the morning it’s quite and beautiful.

Sites are good size and relatively private. Not totally level but that helped w runoff. Showers were closed due to COVID but other facilities were well maintained. Canyon is good central location in the park and great for Hayden Valley and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

We stayed at Canyon Campground in Yellowstone on 6/11/21 during our visit to Yellowstone. Great location next to Canyon Village and real close to Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Nice camp site. Dry camping with dump station on site. We stayed in J189. Would stay here again.

We stayed in two different sites here. I171 and our second one was K242. I would have done research and requested specific numbers looking back, as I think Yellowstone would have tried to get us the right sites. We had a campervan and pop up tent. We stayed here on a Friday and a Sunday. We thought it seemed like all sites had a lot of shade.

I171 was a better site. We were less close to neighbors and had a bear box. The site was huge and clean. We had some people using generators outside of appropriate hours.

K242 did not have a bear box and we were really tight next to neighbors including a huge family who left a bunch of food and stuff out when they weren’t at the site. We got eaten ALIVE by mosquitos at this site (not a single bite at the other Canyon site, no idea why). It was so bad we put of the fire and spent the evening inside the van.

Besides the idiots you will encounter anywhere, staff was really nice and the facilities were well maintained. We did think we would get showers at the campsite because we booked really far in advance and they are currently closed (June 2021). Luckily we have an outdoor shower on the van, but this would have been a big deal if not.

There is a dump site and water fill up as you exit which is really convenient.

Pro Tip: If you are going with a van or small RV and say you are not using a tent, they’ll likely put you in a really small, tight campsite in the inner ring. Instead, select the right vehicle length and say you are bringing a tent. We brought a pop-up canopy because we weren’t sure if our site would have shade and booked a tent/19 foot spot. We were given a bigger spot because of this I think.

Also note every day we checked in after 1PM there we’re walk in people who got sites which I have NO IDEA how. The sign outside the campground said “full.” I wouldn’t bank on this, but I was surprised.

Pictures from I171.

Went horseback riding in the backlands. 

Yellowstone was awesome! Great views even from touristy spots not on a trail. So many animals/wildlife!

Clean bathrooms, hot showers, laundry facilities and a dump station were all great during our fall stay.

The central location is a great jumping off point for the rest of the park, though your neighbors are a little close as you would expect in a NP campground.

We stayed in the summer of 2020.  It rained almost the entire time at night but we stayed dry.  Was also in 30's overnight.  Make the trip it is worth it.  Recommend a screened tent structure for dinner eating on the provided picnic table.  Mosquitoes will carry you off.

I spend my 30th birthday here in July 2020. It had flush toilets, but the showers were not available due to Covid. While I’m happy I visited Yellowstone as a whole, I really prefer to have my privacy and that “in the wilderness” feeling. The area is very touristy! There’s a gas station right next to the campgrounds, as well as a restaurant, general store, and gifted area. Ideal for families with young children. Beautiful canyon views very close by with a stunning waterfall! There is sparse trees but enough for hammock people.

Easy check in and check out process. Peaceful but close to the comforts of canyon village. Bear boxes provided. Our spot (A16) was close but not too close to the restrooms and potable water. All employees were respectful and wore masks. Most campers also wore masks inside the restrooms or when walking near others. Quiet hours were followed. Bugs not bad at all.

I was able to snag a spot at Canyon Campground for few days at the height of busy season. (I kept the campground reservation page open on my computer and would refresh every hour. I had one campground per tab. Finally got a cancelation at Canyon, so took it. But it can be done!!)

Our spot was pretty small and right by a water spigot that everyone used, so that was a bit annoying. Lots of small pine trees make it feel more spaced out. Luckily, there was no one camped behind us (no spaces there), so that was nice. We were situated near a screaming kid, so that was not so nice. Not the campground's fault though. It is what it is.

Big bear box to hold everything, but we were told it is also fine to lock stuff in your car. (The bears here allegedly don't break into cars like they do at Yosemite.) Nice picnic table and fire pit. Bathrooms have flushing toilets and a nice room for dishwashing. 

During COVID, the showers down at the shower room by where  you check in are closed. So no showers for us. (If this is important to you, check the Yellowstone NPS site to see if and when they reopen. Showers at all the campgrounds in the park were closed.) They did kick back a couple bucks per night for the lack of showers.

We were able to find a flat enough area for two 2+ tents, but there's no official tent pad.

My favorite part of this campground? You can hear the thundering Yosemite Falls in the distance. Best white noise ever!

Least favorite part of the campground? The bathroom lights are always on, so if you are in a site near the bathrooms, you always have light shining into your site from that building.

There's ice, firewood and a camp store down by the checkin. There's a place to drop off trash and recycling out front, as well.

From our loop (E), the village was a long walk or short drive. I have Verizon and got an okay signal (one to two bars) in camp and a much better signal in the parking lot of the village. (As a professor, I did go down to the village parking lot a couple of evenings and used my phone to create a hot spot so I could do some grading for an online summer class.) 

In the village, the cafeteria seemed to be open until about 10pm. One night, I took a little drive around to Yosemite Falls (no crowds late in the day!) and came across a black bear by the road into the falls, which was cool.

Note that all of this was during COVID times, so it wasn't a "normal" Yellowstone experience. At the time, only a handful of the park lodges were open and only 4 of the park's 12 campgrounds were open.

This campground was nice, had flush toilets, a place to wash dishes, and water. There was no tent pads, had picnic tables, and a bear box. As expected with a big park there are lots of camper around, luckily most people respected the quiet hours.

Loved this campground--excellent location close to the stunning Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Showers, flush toilets, steps away from a camp store, visitor center and restaurant. Of all the awe-inspiring sights in Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon remains my favorite, and I'm glad I was staying close enough to run out and watch the sun set on the falls.

We enjoyed our two night tent stay. Facility was clean. Bathrooms nearby, shower and laundry at check in building. Crowded campground but plenty or room at our site. Nice place to stay inside Yellowstone National Park.

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 ANY of the park campgrounds 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 here in June 2018. It went from 80 to 30. We had sunshine and snow. The sites are somewhat close together. We had some issues with our neighbors children cutting across our site on their bikes, singing loudly at 5am and throwing rocks in the road. If you are having issues with a neighbor you're going to have to report it. The campground is too big for the Rangers to catch bad behavior. Besides the rude neighbors we really enjoyed the campground. There were restrooms near by but no hot water. You have to drive to the bathhouse but it's super nice (lots of hot water). We cooked most meals at our site but did eat at the restaurant for two meals, lunch and breakfast. The food was very good and not as expensive as I thought it would be. We used the laundry room. Tip - if you're washing one load it was faster to dry the load in two dryers and the same amount of money. The lady next to us had the same size load and used one drier and had to run it twice to dry her clothes all the way. We would stay at this campground again. I would recommend staying on the outside of a loop. We stayed on the inside of one and were connect to all the other sites. The outside sites are a bit more private.

We stayed at quite a few and this might be the worst. People were leaving it was so bad. Why dont they let you pick your site?? Hot showers and close to all the action but that is about it. Too bad most of the canyon area hikes are closed do to the canyon collapsing in a bit. Still epic!