Best Tent Camping near Ralston, WY

A well named campground as the grizzly bear activities in the campground precluded us actually spending the night in the campground in July of 2015. The ranger actually closed the campground down as we were pulling up, saying poor camper habits with food storage had attracted a sow and cub to the campground. He was going to set up a live trap and hopefully move them to a new home territory. That said, we were able to take a quick look at the campground before being shooed out. Nice, clean, about 20 sites not too close to each other with picnic tables, fire rings, food storage boxes, and vault toilets. We were able to hike around the outside edge of the campground (note the picture of the fresh bear print in the mud) to get to the Claw Lake Trail, an 8 miler that winds up over 9,000 feet past several beautiful named and unnamed lakes, including Claw Lake and Beauty Lake. Carry bear spray and mosquito spray!!

Open:  May Mid - Sep Mid

Reservations:  877-444-6777 or recreation.gov

Fees:  $20.00 for single with electric

           $15.00 for single with no electric

Accessible to persons with mobility issues

water   pit toilet   bear boxes   fire ring   picnic table   lantern pole   

Nice wide and clean sites with flat surface topped with gravel.  Campground is more or less level but the background views are just amazing.  The campground has sites that are great for the larger RV's and one of the few along the 14/16/20 highway that has electricity.  Most of the sites are open which works for solar but not so great in the summer with the heat.  There are a lot of trees but they are a bit scrawny.  The Shoshone River runs along the side of the campground.

The campground was named after a firefighter who died in the Blackwater Fire in 1937.  There is a Fire Fighter Memorial about 1 1/2 miles from the campground

When traveling along the riverside from Cody to Yellowstone and looking for a site which provides large spaces and electricity your options are very limited.     This campground is one of the only options available with river access which meet this requirement while also catering to those which desire unimproved camping.     The location offers two loops of camping including one which is designed for the primitive camper and one which caters to those who would like some of the comforts of home.   

Upon entering camp you will find a camping kiosk with an honor box, however unlike many of the campgrounds in this area there are campground host which hold you accountable for your entry.    This makes sense with such offerings.

Each of the camping loops are designed for one way traffic, which allows you to more simplistically move through camp however can be a bit harder for larger rigs when searching for sites as some are not clearly marked.

Each loop has access to vault toilets scattered throughout camp in key locations and there is a common water spigot in several locations around the camp.   I found that this was very convenient for those which are not requiring the electricity to still have some access to water since there are no services located nearby camp.

On the primitive loop and improved loop alike the sites are very evenly sized with some locations being back in or pull in another others being pull through.     There are also double sites available.   All sites have common picnic tables and bear boxes in addition to fire rings.

With such a variety of services and spaces offered prices do range vastly from site to site.     If you are wanting a primitive site they start off at $15 for singles and $30 for doubles or $20 for electric singles and $40 for electric doubles.  They do however offer a discount for those who have a senior access pass.

This particular campground does not welcome or offer sites for those with horses, something I noticed was very common to this area.   

Something which sets this site apart however from other locations is the specific area designed for fishing access.   If you pull through camp there is a parking area and large bank access point for those camping at the grounds or just visiting for day use.

Despite being right on the river, I felt this campground seemed much more dry than other campsites and many of the locations were more exposed to the harsh sunlight.   When vehicles drove through it was very dusty and made things feel very cloudy.

Dates: May (mid)- Oct (mid) 

Fees: $20.00 single with electric $15.00 single without electric 

$30.00 to $40.00 for double 

Sites: 41 

Reservations: 877-444-6777 or recreation.gov 

Wapiti (pronounced Wa-puh-tee) means "elk". Potable water, pit toilet, trash, picnic table, fire ring, bear box. Campground is flat with gravel base for sites and road, nice private sites with most of the campground along 14/16/20 highway. Check out the nearby Wapiti Wayside to learn about grizzly bears and other wildlife in the area. Having the Shoshone River and the backdrop of the mountains is a beautiful delight. 

LNT

BTYFI 

Travel safe

Crazy Creek Campground is a nice wooded campground near the North East entrance to Yellowstone National Park.  Crazy Creek is also the last developed campground as you head to the park that allows for tent camping,  from here to the entrance the campgrounds allow only hard sided camping units due to bear activity. 

Crazy Creek campground is a 16 unit campground.  Each site has plenty of trees which was great as it allowed my to use my hammock.  Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring and plenty of room for your tent.  Campground has a vault toilet.  No water is available.  Campground is not ADA accessible.  Bear storage lockers are available as food must be stored in your car or one of the lockers.  Dumpster is available for your trash.  Sites are just $10 a night, but they fill up fast.  A great feature of this campground is the Crazy Creek trail.  A trail from the campground takes you across the highway to the trail,  a very short hike brings you to Crazy Creek falls.

We came into this campground on a Wednesday and picked the best of three open sites. There were a lot of reserved sites, but they were mostly coming in on Friday.

The site was beautiful and very close to the river (the sound was great). The vault toilets were very clean. The water was available through a easy to use hand pump. The camp hosts had firewood for $5.00 per bundle.

We were tent camping and the site had a large pad, a place for my hammock, a nice wooden picnic table, and a GREAT fire ring. The sites were all very far apart from each other.