Best Glamping near Shoshone National Forest

After almost 10 back to back individual nights at campgrounds, it was nice to be able to have two back to back nights in a tent cabin.  The cabins are great with two wood walls, two canvas tent walls and roof, four drop down bunks and a nice potbelly stove.  The outside area is very nice with a table, fire ring and bear box.  Parking for the tent was directly next to the cabin and outdoor pad.

The only drawback is that the tent cabins are quite close to each other.  The family in the tent next to mine was very nice, but also quite loud.  The area luckily was quiet after 10pm.

The campground village itself was very nice, with all sorts of shopping and food options.  Since I arrived at the campground around 4pm I quickly unloaded my gear into the cabin. Instead of cooking I grabbed a bite to eat and a six pack of local beer, and headed over to a spot on Jackson Lake to have a sunset dinner.  The campground location is perfect to get out and explore.

The cabin bunks are comfortable, if not a bit loud when sleeping and moving around.  I woke myself several times with chains making noise.  After the third time, I grabbed a bottle of bike chain lubricant and did some work to make them quiet.  it worked and the rest of the night was quite peaceful.

Mornings are definitely busy in the village.  I was up around 7am and rode my bike to the General Store to grab a coffee.  I took a little ride down to the lake and drank my coffee in a quiet spot that was perfect for meditation.  I then rode back to my site and grabbed my toiletries and rode back to the Launderette/Shower.  They had a little line to get a shower stall, but it moved quickly.  The cost was $5 and it was well worth it for the ability to take a nice long uninterrupted shower.

I spent the day exploring Jackson and over into the Teton Valley and Driggs/Victor.  I returned later in the afternoon and grabbed a bite from John Colter's Ranch House .  The second night was much more quiet and peaceful with the stars shining bright.  

My only qualms about the site were about how close you are to other cabins and the noise.  I would still love to stay here again.

We stayed one night at this KOA on our way to the Grand Tetons National Park from Wind Cave National Park. It was a nice campground and we enjoyed our stay. Staff was friendly and had our site ready for us upon arrival.

This campground is what we tend to expect from staying at a KOA. We had a pull-thru site that was in the trees and relatively level gravel site. When ever possible we enjoy sites in the tress. We were in a shorter pull-thru site but with our extended cab truck and our 25' trailer, we pretty much maxed out the length of the site but were able to stay hooked up. The hookups worked well but the water connection was very low to the ground which required us to change up our normal fresh water setup, but everything worked out well with a little modifications on our end. 

On most of our one night stays we have a tendency to stick in-side of our tailer, have dinner, and go to bed. This night we ended up sitting out side with our portable fire pit and listening to the river near by.

If we were ever traveling through this area again we would stay here again.

This campground features nine small-ish sites through the center section of the woods with two new larger sites right by the highway. The 2 newer sites have water and electric, but I believe it's only during the active season as they were not available when we stayed. Most are back in however there are a few that are pull through. If you depend on solar you're going to have a lot of shading in this park. It is free in the off-season, we stayed the first week of October with no reservations required. there are two water spigots in the center of the park that are also off during the off season, but there is a vault toilet available year round. In the center of the park are some tent usable sites. During season there's trash service but it is also padlocked shut during the off-season. Each site does feature a bear resistant food enclosure and a nice picnic table. The view of the Stars here is phenomenal. Just another side of the highway is a babbling Creek that you get to listen to. We stayed at a site near the highway but the highway noise really did not bother us. There is overflow parking nearby so if there are no sites available and you just need a place to park for the night there were several people who took advantage of that. Just up the road from this campground are some dispersed camping options which are free year round. The park ranger station is about a quarter mile from the entrance and there's also a gas station within a half mile of the entrance. We found The Virginian RV park in Jackson hole to be a good place to dump and refill for a modest fee of $10. The Shell station on Broadway also has fresh water and propane service but no longer offers a dump service.

For cyclists and hikers … Colter Bay campground does have a hiker/biker campsite. ~$15/night.

There are lots of pitches, with food storage, picnic tables and fire pits. No charging facilities, but I discreetly charged a power pack at night in the toilet block. Full facilities here, including showers for $5, laundry, cafe/restaurant and a really good and large grocery store. If you are coming from Yellowstone you’ll notice that the price of groceries here is back to normal levels for the USA, compared to the grocery stores in Yellowstone, which as we say in the UK, are taking the Micky (that’s the polite version!)

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.

Colter Bay is one of the best campgrounds I've stayed in in a national park out west. The campsites themselves were nicely spaced apart and you couldn't hear much from one campsite to another. Everyone seemed to respect quiet hours here, which you don't always find, and it was so quiet all night--definitely the best sleeps I've had camping! The sites had the usual picnic table and fire ring plus a really nice, large bear box for storing food and other items. The tent pads were nicely maintained and large. There were restrooms and dump stations within a short walk, which were not super nice but decent enough. The restrooms had flush toilets but no soap. Nearby Colter Bay Village was great--it had a general store with cafe and gift shop, a visitors center, a beautiful marina, and lake access with lots of trails. There was also potable water and WiFi at the general store.In general, Colter Bay was in a great location. A bit far from Jackson, but so close to Jackson Lake and a short drive to Jenny Lake. You can see the Tetons from various parts of the campground. The only negatives we really found were that there was little to no kindling to find around the campsite (not sure if that was allowed anyways) and the mosquitos were relentless in the campground. Overall, it was a beautiful place to stay and if I could find better ways to deal with mosquitos (regular bug spray, Citronella candles, and campfires did nothing and neither did covering up head to toe) I would definitely come back! One last note: we got our campsite around noon on a Thursday, and the campground was not full; there seemed to be at least a few free sites all weekend.