Madison Campground — Yellowstone National Park

Lovely site, busy but great location and friendly.

Sites close together but not too close.

Facilities fantastic, clean and warm, dump station and shop.

Don't miss a sit at sunset with gin and nibbles by the river

You definitely need to be comfortable being close to your neighbor as sights aren’t private & close together. Restrooms ok and it was great having a dishwashing station.

There are no showers here. Fires were allowed & they provided a 5 gallon bucket near a spigot to put out fire.
Each campsite had a large bear box.

I’m just writing this review because I had to add this campground. I can’t believe I had to tell the dirt to add Madison Campground in Yellowstone National Park. The largest and most popular campground in the park. Bizarre.

This is a great location to explore the park, easily access hiking and fishing , and enjoy the wildlife which may even walk through the campground as did a family of Bison.  

You also need to be comfortable camping very close to your neighbors and willing to make any campsite assigned to you work.  Reservations need to be made way in advance.  

Staff was friendly, professional, and very busy. The campground and restrooms were super clean all the time. There is a small mercantile with ice, firewood, and the typical in case you forgot something selection of items.  They recycle everything including the small propane bottles.  

Beautiful in the park scenery and being at the confluence of two rivers would easily make for a 5 star rating.  Crowded sites, extra smoky campfires, and too many generators running for way too long was a negative.  Our closest restroom was out of commission for 2 days but they have enough nearby so it wasn't a big issue.  Depending on what site you get, you may hear road noise from the main road in and out of the west exit.   

If you tent camp you will have a great experience.  The tent only loops are awesome

We camp in a tear drop micro-camper which keeps us outside most of the time (its why we camp). 

This was our third trip to Yellowstone and we will stay here again.

Tucked away, not super close to everyone. Nice little spot.

Nice toilets close to our campspot, good location, fairly quiet, and possibility to do dumping in the camp. No showers, quite busy and a bit noisy

Good amenities, nice rangers. One downside is it’s quite far from most of the main trails/attractions in Yellowstone. Don’t underestimate how big this place is and be prepared for a lot of driving! Had a herd of bison stroll through the campground which was a pretty amazing experience.

For cyclists and hikers … don’t worry if it says ‘Campsite Full’ out on the road- it does have a hiker/biker campsite, with food storage, picnic tables, and fire pits. It’s right behind the reception building and they offered to charge up electrical items at no cost. An offer of coffee in the morning as well. Close to the road which is super busy in the day, but almost no traffic at all throughout the night. Very helpful staff in the reception building. Small camp store selling some basics. A day trip to Old Faithful is an option from this campsite

My campsite was a decent size. I booked in the tent only loop. Most spots have a designated gravel tent area, I have enough cushion so the gravel didn’t bother me. I was bummed they didn’t have showers onsite. The campground is very clean & managed well. They have a very small store to get ice, wood, etc. This is a good place stay if you are first time camper & don’t mind extra rules. I would recommend and stay again. NO CELL SERVICE FOR AT&T PROS: very clean & good sized campground with individual bear boxes. The restrooms had flushing toilets & were clean. They had a designated dishwashing area that was maintained well. The river was a minute walk from my site which was a bonus. CONS: you can’t pick your site, they assign you a site when you checkin. Extra rules with regards to hanging hammock- no rope touching tree & must have padded and trees have to be a certain size. No showers, closest showers are in Canyon area 30min drive from campground.

This campground did not have as much functionalities has"Canyon CG" but was still quite nice and closer to"Old Faithful" and"Grand Prismatic Spring". Traveling with our electric car, the fact the campground was close(~15 miles) from Tesla West Yellowstone supercharger was a plus.

Great campsite with walking access to gibbon river and an amazing valley for sunsets.

Madison Campground has a good location in the somewhat center of the park. Of the other campgrounds available, I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite, but we made a last minute booking so I cannot complain too terribly much. The sites are pretty close to each other, and the bathrooms were pretty gross, but there was running water and at least one working sink in the loop we stayed in (some facilities were out of order). No showers, and a little more than I would have liked to pay given the experience, but we were able to sleep in the park and get back to exploring early the next day. I would reccomend looking into some of the other campgrounds in the park before settling with Madison.

We love camping in the park - and this campground has the best location. Many campsites are more private than the one we were assigned but not much you can do when they are randomly assigned. Nice facilities/bathroom/dish washing station. The potable water on loop 1 was broken but Host shared they hoped it would be fixed soon. Walk down to the Madison is easy. Small campsite store was great. Flat campsites.

My friend and I car camped here in early June while traveling from Grand Teton to Yellowstone.

The campground is B very large and the sites are spaced relatively close together, but all that gives the campground a festive and active feel.

We were on an inner site in loop E, but the sites closer to the main camp road and facing the Madison River looked to have spectacular views.

For tent camping, there was no tent pad but the site was level. Facilities were clean, and the small camp store stocked the core essentials.

We took advantage of a short walk to fly fish along a beautiful stretch of the Madison River, and drove under 15 minutes to fish some great areas of the Firehole River.

Under 5 min away by car is the trailhead to Purple Mountain which provided some spectacular views back into the park and even over to the geyser basin. It was 6 miles round trip with some significant elevation but was very well worth it.

All in this was an amazing campground for our activities but is not for folks looking for something more secluded. I would 100% stay here again.

Even though this campground is large and busy, it was still wonderful! Our site was spacious so we weren't on top of our neighbors without any plants for screen. Unfortunately, there are not bear boxes for every site. Fortunately, the bears here won't rip off your doors, so you can keep your food locked and hidden in your car.

The bathrooms were nice - flushing toilets and running water. No showers. But there is a dishwashing station. 

You can walk to the nearby confluence of two rivers and swim. My kids had fun. There are some spots where the current is a little sketchy for younger ones, so be watchful. 

It rained every day that we were here. I recommend bringing a tarp or shelter for cooking/eating under or sitting outside. There was amazing fog that rolled through every morning. That was my entertainment while the kids slept, and I couldn't have asked for more.

Centrally located on western ring road making it a good home base for visiting Mammoth, Norris, Old Faithful and West Thumb. Large but quiet campground. Each site on the loop I stayed was a pull through. Very flat parking. Large, well spaced sites. Simple but clean restrooms. No showers, but you can purchase a shower at Old Faithful Inn (a must see). Each restroom has a sink so you can keep all the food smells out of your campsite. No bear lockers. Small convenience store in a trailer onsite has cheap firewood and excellent kindling. Only complaint was that there was only one water spigot on each loop. Water should be more plentiful especially to put out campfires.

This campground has some of the best trees for hanging a hammock!! Close to all the main sights to see in Yellowstone. Showers available at the old faithful lodge. Close to west yellowstone for restaurants and tourism.

Campground is full of lodgepole pines and you feel like you are in the forest with neighbors.   The spaces are mostly right on the narrow road you drive on. Many are pull through but the arc is very short.   On the plus side, the space next to your spot is wide open with a picnic table and fire pit.   The dump station/water fill has 3 lanes and is set up for hook ups on either side of your RV.  There is a small market on site.   There is no electric and no cell.   This campground is located on the west side of the park in the north/south center (middle of the figure 8).  It is the closest campground to Old Faithful, except of course for the Old Faithful campground.    We enjoyed our stay very much.

Nice spot to camp.

Cons:

• The campsites are very close to one another
• Can hear cars driving by

Pros:

• Clean bathrooms
• Good amount of space on lot
• Ease of registration and access to Yellowstone

This is one crowded campground, even in October with below freezing temperatures! Most sites are adequately sized but they definitely sort based on the size of your vehicle. Since I just had a small car, my parking space was TINY and at a very steep slope (made car camping quite uncomfortable). The sites are very close together and can be difficult to access in larger vehicles. They got an extra point for nice clean bathrooms with a heater. There is also recycling services and a small store. This campground could be very loud during the summer. No service with Verizon.

Pulled into our site and were greeted by an elk waking through the grounds just behind us. Nice start! The tent site was perfect for our conversion van. It had a fire pit, bear box, table and was spaced nicely from our neighbors. The restrooms were clean and well appointed. There is a room in that building with a sink to clean pots and pans. Very nice grounds with lots of old growth trees. One of the best things about this campground is its location. It's right at Madison Junction, about halfway between Old Faithful and Mamouth Springs. So one day you head north to see the wonders in that part of the park. Next day you head south. It made sightseeing a lot easier and more efficient. This park is huge, and can take a lot of time to get around, especially if there are beasts in view. Just getting into the park takes a long time. At this halfway point 15 miles inside the gate we found we did less backtracking and had greater ease in laying out the day's adventures. We were very pleased.

The location of this park is great! There is a dump station at the entrance that is large enough to acomódate various rigs. There are many sites and some are close together but the wooded grounds make it feel more private. I can see how it can be noisy when is full in the summer. We had a cold front and that kept people inside…. There is a way to go see the river and there was a group of elk doing their thing during Rut which was fun to watch. Park is kept well. Bathrooms are clean and heated. Location is great to explore the park. I would stay here again.

Campground is large and busy but it has a great location. We had a wooded site, which was nice. The bathrooms were clean, large and heated, which was nice. We walked our dogs around the campground since you can’t really have them on the park. We enjoyed walking down to the river to see the elk (no dogs allowed there). Campground has a great location to explore the park and Elk do frequent the grounds.

Call for reservations! We were struggling to find a spot this past weekend and secured the last pullthru spot by calling from weak service at Grants.

Campground has no gas but the bathrooms are clean (and warm!), dishwashing station is great, water and dump station. It's alongside a gorgeous river valley for lovely walks and it's very quiet.

Quiet hours 8pm-8am. No hookups. Plentiful shade.

You can walk down to the river where we hung out with the Bison, and its close to the geyser basins. Less facilities than some of the other park campgrounds.

Huge Campground at Madison Junction in center of Yosemite Park.  Great home base for a few days exploring park.  Mammoth Area is ~1 hour north, Norris is ~20 mins north, and Old Faithful ~30 mins south.

Just be cautious about gas, despite being the first Campground you see...no gas station. Otherwise a great place to stay

First of all do not expect any internet connection.

After that enjoy good sites, clean bathrooms, and excellent fire pits.

This campground is 14 miles from West Yellowstone-- or "West". Generally in the park you will double the mileage given for time of travel. So, 14 miles away from West means it will take you 30 minutes unless there is a bison jam, etc.

Once you arrive (and if you think of it while making a reservation) you can request a loop. Tent campers prefer the G & H loops while RV people gather in the others. It's worth trying to state a preference. The H loop is nearest the Madison River. Both G & H are largely shaded although this is not true for 292, 272, 273, 274. 

276-286 are best in G loop. There really are no bad sites in Loops G & H other than the four above.

For the past decade I have camped in Madison each June.

Wildlife tip: If you want to see wildlife in YNP visit the park in late May to mid June--- otherwise the mammals go up into the high country for the hot days of summer and effectively vanish for most visitors. In the Lamar Valley they'll stay through June.

All Restrooms are cleaned. Campground is well-groomed and organized. Park rangers are very respectful

I didn’t love our spot. It was expensive, over 30 dollars a night, and there wasn’t really any privacy or separation between campsites at all. Maybe if you could pick your site this would be a nice camp but we didn’t have a reservation so we didn’t pick our location