Wapiti Campground

Beautifull views ...awesome host. We stayed extra days it was so nice. OH BEARS...for sure.

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

There is absolutely zero cell service (for ATT anyways) and it’s perfect. There are like 20 sites with electricity that are maybe 50 meters from the river, and there’s a great pool to fish in right at the beach. All that and you’re like a half hour from Yellowstone. Just a total winner here.

Lucked onto this site after a long day of driving from South Dakota.

I appreciated having the bear lockers and really loved an evening dip in the river to cool off and wash up!

We came here on Monday late afternoon and there were several spots available. We picked a spot where we could take a tiny trail through the brush to the creek that led to the river. Nice looking site/campground. Nice big bear boxes for all our food/scented things. The campgrounds on the East side just inside Yellowstone often said no tents, only hard tops, which made us a little wary staying in our tent (high grizzly and black bears). We were just extra safe never keeping anything scented in our tent even for a minute.
We also looked at Big Game and Elk Creek Campground. Those were nice too, but we ultimately picked this one.

We loved camping here! Convenient to Cody. Right on the river! Beautiful rock formations, variety of trees!

I stayed here with my family in June. We used tents and did not use electric hookups. We really enjoyed our stay and were impressed with the layout of the campsites. We made a day-off reservation and the instructions for purchasing and displaying the camping permit were simple. This is a popular campground and I recommend arriving earlier in the day during the open season to ensure a spot. Some of the campsites are relatively hidden by trees and bushes which gives a primitive and dispersed camping vibe. The campground hosts were also friendly and helpful. There are some offroad rugged trails near the campground that you can access without traveling on the main road. When the tide of the Shoshone River is high, parts of the trail are obstructed. The current is strong and is dangerous to pass. The mountain views from the trail are gorgeous!

Wapiti Campground has easy access to the Shoshone River and there is a nice trail that goes into the mountains behind it. But not much else going for it. The sites are mostly exposed patches of rocky and dusty ground. The bathrooms are just outhouses and you have to forage for your own firewood; you can’t buy any on site. It’s unmanned without any amenities. My site (#30) was ok but this is really just a place for rvs to park. Camp hosts were nice enough to give me some firewood. I would not go back though. Also: it’s about 2 hours from any of the popular attractions in Yellowstone.

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.

This is a nice campground with ample privacy between sites.  Shelter from the wind helps, as the thunderstorms can be quite intense. 

There are plenty of fishing opportunities adjacent to the campground.  Be very bear aware when hiking and camping there.  We saw fresh grizzly tracks and scat right outside the campground!  Bear spray is a must when in this entire area. 

Water is available at the entrance and it's wonderful. 

The creek creates a nice habitat for bugs of all varieties, so bug spray was necessary. 

Our site was a tad too small for our 34' 5th wheel, so we had to forgo  a campfire, as the fire pit was right under our bumper.

we stayed here for 6 nights and loved it, it's close enough to Yellowstone and Cody that you can go either way. Also near buffalo bill dam! Water fill up ( not hook up) electric in half the campground! Pit toilets. Bear boxes for food storage.

Stones throw from Yellowstone's east gate. Relaxing river sounds glowing by. Lots to see and do in nearby Cody, WY. Clean campgrounds and bathrooms. Paved drive. Really well kept for being FREE! There is a trail following the river beyond the bridge at the back of the campground, somewhere on the trail we found a geocache! Fire pits and picnic tables at each site.

In all honesty, our 1-night stay in Wapiti was kind of a necessary evil. Yellowstone campgrounds are notoriously difficult to get into, and after researching options online I decided that Wapiti - which is within the Shoshone National Forest outside the Yellowstone park boundaries - would be a good place to spend the night prior to actually heading into Yellowstone proper. It's about 1/2 way between Cody, Wyoming and the east gate to Yellowstone and it will take you approximately 30 minutes to reach either. There is a good mix of reservable sites and first-come, first-served sites, and we were able to reserve a site near the river. We camped here in late July and arrived at approx 7 PM and all of the first-come, first-served sites were already taken, which speaks to the popularity of the greater Yellowstone area in summer. Our site (#08) had electric as well, and was close to one of the restrooms. I do have to say, that was the cleanest (single) vault toilet restroom I have ever used in my life, which I can appreciate.

Being so close to the river (North Fork of the Shoshone), this campground was extremely buggy during our visit in July, which is genreally the case for this entire part of the country (especially Yellowstone) - bring a lot of Picaridin! The river itself is very fast through this area, so be careful if you have younger children. We did not do any fishing here, but there was a family fishing from the bridge (Sweetwater Creek Rd.) using pink scented 'marshmallows' (trout bait) that the locals told them worked the best - they had not caught anything yet.

We traveled back through the national forest into Cody for dinner and ate at Millstone Pizza Company and Brewery and I would recommend it. The beer was pretty good (we split a 6-sample flight to taste everything), and the portions were great. I got a meatball sandwich that was huge and delicious, and the specialty pizzas looked fantastic as well.

This campground is about equal distances from the east entrance to Yellowstone park and Cody, WY. By Wyoming standards, it's a large campground (40 sites, many with electric hookup). The campground does permit tent camping, which the campgrounds closer to the east entrance do not. That being said, it lacks the intimacy and atmosphere of many Wyoming campgrounds. One must endure the sounds of generators and the highway. It's definitely a good place to camp while getting from Point A to Point B, but much better options exist for a relaxing camping trip.