In order of appearance:
Butch Cassidy Campground - Salina, UT
The first night was the only night that we stayed in a commercial campsite, one that wasn’t in a National Park or National Forest. It was hard by the road, so it was noisy, but it was rather endearing in other ways. The manager was an elderly Japanese woman, who bowed at me when I finished registering. She had an aviary on the premises, with some birds caged in a tidy meshed structure, and peacocks, turkeys and chickens wandering free. There were also a number of cats, a tame bunny rabbit, and free hot showers! Breakfast at a picnic table with turkeys and peacocks? A fight for the crumbs and an attack on my husband’s shiny wedding ring.
Full RV hookup (water, sewer, electricity)
Flush toilets, hot showers
No fire ring
Pine Lake Campground (Dixie National Forest) - Escalante, UT (three nights)
Our home base for excursions to Bryce and Zion was a lovely, small campground down a seven mile long washboard gravel road. On the first morning, a cow walked through the campsite.
No hookup, but running water with a hose connection was available
Pit toilets (in immaculate condition)
Fire ring, with cooking grate (firewood available for sale)
Avintaquin Campground, (Ashley National Forest) – near Price, UT
We’d made reservations for every night but the one we ended up at Avintaquin, but we’d identified two campsites that were in roughly the right spot, distance-wise, based on where we’d been the night before and where we were going. An error in navigation led us to this campsite instead of the other, and it might well have been our favorite one of all. It’s in the trees, on top of a mountain, and vehicles bigger than our 19’ camper probably wouldn’t make it up the hill. It’s also remote enough that it wasn’t full, so it rather felt like we had it to ourselves. There were cows on the other side of the fence from our site, but they didn’t cross the cattle grate to come visit. Views of the sunset and the sunrise were lovely.
No hookup, no water
Pit toilets
Fire ring, no grate (no firewood available)
Firehole Canyon Campground (Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area/Ashley National Forest) – near Rock Springs, WY
The Flaming Gorge is a huge reservoir that was created by the damming of the Green River. The hydro-power dam is in Utah, but the reservoir extends north into Wyoming, and this campground was up towards the north end. We were skeptical as we arrived: it was hot, and there was no tree cover and, except for the body of water, it seemed like a desert. We found our way to our campsite, and were pleasantly surprised to find that each site had an oddly handsome two sided adobe-like shelter, with a slat roof. It blocked the hot sun and the fierce wind, making the site really lovely.
No hookup, but running water with a hose connection was available
Flush toilets, hot showers
Fire ring, with cooking grate (firewood available for sale)
Colter Bay Village Campground (Grand Tetons National Park) – WY (two nights)
Honestly? This was hands-down the worst campsite. It was RVs only – the tent people were elsewhere – and we were surrounded by enormo-giganto RVs, the kind that are 50 feet long and have multiple pushout sections. The people next to us had a satellite dish, and had stuck a metal welcome sign with their names on it in the ground. Another RV was pulled by a full size tractor-trailer truck cab, with a small Jeep rigged up on the back on a diagonal alongside the obligatory dirt bike. Fires weren’t allowed (though they are in other parts of Colter Bay), so we had to buy a small charcoal grill in order to make dinner. Also, while showers were available, it cost $4.25 to take one – usury! I stayed in the hot water for at least an hour or so, just because. On the plus side, there was a nice tidy Laundromat (two washes, two soaps, one dryer = $7) and Jackson Lake was a short walk away, and not too cold to swim in, if you’re 10.
Full RV hookup (water, sewer, electricity)
Flush toilets
Hot showers available for $4.25
No fire ring
Madison Village Campground (Yellowstone National Park) – WY (four nights)
Madison was lovely in many ways. It’s well laid out, there was a mixture of smallish RVs and tent campers, and there was a dishwashing sink available (washing dishes in the RV got a little old). Every night, the park rangers do talks at the nearby amphitheater. The Madison river was a short walk away – and had hot spots in it (not wi-fi, but pockets of hot water) – and some elk ambled through on the last morning.
No hookup at site, but running water with a hose connection and a waste dump station was available near the entrance
Flush toilets, cold water sinks for dishwashing
Fire ring, with cooking grate (firewood available for sale)
Sunrise Campground (Uinta-Wasatch National Forest) – near Garden City, UT
Another lovely campsite – up the mountain from Bear Lake, which is an astonishingly blue natural lake, nearly 20 miles long, that straddles the border of Utah and Idaho. We were in the woods – aspens and pines all around – and could see a sliver of the lake. The campsite was quiet and well-kept, and true to its name, sunrise was beautiful.
No hookup, no water
Pit toilets
Fire ring, with cooking grate (firewood available for sale)
Anderson Cove Campground (Uinta-Wasatch National Forest) – near Ogden, UT
In some ways, this campground was nice – flat, and pretty, and right on a reservoir that was good for swimming. However, there were way too many motorboats and jet-skis in the reservoir (noisy), and the pit toilet was in terrible condition (smelly). Second worst campsite, after Colter Bay.
No hookup at site, but running water with a hose connection and a waste dump station was available near the entrance
Pit toilets – DISGUSTING
Fire ring, no cooking grate (firewood available for sale)
Part 1, The Hut, is here.
I love this series. But, you have reinforced my dislike of RVs.
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