Yellowstone · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Vast, carless and cold at night — budget travel here means a tent and a plan.
Camping and the gateway towns
Twelve campgrounds inside the park book out; national forest land outside Gardiner and West Yellowstone allows free dispersed camping. West Yellowstone has the only hostel beds.
What a day costs
Around $50–95 a day: campsite $20–35, food $20–30 hauled in from Bozeman or Idaho Falls, plus fuel across a 140-mile loop road.
Showers and resupply
Pay showers and laundry sit at Fishing Bridge, Grant Village and Old Faithful. Groceries inside the park are limited and dear — stock up before the entrance station.
Getting around
There is no park shuttle at all, so a car or a booked tour is effectively required. A scheduled bus links Bozeman and Idaho Falls to West Yellowstone in summer.
Where travellers meet
The benches around Old Faithful before an eruption, and the Map Room bar inside Old Faithful Inn afterwards. In Gardiner, the bars on Park Street.