Grassy Lake Road | Established Campground
United States
Details
- Verified:
- 7 months ago
- GPS:
- 44.08935, -110.69589
- Altitude:
- 2076.4 masl
- Website:
- None
- Phone:
- None
- Contributor:
-
nkuenzli
Amenities
- Electricity:
- No
- Wifi:
- Yes - Slow
- Kitchen:
- No
- Restaurant:
- No
- Showers:
- No
- Water:
- Natural Source
- Toilets:
- Pit Toilets
- Big Rig Friendly:
- Yes
- Tent Friendly:
- Yes
- Pet Friendly:
- Yes
- Sanitation Dump Station:
- No
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Description
Eight free primitive camping areas next to the river with 1-4 sites at each, 20 spots total, managed by Grand Teton National Park along Grassy Lake Road in the Rockefeller Parkway park annex. Grassy Lake Road is a graded gravel 2WD road to the park annex boundary, accessible even when wet, although some areas are mildly washboarded. I wouldn’t bring a bus or fifth wheel out here, but Class B and C RVs, small to medium trailers, and tent campers are fine. Plentiful additional National Forest dispersed campsites are on the road after it enters the national forest (the name changes to Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road out there), but road conditions are worse and will limit some vehicles.
Grassy Lake Road opens June 1 for wildlife protection, not snow. It’s June 7 and the road is open to Camp 8, but closed beyond that, probably due to the snow we see from Camp 3.
The 8 National Park areas have pit toilets, picnic tables, gravel parking, bear boxes, and trash cans. Due to COVID, Teton rangers have been out here daily to clean the toilets.
The ranger recommended site 3 to us, and it’s a beautiful view of the snow-capped peaks behind the river and lots of wildlife. Much of the area burned in a forest fire about 2 years ago, so walking through the forest to see how it regenerates was fantastic. Multiple squads of pelicans were doing leisurely float trips down the river then flying back upstream to do it again, and my wife woke up to see a beaver fishing. A prairie dog lives on-site. We stayed at this spot 2 days and nights before heading to Yellowstone.
Get your water and dump station taken care of beforehand. RV services are not available at Flagg Ranch for those who don’t stay overnight ($84!!! Ha, it’s much more scenic here.) and the nearest dump stations are 25 miles south of the campgrounds in Yellowstone.
Trailhead parking area beyond last camping area, useful as a last resort if all the campsites are full. GPS marked at third camping area.
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Latest Check-Ins
Great place! We arrived at around 5:30pm, stayed on the third campground as previous were already full. There was another camper there already. Views were stunning. We even saw a moose the next morning.
Really quiet and peaceful.
The only problem was that we got an unexpected visitor, a mouse. We did confirm with the other people, from the other camper, and they said that mouses are a problem there.
There’s a pit toilet.
One of the spots on campground #3. Crazy wide open views, you have the Snake River right under. Pit toilet, trash containers fire rings and bear boxes. A good place to launch sightseeing for either Grand Teton or Yellowstone NP. Good south exposure for solar and good north exposure for Starlink. Enough cell phone reception on Verizon network to get some data, probably not enough to work remotely. No cell reception with Google Fi.
I corrected this place to show that it has cell reception (Verizon) and that is big rig friendly, since our neighbors are doing just fine on a super long skoolie. May not be for everyone, but it seems to be manageable.
(we use to report on cell service for people trying to work off grid; IG: @pampas.overland)
Report Check-Inlovely campsites (i stayed at site #3), but very busy. to be fair, i came in late on a friday night, but another family was generous enough to share their site with me. beautiful view, convenient services (pit toilets, bear boxes, picnic tables, and fire pits at every site), and free!! grassy lake road wasn’t terrible to drive on— i went as far as the glade creek trailhead with low clearance and 2WD taking it slow. the entrances to a couple sites would not be doable with low clearance, but some had alternate entrances further down the road that allowed low clearance. WARNING- the sites are concentrated more at the beginning of the road (1st one had 4 sites, while 5th and 6th were both 1 site only).
Report Check-InNice spot near the river, very busy during the high season. The sign says 2 spots but we slept here with 4 others and nobody comes to check. There is plenty of space for vans and small trailers.
Report Check-InRoad is closed ! Don’t waste your time. Nothing before you get out of Teton NP
Report Check-InSpent a lazy afternoon and night at #4. Very clean pit toilet, fire ring and as much firewood as we could use due to fallen fir trees after wildfires a few years back. Would have spent more time here, but a snow warning for both Yellowstone and Tetons meant we had to move on.
Report Check-InWonderful. Beautiful views with all the amenities except potable water in a fantastic location. Can’t believe it’s free!
Site 2 specifically has good Verizon signal, good solar charging, and enough space/parking for multiple vehicles/tents to share each of the 2 designated spots.
It’s so nice that I’m on my 4th night here when I had originally only planned to stay for one!
Report Check-InThese places are open. We stayed at site number 2 (of 8 possible locations) Had a peaceful night and morning.
This was the best place we stayed at around yellowstone NP and is very close to the boundary.
Report Check-InStayed at site #3
Amazing view of snake river and the tetons in the background. This spot had two designated sites with a very clean pit toilet. Each site had a table, fire ring, and bear box. Road is easy to get to this spot but higher up on the road it gets more washboard-y.
We did drive all the way to the reservoir passing the other sites but site 3 was our favorite. The reservoir had some camping spots as well that were super cool looking! Get there early because it definitely gets full.
We slept for one night at camp site #2. There was a van and a tent around noon, it is supposed to be a camp site for 2 but it is big enough, we asked if it was ok if we stayed as well and it was fine. Great spot, free, very quiet and very close from Yellowstone (south entrance 10 min) and Grand Teton (north entrance 15 min)
Report Check-Ingot there Saturday evening 17:30 and found a spot in site 3. gorgeous and free, best combination. road is ok for a class C, just take it slow.
Report Check-InRoad is smooth paved up to the point where you drive over the creek then its paved but rough and narrow. We drove down to the 4th spot on Grassy Lake Rd but it looked to be just room for tents so we turned around. We're in a 39ft motorhome. We turned around and went back to the 2nd spot. The 3rd spot has a pretty steep dip that we weren't so sure we could make so we skipped it. Each site has a fire ring and a table. The 2nd spot had river access, short walk down. Most of the forest is burnt but this spot had some green trees and across the river was green. We just stayed one night Oct 18. We would stay again 4.5 stars
Report Check-InAs described - sites fill up fast! I came in later in the day (5pm) & asked someone if I could “share” their site (we were both in vans). Bathrooms, trash, zero cell service. Would stay again!
Report Check-In8 designated areas for 20 sites total along Grassy Lake Road inside the Parkway Annex managed by Grand Teton National Park. Plenty of additional National Forest dispersed camping sites on the same road after it exits the Parkway
Report Check-InContinuing up the road, there are actually 8 campsites. National Forest land beyond.
Report Check-InAbsolutely fantastic views from Loop 3 - but there are also great sites at Loops 1, 2 & 4! Free camping just south of Yellowstone!
Report Check-InWe stayed at site #3. There were two campsites at this spot. Both had a picnic table and fire pit. There are bear proof bins and garbage cans available as well so you don’t have to pack your garbage out. It’s a quiet spot with an amazing view of the river valley. It’s also very close to the south entrance of Yellowstone.
Report Check-InBeautiful, quiet, restrooms, firepits, free.
Number #3 it’s the most scenic! Definitely recommend;)
Nice free campsite. pit toilet was very clean. too much space for just myself so I invitated someone without spot for share the fire. didn't see any bear but we was carreful. at camp 5 view is not amazing but it's a single site ;)
Report Check-InCampsite 3 heading down Grassy Lake Road. Campsite 1 and 2 were full. There are 4 spots in campsite 1 and 2 spots in campsite 2. Campsite three has three spots. All campsite have pit toilets, fire rings and are on the river. Road has lots of wash boards on it but very passable if you drive slow. The trees around the campsites are burnet from forest fire. However, this great for fire wood collection. Campsites are first come and are highly prized. May want to stop early. Lots of people were looking for sites since it’s one the few places outside Yellow Stone.
Report Check-InThis time at camp 5, as the previous were already taken. No water or river nearby, however a clean and „private“ pit toilet, as this camp is considered as 1 spot only. Picking table, fire pit, trash container and bear box. Beautiful open grassy area with some trees. Official dispersed camping for free. Filled with more overnight campers during the night.
Report Check-InWe stayed at camp 3. Fire pit, bear box and picknick tables. Clean pit toilet. Beautiful peaceful views over the river and valley. Perfect if moving from or to Yellowstone. Incredible that it is free.
Report Check-InBeautiful campsites, as others have described. Be aware if two things: 1. during mosquito season, the mosquitos are AWFUL. We were here in early July and once the sun started setting, it was unbearable to be outside. Camp site 6 is particularly bad for mosquitos. 2. Some people of protective of their camp spots. Each site has a set number of spots (e.g. site #1 has 4 designated spots). During peak season, the number of designated spots is more of a suggestion - especially given that people camping in the vans/trucks can easily fit above the designated number of spots. Some people dont like this, however, and will tell you to leave. We were told at the ranch that the Teton Natl Forest rangers don't care about the number of people, as long as nobody is blocking entrances/exits or parked on grass.
If you want true boondocking/dispersed camping, keep traveling up the gravel road until you hit the national forest.
Report Check-InFive free camping areas, with 1-4 sites at each. Trailhead parking area beyond last camping area, useful as a last resort if all the campsites are full. GPS marked at third camping area, with by far the best views of river and mountains. Pit toilets, trash cans, food storage boxes, fire pits, and picnic tables at each.
Road can be closed thru May, with no access to any of the campsites.
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