Travertine Road Dispersed - Yellowstone

Stayed here for a night in June. The road getting there is a little rough, but nothing my Subaru couldn’t handle. Gorgeous views and barely anyone out there. We had plenty of space at our site and made a fire. Through the evening and as the sun was setting, there was a small group of elk following after a bugling bull and some coyotes. Great location right outside of Yellowstone (Mammoth) and Gardiner. Would recommend eating at the Wonderland Cafe.

Woke up to elk grazing close to my camp. 10/10 recommend

Right outside of town, right outside of the north entrance to Yellowstone, available when I pulled up at 11pm. And the views - I was so stoked!! Road was choppy but easy with my 4WD. Did have something sniffing around my tent in the morning and did hear coyotes. Was glad all my food was still in the car. The GPS coordinates drop you off at the best spot but there are other places to pull over.

Managed to pull my 18ft Winnie Drop trailer all the way to the top. Views we’re definitely worth it, but the road is definitely not smooth, but if you go slow you can do it just fine. Stayed 2 nights and did some rafting, there were also several other spots lower down the mountain.

Uphill haul to sites. Solid area lots of elk. Near north entrance to park.

Got into a spot around 6 or 7pm after spending the day at Yellowstone in late May and wow, you can’t beat the views for $0! We took the first spot we saw due to road conditions (we were towing a Uhaul trailer with our Subaru Forester) so we didn’t bother going up further.

Definitely a bumpy and steep ride for our towing situation but dang the views were insane over Gardiner and the mountains. Only one other camper van in view a ways down. Our spot had pretty bumpy ground so we ended up skipping the tent and just sleeping in the car. Woke up to a serious snowfall in the morning so we got out of there quickly, but we’d definitely stay here again if we weren’t towing.

The road getting here is a little intimidating but once you get there it’s worth it. We had 2 elk does come eat right next to our van. The views are stunning. I wouldn’t recommend cooking so bring sandwiches or something. We were in a GMC Cargo van and I wouldn’t even try to drive anything larger up the hill. But I’d definitely camp here again.

Perfect dispersed camping. Note it is a windy dirt road, so a pickup or camper van can make it, but don't try a Class A or Class C RV. Our 20 footer made it fine. Also wouldn't want to drive it if rain forecasted as I bet the dirt turns to impassible mud real fast.

The spots themselves are wonderful, some very open, some tucked away along the rocks, all very spread out from each other. Super quiet. I can't believe how quiet it was.

If you want to feel like you are camping on a mountain in the middle of no where, this is it.

Very close to the north entrance to Yellowstone. These spots were as described here. We saw the pretty little overlook spot, but it was too small & windy for us. We went further down the road (it turns more west) & saw the graffiti wall & went past that to a great secluded spot. It does seem to be used by locals to dump their hunting carcasses & for target practice, but you can't beat the price of FREE. We did sleep in the truck my husband has customized to be our 'hard sided camper' & has a good night's rest. It was quiet & dark & a little cold - perfect for sleeping!

We arrived at 5-6 and only came across two available spots on the entire road. Each campsite is fully dispersed and a large distance between each other. Lots of animals in area so keep that bear spray. Great view of mountains.

I gave a four star because when first entering there is a giant stone wall with graffiti and and elk skull bone and hooves lying around, kind of sketchy when wanting to be left alone.

15 minutes from the Mammoth Hotsprings visitor center. Easy to access, no crazy potholes or anything, just a dirt road. There’s a couple cabins up that road too so I assume whomever owns them keeps the road well maintained. The first spot you come to has an incredible view which is where we stayed, but if you want something more sheltered keep going around the bend and there’s a little rocky outcropping/quarry type area. It was absolutely freezing though, the inside of the truck bed had frost in the morning (22°!)

There are a few spots but the overlook the GPS Coordinates take you to is amazing! Perfect for a van camper or for a small bumper pull trailer - tent camping, too. The views for the sunrise and sunset are absolutely incredible! Some things to note is that it is very remote but you do have cell phone service for Verizon and spotty ATT. This is a popular clay shooting area so you might find small .22 casings and lots of broken pots if you venture into the field. It was quiet in terms of traffic passing through and slightly unnervingly quiet at night, so I understand getting the creeps as a solo camper. Overall, highly recommend!

Very much middle of nowhere feeling. Go up travertine and the. Take FS1701 road west for a mile or so. You’ll see a few spots along the way but I liked the ones I found farther west. I was solo and it was a little weird as it felt totally isolated. No tables or toilets but there are a number of spots with fire rings. Was there sept. 18th.

I would definitely come here again. 15 min to Yellowstone NP entrance. Nice dark quiet spots. ZERO amenities for ZERO dollars. We were driving a minivan and tent camping. The dirt roads were easily passable. A small RV would be able to find a spot here. It’s bear country and you’re on your OWN. You can indeed tell folks like to party here. There’s graffiti on some of the rocks. Our camp site had toilet paper and garbage all over it. We had to take ten minutes to pick up all the garbage before we could enjoy it...but once we did we had an AMAZING view and the whole place to ourselves! Highly recommend....but make sure you arrive with daylight so you can actually FIND a spot (nothing is marked...it’s sort of DIY camping).

Looked to be 1-2 dozen sites there. We didn’t scope the WHOLE place out...but the first site is WOW AWESOME looking. We saw it, loved it, scoped out the rest for 10 minutes than came back to that first campsite to set up and look down and the minions below!

I'm sorry, I have to be the voice of reason here y'all. Or at least the realistic one.

If you are sleeping in your car, camper, van, etc, then this could totally work for you. 

If you are camping alone, using a tent, looking for enough space to camp (cook, sleep, etc), this is most likely not for you.

The road itself is fine.

As a young woman traveling alone in a Subaru Outback, sleeping in a tent, this was such a huge hell no for me.

Some of the pullouts have graffiti with extremely offensive language and a crapload of shotgun shells. I could tell local people use the space as a party ground quite often. I know this all sounds like I have a stick up my butt, but I'm not some conservative person. I am all for foul language and partying in the mountains. This wasn't that. This was sketchy. Maybe that's just because I am traveling alone.

A few years back I traveled in a converted Toyota Sequoia with a sleeping dock in the back with my partner and this spot would be good for a situation like that, but not my current situation. 

I do not think there's really any reasonable place up there to set up a tent between the exposure, wind, noise, space, and threat of danger.

The overlook spot is awesome... its also only about 10 feet of sand on the side of the dirt road with steep drops on all sides. Might be cool for a small van or if you are sleeping in your car. You will still be dealing with noise all night. I saw people going up the road all through the late evening and coming back down.

Keep goin on up the road quite a bit. 6000-some elevation. Flat, did the job great. The overlook spot was taken but we found a nice flat spot right around the corner.

About 16 miles from the north entrance of Yellowstone with a view of mammoth springs in the distance. After a great climb in elevation the no camping signs stop and there are pull offs along the road. The views are phenomenal. You aren’t far off the road so there is some traffic noise but minimal. A great location with an even better view.

Such a beautiful spot. I easily got my 2WD Nissan Altima up there & this spot surprisingly has good cell signal as well

Great place, found a nice close to level 35’ spot for our class A

About a ten minute drive from the market in town so it was great for us after leaving Yellowstone. Very pretty surroundings and the night sky is gorgeous. Desert landscape so you should make sure to have a canopy or sun shade. People do come up here to shoot, so if that is something that bothers you it may not be the place for you. This is still bear country so I would suggest having bear spray and always make sure that your food is packed away. We did some some recent bear scat, but have not had an encounter.

I was easily able to drive up the bumpy gravel road in my compact car. The road gets a little rougher going to some of the further spots, but nothing bad. This spot is semi protected in a small gulch but if there was a bad storm in the area this valley side camping spot could be rough with high winds.

My group camped here the night before a visit to Yellowstone. Spotted 3 good sites off of Travertine. Only one of the other spots was taken on a weekend night. The road was a little bumpy, but not impossible without AWD or 4WD. The location relative to Gardiner and the Gardiner entrance to Yellowstone was great! It enabled my group to get up and get to the park early. Would definitely recommend staying if planning a trip to Yellowstone and have plans to enter or exit at Gardiner. Not to mention it's free! Bring your bear spray! We saw many bear signs.

I camped here for one night, but would have happily stayed for a week.

I was on a huge hill overlooking all of "The American Serengeti" and it was stunning. Easy drive up and down to Gardiner for groceries. Besides a LOT of gunshots in the area, the campsite was perfect. Located directly off of the National Forest road. There are dozens more sites as you go further up the road but I preferred the view of the first site.

www.welovetoexplore.com