During our time at the West Yellowstone entrance, we stayed at RedRock RV and Camping Park in Island Park, Idaho. I would really like to give this campground a better rating than I am because the views are phenomenal, but I just can’t do it.
Let me start with the great features of this park. For starters, the views are gorgeous. You’re surrounded by mountains in a secluded area. You have to travel up the mountain on a long, dirt road to get to the park (which we don’t mind). Once you get there, you see endless mountains and there is even a lake directly behind the campground. The site spaciousness was also unique and we loved it. They park the RVs opposite directions of each other so you aren’t in your neighbors hookups (electric, water, and sewer hoses). We definitely were in one of the best sites as we had a very large grassy area between us and the next camp site. We were able to set up corn hole and have plenty of space to play. We sat at the picnic table in the grass almost every night for dinner before settling at the fire pit provided by the campground for the evening.
I also want to make sure I mention how wonderful the bathhouse and laundry facilities were. I’m picky about these and won’t often give a 5 out 5 rating, but they were wonderful. The showers were very new. The water pressure was excellent and the hot water was so hot you couldn’t turn it all the way up. The laundry room was one of the largest I’ve seen providing ample room for numerous guests to wash multiple loads of clothes at a time. The machines were on the newer end as well which was nice.
Unfortunately, that’s were the good comes to an end. If I was only rating on those things, RedRock would receive a 5 out of 5 (so if the following items don’t pertain to you, then you’re good to go!). Let’s start out with the proximity to grocery stores. There are none. You have to drive about 30 minutes into West Yellowstone or there is large convenience store about 15 minutes away that is considered a grocery store. You can at least get your basics there, but if you want anything more, you’ll have to make the drive into town.
The next issue was the dirt and dust since they are an ATV friendly park. Many of the RV parks we’ve stayed at in the past will water down the gravel in the campground so the park isn’t so dusty. RedRocks doesn’t do this and it there is constantly dust flying up from ATVs driving back, trucks pulling out, trailers pulling in, etc. It wasn’t the worst we’ve ever seen, but when the wind picks up, you can watch the dust swirling around you.
The main reason RedRocks doesn’t receive a higher rating is because of the following categories: Rules & Policies, Wireless Internet, Cell Phone Service, and Full-Time Work Friendly. When you check in, they advise you of their internet policy – 500mb each on 4 devices per day. The internet itself works great (so again, if this is all you need, you’re good to go). They literally cut off your internet if you go over that amount. The cell phone service is very spotty so you can barely even use a hotspot to get internet. Even worse, when you do use a hotspot, they knock on the door of your RV telling you they are receiving a high reading of data transmission coming from your RV and you need to turn it off because you’re using too much cell phone power. EXCUSE ME? DID THAT ACTUALLY JUST HAPPEN? Yes, it most definitely did. So, are they full-time work friendly? No, they most definitely are not. We ended up having to make the drive into West Yellowstone several times to work in a coffee shop just to use our own Verizon hotspot. We LOVED the coffeeshop, but we should have never had to go there just to use our own hotspot when it was working. The cell phone service worked during the day when everyone was out and about, but when everyone was home in the evenings, the cell phone service was dreadful.
Would I stay here again? If we didn’t work full-time and need internet, I probably would. If you need internet for anything more than checking email and Googling what to do in Yellowstone National Park, then no, I wouldn’t stay here again.
The views were breathtaking from the campground.
Campfire meals are so much better than meals cooked on a stove. One of the perks of this RV park was the built in fire pit at each site.
Who doesn’t love a coffee shop INSIDE a book store?
The below was our fantastic yard space. We definitely lucked out on this one.
Freeway Gypsy 