Madison Campground

This campground was easy to book and had wonderful staff. The bathrooms were very clean and well maintained. There is a general store on site where you can buy ice, firewood and snacks. It is very close to Old Faithful and a relatively close drive to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Quiet hours were from 10pm to 6am which made for a relaxing vibe and good sleep. If you come in summer, be prepared that it goes down to 30F / 0C temperatures at night. You'll need a heavy duty sleeping bag and sleeping mat if you're tenting. Loved it and hope to stay here again! 100 would recommend.

Check in was a breeze with the sweetest, most kind woman at the front. The campsite was pretty, bathrooms were clean, and I loved being close to the river for a quick adventure down the hill. It was also nice to have the store on the campground for firewood and if we needed anything extra (we needed tissues!). Every employee I interacted with was kind and friendly. I also loved the telephone that was available for campers. It was perfect for giving my mom a 30 second call to check in after not having service for several days. Thanks for a great stay!

We had a great time at the campground. Everything was clean and we'll cared for. We felt safe at all times. There was a camp host a few spots down from us so we felt confident that other campers would follow the rules during quiet hours. Check in was smooth and the woman who helped us was very nice. She even asked if we had a senior or disabled pass for more discounts, which we did. Those discounts we applied quickly. I wished we had more time to spend at the campground but unfortunately we only reserved one night. We didn't get a chance to really enjoy the grounds.

Madison Campground on the west side of Yellowstone is AWESOME! Conveniently located, with relatively short travel times to rivers, thermal areas, land feature access, etc. Campsites are close to each other, but not "on top" of each other. Campers were respectful of others. Facilities were very clean and workers were present. The on-site camp convenience store was well stocked and has great operating hours. Firewood is readily available, and our fire pit was very clean and the grill was highly functional with variable heights that made cooking easy. My two adolescent boys and I (54yo male) had a great time! We were there Monday afternoon-Thursday morning, Father's Day week of 2025.

Madison Campground was a perfect place to stay for our time in Yellowstone. Our campsite was great, and there were bear boxes available for each campsite which we stored a propane fireplace, weber BBQ grill, cookstove, food box, and trash bag safely away from bears and other animals. It made it easy to clear our campsite each morning before we left for our adventure day.. It is centrally located to make it the best campground to stay at for all our adventures we took.. The restrooms were very clean, and the camp hosts/rangers were friendly. I will definitely pick Madison Campground to stay at again when we visit Yellowstone. On our way out of the park the morning we left, there was a 14 mile back up of stop and crawl cars waiting in line to get into the park. Staying at a campsite in the park is definetly the way to go!!

This review is been written in comparison to Bridge Bay and Canyon Campground. We have stayed in the park several times and Madison Campground is our favorite to stay at. The access to the river is what makes this campground great in my opinion. The actual staff that check you in are very kind however the Rangers that patrol this area are extremely uptight and not friendly. This area is NOT bike, friendly at all. There are no showers here either. The bathrooms were heated and clean. Most of the spots were spacious and had beautiful trees around. Also it appeared most spaces were level. We stayed in loop B. It appears loop C and D may be the best loops.

The location was beautiful. Car noise from the main road was heard but not too terrible. The gravel tent pad in the G loop site 244 that we had was too hard on the tent bottom. We would try to get a different site next time for that reason. No nearby trees at this site to hang a hammock.

Excellent experience! We stopped through and camped in a tent. The staff was very friendly and took their time to assist. It's a great location and close to many beautiful areas of Yellowstone. They have a great convenience store that has all the essentials. We highly recommend this site. Be sure to book early as they fill up.

I would give this campground 4.5 . We were in loop f200 and we had a nice tent space. There spots are closer than other places we have stayed at, however as a family of 6 it worked out. The bathrooms are clean and have outlets, but there are no showers. The check in desk people were very friendly. The wood we bought to burn was terrible. It was smoking really bad and not lighting up to keep us warm. We came the last week of September and it let me tell you coming from sunny LA to here, it was COLD! The rangers from the campground do check up. We got a warning letter for an empty cooler we left out. So they do take things very serious so make sure you put everything away. Madison river right behind was beautiful and a short distance away. I forgot to take pictures of the campground. We were supposed to do 3 nights, but we did 2 and got a hotel for the third night. The campground was well kept and not too dry. I would come back here. It is pretty centralized to everything we needed to see and do.

Just completed a stay in Yellowstone at this campground, and I'm pretty happy about it. Lots of campsites, mixed between RV, single, and multiple tent. You can pull your car right up to the site, which is convenient. Three nights for our site (limited to 6 campers) was only $60. While I was there, rules for dry conditions applied. I don't know if they applied all year long (I assume so), but fires had to be extinguished and could not be left unattended. Additionally, it's "bear country" so bear boxes must be used, or items must be stored in cars. There are nice bathrooms, to dull the illusion of roughing it, complete with heat, appreciated during the mid 20s nights I had this past weekend. Good recycling and trash facilities, ice and firewood vending. Nearby is the Madison river, which is pretty breathtaking. While we were camping, a family of elk was chillin down by the river, so we could see them by taking a walk in the evenings. Additionally, lots of teal and swan frequented the river. I read reviews from another website that indicated herds of animals would move through the campsite on a regular, if not annoyingly so, basis. Didn't happen to us - we might have had a deer or elk nosing around our tent at night one night, but certainly no herds. Bison, elk, pronghorn, and others were plentiful within the park though, so it's not like I didn't commune with nature. Only last note - the road from Madison to Norris is closed. This is so incredibly, massively inconvenient, that I can't even describe it to you. It cuts off a key central leg of the Grand Loop road system, and means that in order to reach Norris and the north/northeast sections of the park, it's not a 15 mile drive, but a 70+ mile drive via Old Faithful and West Thumb. Super mega annoying. But that road should be open next year, so this probably won't affect too many more people before the end of the season for this particular campsite.

We loved this campground. If you're pulling anything bigger than a 20 ft RV then it might not be the best choice since the total vehicle/RV length cannot exceed 40 ft. Most mid to large SUVs are 17-19 feet. Clean! Sadly, we didn't see any bears. We will be back! This is a central point for coming in from the West Entrance. Yellowstone traffic is typically busy. We came in on Monday afternoon and traffic was light. The roads are marked very well. While this is dry camping, you can run a generator which works out great. With three people, we needed to dump the tanks after two days. They do have an RV dump site in Madison.

Our campsite at Madison was the perfect way to start off our National Park Road Trip. This was our first stop on a long itinerary through multiple states and three different campgrounds. We arrived in the early afternoon after bike riding through the park. The campsite was of good size, and had a few trees that were perfect for hammock hanging! YES! In the evening there are lots of bugs, but this is camping. Did you think it would be all pretty and clean?!?! I didn't see any showers on the map, and didn't bother looking for them either since we were traveling in our RV. If you are camping in a vehicle, you may want to find another campsite with showers, or you'll have to really "rough it". The bathrooms were very clean, and the dish washing area was a plus. Madison offers ranger programs in the evening so be sure to check the program you receive when you enter the campground. We walked from the campsite down to the river and watched a man while he fly fished and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! The way he flicked his wrist to cast his line was so amazing to watch. He even caught a fish while we were standing there! With a beer in his vest pocket, he was my hero that day.

Our group loved this campground! We traveled with our good friends (two families of four) to Yellowstone to camp for four days and Madison was beautiful and clean! The sites were wooded with a picnic table, fire pit w/cooking grate and bear box. Our sites were on the last loop so we were right next to a beautiful river valley. Bison and Elk walked right by our camp site, it was amazing! We were close to the water spigot and the bathrooms. Bathrooms were super clean, well lit with running water and a power outlet. The Rangers were all super friendly and helpful whenever we had questions. We would happily recommend this campground to anyone who only wants to rough it a little, there are no showers, but you can easily go take a pay shower at the Old Faithful Inn :)

We spent our last two nights of camping in Yellowstone at Madison. We wanted something convenient to our day hiking and in an area we hadn't stayed it. Madison fit the bill and we were able to reserve the site a few days in advance. Each site at Madison has a fire ring/grate and a picnic table. Most of the sites had a tent pad, which was great - probably the best sleep I had all week was at Madison. Sites are a bit smaller than some of the other campgrounds and you can be pretty close to your neighbors, but we had no problems. Bathrooms are centrally located and heated - nice for the two mornings of frost we had! Dishwashing stations are located at the bathrooms and there are dumpsters there as well. Recycling is located on your way out of the campground. Overall, a nice location to end our week.

Uhh yea, we just stayed at this place, because it was the only campground open for tenting. Yes we were thankful they had spots open, but I must point out the following: -The road off of 191 is a dirt/logging type. The amount of dust blowing around and the shear fact of the horrible condition the road is in, was something alone to keep us from coming back here, ever again. Keep in mind this snake like dirty road is over 5 miles off the main highway to get to the actual campground. -The mosquitoes are from hell here. As soon as we got checked in and went to our tent spot, the damn pests swarmed us like none other I have ever witnessed. My kids got so bit up, that their arms were swollen up like grape fruit! Seriously, this was the worst portion of our trip to Yellowstone, hands down. Try to get a place within Yellowstone, or in Jackson, WY. We will never come back to this place again, unless we absolutely must! Overall, the place where the RV's were looked decent. The bathrooms were somewhat of a joke, with tiny spaces for the masses of people to come in and use. There was two showers in the mens room, but I wouldn't use them unless you wear shoes in the shower, etc. Floors were disgusting and covered with hair, fectal? or something. not sure. Bring your OFF! or get raped by the tiny flying sob's.

I liked staying in this campground. It had clean, heated bathrooms with flushing toilets and running water which as a first time camper was very nice! No shower but we were only there a couple nights so it wasn't a big deal. It was a fairly short drive away from the grand prismatic spring and old faithful. We did have a bison wander on to the campground from the woods behind the bathroom and stood in front of the door! That was pretty cool to see although I definitely kept my distance and waited for him to leave before going over there.

Got the site on the same day. Stayed 2 nights. Camp sites are squeezed together. Very little privacy between trailers and Rvs. Great price. No showers available. Clean bathrooms. Highly recommend reserving if you come June-August. Watch out for buffalo poop it is every where. Also received warning for coyotes taking small dogs. Pet owner beware.

We have been staying in Yellowstone park at least once a year since 1957. We have tried several of the campgrounds and decided Madison is the only one that is well situated for us. It is often full, and so popular you have to make reservations a year ahead. We used to have a camper, now we have a 36' RV and tow a Subaru. We have 2 large dogs. For the last 5 trips we have had problems getting a space long enough for the RV and car. There is a book that the staff has but it doesn't appear they use it (there are 43 sites that are long enough for us and according to staff there are only 4). The book has each site, says the length of the drive way, whether it is a loop or back in site and if it is flat or sloped. It is really frustrating to find that the folks who do the assignments put cars in the long sites and loner vehicles in the short sites. Even the Ranger commented on it. We managed to squeeze into a 40' site, while three sites near us were much longer and just had a car with a tent camp using it. It is dry camping, there is no electricity, water or sewer hook-up and we are fine with that. The campground is well maintained, has lots of trees and traffic noise falls off at night. There is a dump station and water station. We stayed there May 13-21, 2018 and will be back in early October for 10 days. Hopefully by then someone will have stressed they need to use the book when assigning sites. There is no WiFi or cell service. You need to go to Old Faithful or to one of the loop roads along the River on the road to West Yellowstone for service. The closest showers are in the Old Faithful area.

Great campground! Great location and friendly staff. Great hiking around the campground and a lot of wildlife. We saw countless elk and bison at the edge of the campground. Great Ranger programs for kids and adults

We stayed in Madison for two non-consecutive nights on our recent road trip thru Yellowstone. We were calling for reservations on just a few days notice (if at first you don't succeed, try, try again - sooner or later you are likely to pick up someone's cancellation, either that or we were CRAZY lucky.) Given our situation we were willing to take whatever campground was available but Madison area ended up being a very convenient location for us. Close to the Norris Geyser Basin area, not too bad a drive to Mammoth Hot Springs, or Old Faithful. Check in was easy, and despite the size of this campgroud (like 200+ sites maybe?) it was pretty easy to find our assigned site and the loops are in parallel, so you don't have to drive through every loop to get to the very back sites (I have been in other parks where the loops cascade one into the next, and it can take like 10-15 minutes to find the very back campsites...and easy to get lost in there - not the case here - the layout is a much more efficient design.) Location is within Yellowstone NP nearest the West Yellowstone entrance and is right on the main park road. I think the driveways through the camping loops are even paved, and there is running water and flush toilets. We went in July and evenings and especially mornings were just a tad chilly - like jeans and a jacket chilly but that's all. There were nightly ranger programs at the amphitheatre and in general the clientele was pretty quiet, even the bigger groups of young people. Tons of families so a great place to take your kids. Mixture of both RVs and tents. We were driving a small SUV and camping in our tent so it was easy...but if you have an RV I'm thinking there might be some sites that have length restrictions. I'm thinking they probably ask you that when you call. Campsites were pretty spacious, included fire ring with grate that you can fold back or use for cooking and a picnic table. Bear bins are available but it's not like Yosemite where the bears will tear upen your car, so you can leave food & cosmetics in the car...just NOT IN YOUR TENT or OUTSIDE!!! Also our site had plenty of shade and it looked like that was the case with the majority of the sites. Some of them were pull-thru driveways and others were back-in. One note, this summer (2010) the road between Madison and Norris junctions was closed completely nightly as well as one-lane all day long due to major construction...they were quoting up to 30 minute delays but our experience was much shorter waits. Also if you're needing to use this road just make sure you get there before 10 pm (or whatever time may be posted on the sign) and they let you through.

I found Madison quite nice. It had its moments, the lake is surrounded by scat which was awful and the wood + kindling it $10 per box... Other then that, the staff was friendly, my RV had a cute yard that was partly private from the other campers too. Generators off by 8, which is pretty common around yellow stone...No hookups but they do refill and dump when entering or leaving. Of course this had nothing to do with the campground, but my neighbors were friendly too.

The campsite is pretty big holding lots of people! The location is good to see west, south and east attractions! Their restroom is very good with nice smell and is very clean! The only negative was there are no showers! The canyon village one does but it was full when we book it!

My husband and I stayed here for four nights. We were told from many people that we would not need any reservation for October due to the season change not too many people in the park... that part was accurate, we felt as though we had the place to ourselves, but on our arrival we discovered that we should have made them. The park starts to close down other campgrounds and the remaining ones get packed. We have a 5th wheel at 33 ft and they don't have many spaces for that size trailer either. We ended up getting lucky and they found us a beautiful spot close to the river. Ahhhh the river! We got settled and poured a glass of wine and trekked down by the water to wait for sunset and ended up with company.... a lone buffalo headed straight for us! We decided he had the right of way and watched him pass... he was beautiful and so was this spot. Lots of folks fly fishing and just enjoying the beauty of this amazing place.

Decent campground near the Madison River and major thermal features. Other reviewers have described it well, so I will just lodge one minor complaint: on all the trash bins there is a notice that it is for trash only, and that recycling is available down by the C-loop. If you want people to recycle, it needs to be more convenient!

Stayed at Madison Campground for the first time last month. We have a small 21' van RV and really enjoyed our stay here. The positives include the BEAUTIFUL river that is only a short walk over the hill. We looked over and saw at least 10-20 elk grazing and it was awesome. Some people were fly fishing and there was a path along the river to take a walk. The river is the best part of the campground, otherwise it's just a bunch of people finding a place to stay for the night. The bathrooms are also very clean and nice. No showers wasn't an issue for us. We had an outside spot and it was just fine. Not very private, but we were happy enough. Other campers near our site were polite. Like staying in the park and walking down to the river in the am. No problems with noise. Generators have to be off by 8pm (?) and they were from what we could tell. Dump site near exit and there were elk again just grazing in the woods in the morning as we were leaving. The negatives include the VERY lengthy check-in process. Wow - it took a looooong time for the very nice lady to process our paperwork, even with advance reservations/payment. They also wouldn't even tell us our site until we were ready to walk away from the window, which just seems kind of random and was a bit annoying. Only 1 hour away from Old Faithful (paint pots, bison and Grand Prismatic in between) and 30 min at most from West exit.

Good campground for tenting. We stayed only one night. There wasn't a ton of privacy and space between sites but it wasn't overcrowded either. A downside was the lack of shower facilities but the bathrooms were clean and the dishwashing area in the bathroom was also convenient. The view of the river was pretty cool and an easy walk from where our site was. Also two or three elk walked straight through the campsite and it was a pretty cool encounter. Another downside was the outrageous 7 dollar price for a bundle of firewood. I would suggest trying to scavenge wood from the forest around the sites.

Unbelievably bad camping experience. Tents were stacked one next to the other. We were feet away from the bathroom, which had a bright outside light that stayed on all night. Other campers had no respect for quiet hours or the sleep of others staying there. It seemed like those with big tents lucked into the more private spots on the outside of the loop, though presumably we all paid the same $26. You're better off staying outside the park and driving more.

This is by far the worst campground for tent campers that I've ever stayed at. Xanterra employees were apathetic at check in. The price was about $25 after taxes and fees, which seemed exorbitant. We were given a tent site in the center of a loop surrounded by gargantuan RVs. It felt like we were being put on display for the RV campers. The bathroom is full of advertising for other Xanterra concessions. It was loud at night and we were awoken by a chorus of diesel engines early in the morning. This company should not be allowed to run campgrounds in the parks any longer - they are a national embarrassment.