Yellowstone National Park Madison Campground

Madison sits at the confluence of two legendary trout streams, where the Firehole and Gibbon join to create the Madison River. This 278-site campground spreads across open meadows with scattered lodgepole pines, offering decent spacing for a park campground. Elk are regulars here — they’ll graze between sites come evening, sometimes backing up traffic on the campground roads. Sites are mostly level gravel pads suitable for any rig, though the larger RV sites fill first during peak season.

Located right on the Grand Loop Road, Madison makes a solid base for hitting the park’s western attractions — Old Faithful is 16 miles south, Norris Geyser Basin 14 miles north. The campground fills daily from late June through August, with reservations essential. No hookups, but there are flush toilets, potable water, and a dump station. Generators allowed during limited hours.

Elk-watching basecamp at the river confluence