Yellowstone #3: Yellowstone's Edge RV Campground -- A great place to stay!

Thursday, 20 June 2013.  Our blog readers are in for a treat today since I have some time on my hands and thought I'd try and post another blog entry. The weather here at Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho's Panhandle is nothing but rain, rain, rain.  It's been raining cat and dogs since we arrived early yesterday afternoon, so the cruise we'd planned on the Lake is out, as is much of any other sightseeing.  I do have reservations for dinner at one of the area's finest restaurants, the Dockside at Coeur d"Alene Resort with a superb view of the lake....if we're able to see it.  Anyway, figured I'd take this afternoon to add one, maybe two, more blog entries covering the spectacular scenery we saw while in the Yellowstone area.

I thought I'd use a short blog entry to inform our blog readers about the absolutely wonderful campground we stayed at while in the Yellowstone area, Yellowstone's Edge RV Park near Emigrant, MT, in Paradise Valley -- and what an apt term for this part of Montana.  Just as an aside -- Paradise Valley was the original entry point for Yellowstone Park. This RV park sits on US Route 89, about 18 miles south of Livingston, MT (which is where you turn south off I-90) and 34 miles north of Yellowstone Park's north entrance at Gardiner, MT.  The campground extends along about a mile of the Yellowstone River with many campsites situated smack on the river's edge.  Our campsite was separated by the campground's loop road, but we were still only about 20 yards from the river and could hear the rushing water at night when it was all quiet.  And the scenery was simply magnificent.  With the Absaroka Mts to the east and the Gallatin Mts to the west, well, the views were stunning at say the least.  Yellowstone's Edge continues to receive high marks from camping groups that review/rate campgrounds, and recently achieved the top rating for the cleanliness of its restroom and laundry rooms.  And boy were they spotless!  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this park and will most certainly return (maybe just for a relaxing vacation) in the future.

Aerial view of the RV park.  Our campsite was about halfway down the loop road next to the Yellowstone River -- turned out to be a really great campsite.

View of the "top-rated" restrooms and laundry facilities.  This building also houses a game room.

A view of our campsite at Yellowstone's Edge.  The river is just beyond the back of the Saturn, with the Gallatin Mountain Range in the far background.

Opposite view of the above photo, looking at the Absaroka Mountain Range in the far distance.

Lynette posing at our campsite, with the Yellowstone River in the background.  We really enjoyed sitting out here in our lawn chairs, enjoying the beautiful weather and wonderful scenery.  And yes, we also enjoyed riding our bikes around the campground and taking in this stunning landscape.

A view from our campsite looking toward the Gallatin Mt Range.  For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you'll recognize this photo -- I used it for a couple days on my home page.

View from our campsite, looking across the Yellowstone River at a peak in the Gallatin Range.

Slightly overcast morning, looking across the river toward another peak in the Gallatin Range.

Funny thing about Montana weather; if you don't like it, just wait 10 minutes and it'll change.  We arrived at Yellowstone's Edge on a bright sunny day.  Not more than 30 minutes after setting up our campsite, we wandered over to check out the restrooms and laundry.  While inside, it began to rain and then suddenly turned into a hail storm -- about marble-sized hail -- to cover the ground.  I stepped outside the front doors to snap this shot.  Lasted for about 10 minutes, but pretty exciting!

I'm always looking for that "unusual" photo-op and when we came upon this old Dodge Power Wagon while walking around our campground, I just had to take a couple photos.  Believe this old baby is probably still used for errands around the campground.  And yes, for those of you who follow me on FB, I posted this pic on my homepage a few days ago.