Rex Hale Campground

Stayed 3 nights in site 6. Site 6 is the only site where you are hidden from neighbors by junipers. No shady sites including ours. Sites along the Hwy edge have water and electric. There is some Hwy noise but not bad.

Sites were inexpensive but I understand that next year the cost is increasing.

Gave it 4 stars because no shade and all sites are easily seen from the next.

We stayed in this campground mid-September 2022 just before they closed for the winter. We just loved this campground. The backdrop is beautiful with the river behind. It was clean, quiet, and well managed by the campground host Tom (he was actually the best part of our experience). Our site was level, nice sized, and with water and electric. Although near the highway, the road noise was minimal (maybe because the campground sits below the road?). I highly recommend. Regarding Yellowstone, it is still a long trek to anywhere within Yellowstone--expect a long day of driving and sightseeing. Decently close to Cody which is a great town to visit. I love Wyoming!

Access to Rex Hale was easy following the website instructions. Basically, you follow the signs through Cody to Yellowstone National Park via US 14, the park is right off US 14. There was no formal check-in. We had a reservation and that was noted on the post at our back-in site 9 with 50/30 AMP. There was confusion on our part whether we needed to get water before or after arriving based on several campground (CG) reviews. We called the ranger station the day prior who confirmed the water was on at the CG. Then we found out upon arrival that the sites as you come into the CG on the right side of the road up to site 12 have not only electric but also water! This was a recent addition and why water had been nonexistent or off in recent CG reviews. We were told there was a camp host but the host had actually already departed for the season. There was no cell signal nor OTA channels. There are about 30 sites with only sites 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12 having electric and, now, water. The middle sites, the far CG end to the east and along the riverside of the CG have no utilities. There are water spigots periodically placed throughout the CG. There are several vault toilets but no showers. There is no dump station in the CG, but there is one in Buffalo Bill State Park near Cody. We were staying at an RV park in Cody and just dumped there. We were very impressed with this CG and really enjoyed our spacious site, the mountain views and the peacefulness of the place. We were here when they closed the CG for the season on 20 September and would definitely come back.

Beautiful spot, just off the river surrounded by mountains. One of the best star gazing I’ve seen. Centered between Yellowstone and Cody, about 35 minutes from each. But zero service until you get closer to town and really no amenities around other than a small store when you get closer to Yellowstone but we did not check it out. Very clean, nice size spots. The partial hook ups spots were all taken/reserved b it says first come first serve; they are positioned closer together and to the road but still had nice privacy. Good for tents and all size rigs. We tried many other camp spots around and this was by far the best for larger rigs. Water, bathrooms and trash on site. Other camp sites did not have water and with the distance to town it was important to us. The main reason for the 4 stars is the wind that kicks up out of nowhere and the bugs in the evening. Keep your doors/windows closed and especially your blinds closed if you have a light on.

We stayed here a handful of nights in late August/ early September in different spots - those with electric and some dry. It was very quiet and dark.

It was a great alternative to staying in the park so that we weren’t stacked up amongst a ton of people. With that said, It is quite a haul to drive into park each day from here. We saw bison as we entered the park each day so I wouldn’t complain.

Husband was able to do some fishing in the morning before we headed to the park and landed some cutbow.

After exploring Yellowstone for a few days our travels led us eastward and out of the park. We decided to stop at Rex Hale for the night and are so glad we did. It’s a beautiful campground with a rugged mountain backdrop and high dessert feel. We didn’t have reservations but easily found a dry camp FF spot. They do have some electric hookup sites but those seemed to be reservation only.

The wind was fairly strong blowing which kept us inside for the most part. We did all cooking inside as well since the wind made any kind of outdoor cooking pretty difficult. The winds did die down later in the evening which made it possible for a small bonfire.

If you’re heading to the eastern side of Yellowstone this is a great base camp! However, a bit far if western Yellowstone is your main point of interest.

Overall gorgeous campground and we’ll surly be back if we’re in the area.