A Common Sense Guide to Good National Parks Etiquette, Because Good Sense Isn’t Common

As our time spent within national parks increases, there are a few glaringly apparent things that I’ve noticed. Mostly, that it seems a lot of people fail to comprehend how they should act within a national park. Although the term “common” sense would imply that this is knowledge most people should have, I find that people tend to understand things at completely different levels. Nothing is truly “common.”

Hebgen Lake and West Yellowstone

After spending two nights at the truck stop in Missoula and another two at the Town Pump in Three Forks, Montana, we were ready to get to Yellowstone. This was our first MAJOR stop on the trip. Of course we had enjoyed every other place we’d been, but Yellowstone was our first national park and the first place we were planning on spending a good hunk of time. We had looked up a forest service campsite called Baker’s Hole, literally a couple miles out from the West Yellowstone entrance. It would entail more dry camping as it didn’t provide any water or electrical hook ups, but after staying at truck stops for the last 4 days, our confidence was high and we were ready for the challenge.