Finding a camp site

So this blog is a tribute to campgrounds everywhere, but will focus in on yellowstone.
This is the truth about finding a campsite without a reservation. It is not easy, unless you pick up on the swing of the camping scene.
Things to know:
Campgrounds that except reservations are not worth your time if you didn't make one, or if you are in an area that is touristy.
Look for first come first serve sites, if you want to be free of reservations.
Double check and make sure they are really first come first serve, before you set up the tent.
Get there early, people who are road trippers usually head out early, so the sites are open before the checkout time... other people will be all over the sites so you have to be just as aggressive.

The yellowstone story.
We got in super early, and went to the campgrounds that said there were opensites. Mistake one: I forgot to check and see if it was a first come first serve grounds. Hey, it was really early and we were both exhuasted. Second mistake, we found an empty site as the late arrivals instructions stated... and set up the tent. It wasn't until later that I figured out that by late arrivals they were thinking of people getting in at night and leaving when we had arrived. The end result we had to take the tent back down because the site we had found empty was acctually reserved for that night. It was still early when we discovered this and redirected to a real first come first serve site we were able to find a great spot, which was free the first night. This was not a fantastic gimic of the park to draw in campers, they just had no water at the site. We didn't complain, two full days and two nights at yellowstone for $6. Well that and the annual pass. With the site found we were able to enjoy all the beauty of the park.

One more suggestion, while it is a little out of the way the site we stayed at was the Lewis Lake site. It is in the southern part of the park, and if you get there later it seemed to fill up slower then the others.