We stayed just outside of Gardiner, Montana. We were a mile from the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
The town of Gardiner isn’t very large, but it has most of the things you need. The town is split over the Yellowstone River, so it is set in a really pretty location. There is a gas station a few miles out of town, but there is also one right in the middle of town. There is a small bookstore/coffee shop, which has a decent selection of local touristy books, some fun reading books, a few kids books (mostly younger kids). For more book options, there were also a few Little Libraries/Free Library stands around town. Will found a new book to read! On the other side of the river, closer to the park, is another coffee shop/cafe. There are several souvenir type of stores, our favorite being the t-shirt shop.
The grocery store/market has a decent selection. The prices are a little higher than a chain store, but most of the time the difference wasn’t horrible. There are several restaurants and a couple of food trucks as well. You won’t go hungry!
There is a small hardware store. The Chamber of Commerce in town offers free maps, guides, and a kid’s activity booklet.
There was also another coffee shop and a pharmacy, but they (with a couple of other shops) burned down 4 days before we arrived. The fire department still had sprinklers on the site when we first got into town.
Because it is in Montana, masks are required indoors. I loved this. It made me feel better about having to go into stores when everyone was wearing a mask.
Even when just in town, you can see some of the animals people come to the park for. We frequently had elk in our campground and in town. We even saw a bald eagle sitting on a tree by the river. It was a pretty location.
If you wanted a bigger store like Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, or Target, then you could drive into Bozeman. It was about 1 1/2 hours each way.
I felt that it was a good location for seeing Yellowstone too. No matter where you are in the park for your stay, you will be driving at least an hour to see some of the sights. By staying in town, I felt it was easier for us to get groceries and to do things ours of the park.
