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10 Best Lodges in the National Parks

Published Date

August 28, 2007
The Ahwahnee in Yosemite National Park; Jim Brekke photo.

The Ahwahnee in Yosemite, rated the best lodge in the National Parks by ShermanTravel.com. Jim Brekke photo via Flickr.

We've covered park lodges before, but it is hard to resist this top 10 list. Picking the 10 best lodges in the park system is really impossible; it is just way too subjective. Just today I spoke on the phone with someone who had stayed at the very same lodge near Olympic National Park as I had just a few short months ago. Our experiences could not have been more different ... I thought it was great, he thought it was less than so-so. With that sort of difference of opinion for one lodge, I'm sure you'll find some places you agree with below, and others you'll wonder how they made the top anything. This list is compiled by ShermanTravel.com (found via Gadling):

Alaska to Hawaii to the Virgin Islands to Arizona and Montana, this list is all over the map. It would take A LOT of travel to see every place on this entire list. I imagine it would be pretty difficult to fairly rate every park hotel across the whole system, let alone rank them, especially considering the many inherent differences between them all. I'd think it would be a more accurate evaluation to compare just the top 10 lodges at the Grand Canyon, than it is to compare the historic structure in Shenandoah National Park against a lodge in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. But, having said all that, who am I to say it can't be done? Maybe this list is dead accurate, do you think so? Is it close? Did they leave off one of your favorites?

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Comments

Submitted by admin on August 9, 2009 - 5:04pm.

I like your top ten list! I have not visited all of the National Parks, so I can't see that you left any off. We take our children to at least one of our nation's beautiful parks each year. We have actually stayed at the Ahwahnee, Big Meadows and Many Glacier and have reservations at Camp Denali for next summer. There is nothing like waking up and looking outside your window at God's creation. I encourage anyone planning a NP visit to make a reservation INSIDE the park that you plan to visit. Whether you spend the night in a tent camp or in a higher priced lodge, it will be worth it.


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