One of Yellowstone National Park's most ambitious construction projects is nearing completion. Canyon Lodge, largest of the park's nine lodging facilities, has undergone a facelift of major portions. Five large modern lodge buildings, each with approximately 80 guest rooms, will replace all of the 350 Frontier and Pioneer cabins that have been removed. The 99 Western cabins that were built in the late 1960s and remodeled from 2005 through 2007 remain, as do two smaller lodge buildings constructed in the 1990s.  Following completion of the new lodges, Canyon will have a total of 590 guest rooms.

Three of the new lodge buildings went online near the end of last season while the remaining two buildings with nearly 160 guest rooms are expected to welcome guests in September. Concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts chose to open the new facilities near the end of the season in order to work out any bugs prior to a full season of operation. Visitation is lighter near season's end making it easier to transfer guests to a different room or different building in the event problems develop.

NPS Prospectus Requirements

Replacement of the aged and ragged-looking Frontier and Pioneer cabins was a requirement of the last NPS prospectus for operation of the park's concession facilities that was won by existing concessionaire Xanterra. The prospectus included requirements for exceedingly large capital expenditures on the part of the winning bidder.  To help in recovery of the expenditures, the Yellowstone contract was for a period of 20 years, rather than the normal 10 years that apply to most NPS concession contracts for lodging. 

Additional requirements of the Yellowstone prospectus included major changes in the Mammoth area.  Mammoth Hotel, one of only two park lodging facilities open for winter lodging, will be closed during the next two winters, leaving Snow Lodge as the only lodging option for winter visitors.  Snow Lodge is accessible only via snowmobile or snow coach while Mammoth can be reached by private vehicle.  Snowcoaches will continue to operate between Mammoth and Snow Lodge during the winters Mammoth Hotel is closed.

The total number of guest rooms at Canyon will remain approximately the same when the final two lodge buildings are complete. The overall footprint of the lodging operation will be considerably reduced since the five new lodges are clustered in a much smaller area than the 350 cabins they replace.  If you've stayed at Canyon, you may remember the registration building is in Canyon's commercial area and some distance from the lodging.  This will change when the final two lodge buildings are complete because one of the buildings will contain the registration area for all the Canyon lodging.  This will be a major improvement in the operation and free up the current registration building for other uses.

A Superior room at Canyon.

The New Canyon Lodges

The five new lodge buildings are nearly identical, with three categories of rooms ranging from those classified as Standard at the low end that rent for $140 per night to two-bedroom suites that cost $499.  The majority of guest rooms in each building are classified as Superior and rent for $255 per night.  Some Superior rooms on the bottom floor of the three-story buildings include a private patio with table and chairs and rent for an extra $10 per night. 

The initial NPS prospectus called for a limited number of guest rooms without a private bath in order to offer a lower-cost option to travelers. This requirement was eventually dropped and the smaller Standard rooms (which each have one queen bed and a small bathroom with a shower but no tub) offered as a substitute.  As prices in Yellowstone go, the Standard rooms are a good deal.

We spent a night in one of the new lodge's Superior rooms and found it to be quite comfortable.  Superior rooms each contain two queen beds and are nicely furnished with a coffee maker, refrigerator, and telephone. There are no televisions in any Yellowstone guest rooms.  Each building has an elevator, so rooms on the second and third floor are easily accessible. Luggage carts are available in each building to tote belongings from vehicles to guest rooms.  Small lobbies on each floor offer a game table and chairs.  Our understanding was the new buildings are wired for Wi-Fi, but issues regarding adequate broadband availability make it unlikely Wi-Fi will be available in the near future.

Replacement of the old cabins with the new lodge buildings certainly improves the visitor experience for travelers who choose to stay in Canyon.  The old Frontier and Pioneer cabins were pretty much an eyesore and gave the appearance of some kind of refugee camp.  On the downside, the replacement increases the cost of visiting the park since the lodge rooms are more costly than the cabins they replace.  The Standard rooms at $140 per night are a good deal, but only 55 of these will be available in total.  Most lodge rooms will be $255 with the 99 Western cabins renting for $204.  Long-time Yellowstone visitors are likely to lament the loss of the cabins, both for their lower cost and better feel for a true national park experience, but times change and the old cabins had certainly seen better days.

Notes from the Road:

We are traveling for approximately three weeks in Montana and Wyoming while gathering information and updates for our national park lodging guide.  We are now preparing to head for Signal Mountain Lodge in Grand Teton National Park following four nights in Yellowstone during which we spent one night in a newly remodeled Sandpiper room at Lake Hotel and Cabins, one night in a new lodge room in Canyon, and two nights in an East Wing room at Old Faithful Inn. 

Yellowstone is absolutely jammed. The lodges are packed, the parking lots are full, and traffic is inching along at an even slower pace than usual.  As one employee mentioned to us, “Yellowstone simply isn't meant for this many people.”  The other evening we walked through the lobby of Old Faithful Lodge and saw at least three dozen people standing in line for ice cream.  This may be the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, but it isn't a particularly good year to visit some of America's more popular national parks.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel has always been our favorite place to stay in the park.  It is an elegant old hotel in an area mostly devoid of the crowds and congestion of Old Faithful and, often, Mammoth.  Evening music by a string quartet in the hotel's Sun Room seemed a perfect ending for guests of the grand old dame of Yellowstone.  While the hotel offers nice rooms in the old Annex (now called “Sandpiper Lodge”) for $237 and comfortable Frontier cabins for $157, rooms in the main hotel now begin at $380 per night and range up to $425 for rooms with a king bed and lake view.  Thus, the cost of guest rooms in Lake Yellowstone Hotel now average approximately $400 per night.  Consider that the highest cost rooms at Old Faithful Inn other than suites go for $268.  While it is convenient to stay overnight in Lake Yellowstone Hotel, Sandpiper Lodge and the Frontier cabins are only a short walk away and offer much lower room prices.