Peaks of Otter Lodge, Blue Ridge Parkway/David and Kay Scott

 Setting out in the early summer of 1996 on our first national park lodging tour, the two of us had little insight into commercial operations in the national parks.  We assumed the lodges were the property of the parks, but how they were managed and by whom was just another black hole in our lives.  As it turned out we were mistaken about the ownership of several lodges, and by the end of the journey some uncertainty remained about who actually managed the facilities.   

As we were to discover, major commercial operations in the national parks are managed by private companies that bid for the right to administer a particular service, property, or combination of properties. Many of the 500 management contracts administered by NPS, such as providing firewood or operating a bicycle rental operation, are relatively straightforward, while contracts for large commercial facilities such as lodging in Yosemite or Yellowstone are extremely complicated.

The national park concession business has undergone considerable change since our 1996 journey. Much of this can be attributed to passage of the 1998 Concessions Management Improvement Act that called for new competitive bid requirements, an end to lengthy contracts, increased concessionaire accountability, and a reduction in the preferential rights of existing concessionaires. The legislation also permitted parks to retain 80 percent of concession fees. There is more, but suffice it to say the act brought major changes to the national park concession program.

Requirements of the 1998 act almost certainly influenced the consolidation of concessionaires. The process of bidding, and in some cases, even qualifying for a major contract became onerous enough that major players began dominating as concessionaires. Even bidding on smaller contracts for a single lodging facility such as Peaks of Otter (Blue Ridge Parkway) and Log Cabin Resort (Olympic NP) has become sufficiently burdensome that smaller concerns are no longer able or willing to mount a competitive bid. Both these properties were once operated by independent companies, but are now part of the portfolios of major concessionaires.

Kettle Falls Hotel, Voyageurs National Park/David and Kay Scott

Two major concessionaires from our early years of travel have been absorbed by competing firms. National Park Concessions, the concessionaire for lodging on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in Big Bend, Mammoth Cave, Olympic, and Isle Royale national parks, was acquired in 2001 by Forever Resorts, whose owner, Rex Maugham, already held the contract at Signal Mountain Lodge in Grand Teton National Park.

In another major transaction, Amfac Parks and Resorts (a name changed in 2002 to Xanterra Parks and Resorts) in 1995 acquired TW Recreational Services that operated the old Union Pacific Railroad properties at Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Amfac had entered the national park business in 1968 with its purchase of Fred Harvey, Inc., the famed hospitality company associated with dining facilities along the Santa Fe Railway. Fred Harvey owned commercial property in Death Valley and on Grand Canyon’s South Rim that is today operated by Xanterra.

Other concessionaires disappearing from the national parks include Crater Lake Lodge, Inc., that operated lodging and dining facilities in Crater Lake National Park and Oregon Caves National Monument for 25 years. The business chose not to bid on a 15-year contract for the two lodges at Crater Lake (the lodge at Oregon Caves was most likely a money loser and omitted from the contract) that was won in 2002 by Xanterra (then Amfac) against competing bids from Aramark, Delaware North, and a third concern.

The contract included a requirement to spend $1.5 million for a new restaurant and gift store away from the rim. In 2018, a new contract for business operations at Crater Lake and Oregon Caves was won by Aramark. The Oregon Cave business had been operated for 18 years by Oregon Caves Outfitters, a nonprofit formed to operate the lodge in an effort to promote the area’s development.

Additional consolidation occurred when Delaware North, the lodge concessionaire in Shenandoah National Park since 2013, was the same year awarded a 10-year contract for Blue Ridge Parkway property Peaks of Otter Lodge. Virginia Peaks of Otter Company had operated the lodge for over 20 years, but decided to forego a bid on the new contract. 

Aramark improved its position in Olympic National Park when in 2005 it was awarded a 10-year contract to manage Sol Duc Hot Springs (Aramark was awarded a new contract for the property in 2015). Although purchased by the National Park Service in 1966, the facility had been family operated until Aramark acquired the management contract. Across the lake from Lake Crescent Lodge, an Aramark concession since 2010 when it replaced Forever Resorts, the concessionaire in 2013 was awarded a 10-year contract to manage Log Cabin Resort, a lodge that had long been a family operation and was in need of substantial upgrading.

Grand Teton Lodge Company (GTLC), concessionaire for Jackson Lake Lodge, Jenny Lake Lodge, and Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton, in 2011 was awarded a 15-year contract to operate Flagg Ranch in adjacent John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. The previous concessionaire, International Leisure Hosts, had provided visitors services at Flagg Ranch since 1990, but chose not to bid on the new contract.  GTLC changed the name of the property to Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch.

Cedar Pass Lodge in Badlands National Park, a facility purchased in 1964 by the National Park Service, was for many years operated by the Sioux Nation.  Management of the lodge was awarded in 2002 to Forever Resorts, which undertook replacement of the old cabins and continues to operate the lodge, restaurant, and campground. Our understanding was the facility was in bad financial shape at the time Forever Resorts took charge.

The Inn at Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park/David and Kay Scott

In 2011, Guest Services, a major player in the hospitality industry, was awarded a 10-year contract to manage Stehekin Landing Resort (changed to North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin by the new concessionaire) located in the Lake Chelan NRA portion of the North Cascades National Park Complex. The lodge had been operated by Stehekin Adventure LLC since 2007. 

Guest Services added the lodge to a large hospitality portfolio that included Paradise Inn and National Park Inn in Mount Rainier National Park. Ortega National Parks of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of the newer entrants in the national park lodging sweepstakes. The family-owed company holds lodging concessions in Mammoth Cave National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park (the Drakesbad Guest Ranch), Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and Death Valley (Stove Pipe Wells Village Hotel). 

Ortega also manages commercial facilities other than lodging in Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia, Carlsbad Caverns, and Muir Woods. According to the company's website, Ortega prides itself on turning around underperforming concessions and bringing them up to and beyond expectations of the National Park Service and visitors. 

While independent concessionaires managing national park lodging facilities appear to be fading into history, several important operations remain, including Thunderbird Lodge in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Ross Lake Resort in North Cascades Complex, Panamint Springs Resort in Death Valley, Kettle Falls Hotel in Voyageurs National Park, Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Inn at Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Let’s hear it for the little guy! 

David and Kay Scott are authors of “Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” (Globe Pequot).  Visit them at www.facebook.com/DavidKayScott.  Listen to their Traveler podcast about national park lodges at https://nationalparkstraveler.libsyn.com/national-parks-traveler-episode-2-lodging-in-the-parks

Other articles in this series on lodging include:

National Parks 101: Who Runs The Lodges And Dining Establishments?

New Lodging In America’s National Parks

National Park Lodges That Vanished

Two Decades Exploring America’s National Park Lodges