Just in time for the summer travel season, David and Kay Scott have come forth with an eighth edition to their guide to lodging in the National Park System. And it contains some notable additions.

New to The Complete Guide To National Park Lodges are entries for the Inn at the Presidio and The Argonaut, both located in Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California. Also new is an entry on new cabins at Cedar Pass Lodge at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Gone from the pages is Rocky Knob Cabins, a property along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia that the National Park Service has been unable to find a company to operate.

Among the additions, of course, are revised rates for the lodges.

Since rates can change more frequently than publishing schedules, consider them largely as reference points and focus on the "meat" of this guide: the descriptions of the lodgings available to park travelers. Gathering this information is no small matter. Since 1996, the Scotts have loaded up their car about every three years and left their Georgia home for a cross-country odyssey that would make fellow park lovers envious. For instance, this is how they described their itinerary for the 2011 lodging expedition:

We typically drive 9,000 to 11,000 miles while staying in and exploring as many of the lodges as possible. We don’t have the time nor money to stay in all the lodges. For example, in Yellowstone we will stay in four of the park’s nine lodges, but spend time visiting the other five facilities. At the South Rim of the Grand Canyon we will spend three nights at Yavapai, but spend time at Maswik, Thunderbird, Kachina, El Tovar, and Bright Angel Lodge.

The latest update to their guide comes with quite a few new full-cover photos. For starters, the cover features shots of the dining room at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park in California, a cabin at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, and the Crater Lake Lodge at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.

The entries are generally objective to give you a straightforward overview of the lodging in question. That makes sense when you consider that what is marvelous to one person might not be to the next. That said, there are some instances where the Scotts, who long have written about park lodging for the Traveler, point out the obvious. For instance, at the Village Inn at Apgar Village in Glacier National Park in Montana, they note that, "The inn doesn't enjoy the charm of the park's historic lodges, but the accommodations are comfortable and larger rooms with either 2 bedrooms or a kitchen are a good choice for families."

In Yosemite National Park they point out that, "Lodging facilities at Curry Village are tightly packed, and most units are some distance from parking. ... The decision on whether to stay here depends on how much you are willing to spend, what lodging facilities are available when your reservation is made, and, because this area can be very busy in the summer, how well you tolerate crowds."

As you would hope, the Scotts provide you with a background on what to expect in national park lodgings -- "National park lodges range from luxurious and expensive facilities ... to rustic cabins without bathrooms. Some facilities call themselves lodges but are not what most of us picture when thinking of a lodge." -- and how to go about getting a reservation when you want a reservation. They offer suggestions for how to reduce the cost of your vacation -- consider a room without a private bathroom, consider a night or two in a campground, when traveling to your park destination stay in a less-expensive motel outside the park the night before your arrival in the park -- and point out the unreliability of cell and Wi-Fi coverage.

If you're looking for a guide to help acquaint yourself with lodging options in the National Park System, one that gives you a good overview of lodges along with some local color -- "The old warehouse in which the Argonaut is located was constructed in 1908 for the California Fruit Cannery Association, which packed fruit and vegetables for the Del Monte Company canner located next door." -- you can't go wrong with the Scotts'.