Lodging in Yellowstone runs the gamut. You can rough it in a plank-built cabin with a woodstove for warmth, or go all out for a presidential suite.
The rustic, warm interior of the Old F aithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
There are nine lodges (hotel and cabin-style) with more than 2,000 rooms in Yellowstone. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that many of these book up months and months ahead of summer – maybe even a year ahead. Yellowstone was popular pre-COVID, and that popularity exploded post-COVID pandemic.
Still, one concessionaire manages them all, so you can quickly check availability. Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates all the lodges. At their Yellowstone lodging website you can plunk in the dates you'd like to visit the park and quickly see what availability exists. Hint: instead of typing in an exact date, choose “Flexible Dates” and the month you intend to visit to see the lodging choices and availability for each day of that month.
Where should you stay? What do you want to experience in the park? Click here for the list and description of lodges open during the summer, and click here for winter lodging.
Geysers and other thermal features? There’s Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins, located about a mile or so away from the Mammoth Travertine Terraces. The rooms were remodeled to reflect more modern tastes. Even closer to the geyser action is the Old Faithful complex, which includes Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful Lodge Cabins, and Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins.
Waterfalls? Canyon Lodge is right near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Wildlife? Roosevelt Lodge is the closest you can get to the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley and still be in the park.
Paddling? The Lake complex (Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins; Lake Lodge Cabins) and Grant Village area are right on the shores of Yellowstone Lake.
Pricing is dependent upon location, month, and general demand, so expect to shell out more than a few dollars for a stay at any of these in-park lodges. The prices listed below are exclusive of taxes. Occasionally, there are room specials offered for discounted prices. Keep checking the website often to see if available rooms pop up. Sometimes you can get great last-minute deals.
The Old Faithful Complex
Welcome to the Old Faithful Inn at Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
A dormer room with no bath in the original part of the Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
In addition to the dormer rooms are other "Old House" rooms of the main Old Faithful Inn building, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Perhaps the best aspect of staying at the Inn is enjoying the lobby with its massive stone fireplace or retreating to one of the balconies with a book, jigsaw puzzle, deck of cards, or game of checkers to wait out a rain, or snow, storm.
Located a stone’s throw from Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful Lodge Cabins offers a rustic and less-expensive option for rooming right next to Upper Geyser Basin. Established in the 1920s, the cabins are located behind the main lodge, some with bathrooms and some pet-friendly. Prices for 2024 range from $133 - $261.
Old Faithful Lodge Cabins range from single cabins to four-plex buildings like the one pictured here, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Old Faithful Lodge cabin interior, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Although it has the word “snow” in it, Old Faithful Snow Lodge offers rooms during the summer, as well. Constructed in 1999, there are 134 rooms and cabins ranging from $109 for a Frontier Cabin to $550 for a deluxe lodge room for 2024. Like Old Faithful Inn and Old Faithful Lodge and Cabins, this rooming option is also next to Upper Geyser Basin’s boardwalks and hydrothermal wonders. During the winter, an ice rink next to the snow lodge is created for the skating enjoyment of the guests.
The Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
A room at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Lake And Grant Village
Several rounds of renovations have not only kept Lake Yellowstone Hotel from falling to the wrecking ball, but ensured it remains one of the most picturesque and pampering places in the National Park System to unpack your bags. Of course, a room in the hotel, arguably the flagship of the park's six lodging destinations -- Mammoth Hot Springs, Roosevelt Lodge, Canyon, the Old Faithful complex, Grant Village, and, of course, Lake -- doesn't come inexpensively. 2024 rates range from $229 for a pet-friendly cabin to over $1,500 for the presidential suite. Lake Yellowstone Hotel may be on the high end of typical park lodgings, but if you make just one trip to Yellowstone in your lifetime, the splurge might be well worth it.
Lake Lodge Cabins offers a less-expensive alternative to lakeside rooming. There are 186 cabins ranging in price (for 2024) from $125 for a Pioneer Cabin, to $372 for a pet-friendly Western Cabin.
Grant Village is a great location for boaters, as it's right on Yellowstone Lake and offers a boat launch. There are 300 rooms spread across six 2-story chalets, with prices (2024) ranging from $289 to $323.
Canyon
Though distant from the Upper, Midway, and Lower geyser basins, the complex here of over 500 rooms and cabins is right on the lip of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and just a dozen miles from the Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest and most colorful thermal basin in the park.
For 2024, rates range from $259 for a Western Cabin to $1,109 for a suite. All rooms and cabins have private bathrooms.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Completely renovated in 2019, the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins are a popular lodging spot at the northwest entrance of Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
At park headquarters you'll find another nice range of options with Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel’s 211 rooms and cabins. Rates for 2024 range from $256 for a Frontier Cabin to $438 for a Deluxe Hotel Room.
Frontier cabins, located behind Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel at Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel Frontier Cabins offer two queen beds and a bathroom in a light, bright, airy setting at Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Roosevelt Lodge
Roosevelt Lodge at the gateway to the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Though farthest from the park's geothermal wonders, this lodge arguably is the front door to excellent wildlife viewing in the Lamar Valley just to the east. Wolves, elk, bison, antelope, bighorn sheep, coyotes and even bears can be seen in the early summer and fall in the valley.
The main lodge is for taking meals, while the surrounding cabins come in two flavors: Frontier cabins ($208) offer two double beds and a simple bathroom, and Roughrider ($125), which have one or two beds, a short walk to small communal bathroom facilities, and a woodstove to keep warm when the nights turn cold.
Rough Rider Cabins are rustic and a little cramped, but offer simple lodging against the elements in this part of Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
The Roosevelt Lodge Rough Rider Cabin interior, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
Other Options
Don't be discouraged if you initially strike out. There are always last-minute cancellations, and sometimes group tours that reserved large blocks of rooms back in December failed to book them all and release rooms en masse, so it doesn't hurt to check back on a regular basis for cancellations. Unfortunately, the concessionaire does not offer a wait-list.
If, despite your best efforts, you can't land a room in the park for your desired dates, make a blood oath to start earlier next time and then turn your sights to the gateway communities. West Yellowstone and Gardiner are the closest to the park; both actually share a boundary line with Yellowstone.
West Yellowstone, though, has more than 2,000 rooms in summer and, if you prefer geysers over wildlife, is closer to the geyser basins so you might want to look here first. West Yellowstone to Old Faithful and its geyser basin is 30 miles (48 km) and will take about 45 minutes, maybe longer if you stop along the way. You easily could spend a day with stops at the Firehole Canyon Drive, Fountain Flat Drive, Fountain Paint Pots, the Midway Geyser Basin, and the Upper Geyser Basin along with Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin. And that's without taking any hikes.
If you prefer wildlife watching and have your sights set on scoping out the Lamar Valley for wolves, bears, bison and elk, then Gardiner is closer than West Yellowstone ... but not as close as Cooke City or Silver Gate. Though decidedly smaller and less commercial than any of the other gateways, Cooke City and Silver Gate are so very colorful and charming that a night or two here wouldn't be a mistake if you don't mind not having a Starbucks or Domino's to deliver.
Cooke City to Roosevelt is a flat drive right through the Lamar Valley. Again, much to see. While the distance is only about 30 miles (48 km), you'll want to take your time stopping here and there to look around or to take a hike.
Jackson and Cody are so far away (56 and 53 miles / 90 and 85 km, respectively), that using them as a basecamp for a Yellowstone visit would not be the Traveler's first, second, or third recommendation.
If you've somehow managed to be shut out of all indoors accommodations, campgrounds and RV parks are your remaining options.
Yellowstone has a dozen campgrounds, and reservations are required at all of them through either recreation.gov online or by calling 877-444-6777 or Yellowstone National Park Lodges 307-344-7311.
A night out on the ice rink at Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
