Lodges, Campgrounds In Yellowstone Reopening

Above, Old Faithful Inn is one of the lodges reopening. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Some of the lodges and campgrounds are reopening in Yellowstone National Park following last month's devastating floods.

National Parks Traveler reported:

With most roads in Yellowstone National Park having reopened following last month's devastating flooding, and with no restrictions on entering the park, many of the park's lodges and campgrounds have reopened.

According to Yellowstone National Park Lodges, a division of Xanterra Travel Collection, here's the latest status on lodging and camping in the park:

• Seven of nine Yellowstone National Park Lodges along with all five Xanterra-operated campgrounds are open to serve guests and visitors, offering overnight lodging, camping, dining, gift shops and tours. These include Canyon Lodge & Cabins, Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins, Lake Lodge Cabins, Grant Village, Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful Lodge, Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Madison Campground, Bridge Bay Campground, Grant Campground, Canyon Campground and Fishing Bridge RV Park. 

To read more, go here. 

Travel + Leisure: 8 Most Beautiful National Park Lodges

Above, Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Over the years, the only times I've stayed at a national park lodge was Zion National Park (twice) and Bryce Canyon National Park. Each time we were lodged a cabin at the lodge. 

Travel + Leisure posted an article on the 8 most beautiful lodges in America's national parks. The article was posted last April (somehow I missed it).

They begin it with:

One hundred years ago, America's national park lodges were some of the country's finest architectural treasures — grand records of the moment when luxury and nature first met. They brought their lucky guests experiences they'd likely never had — and they still do just that. 

These historic spots, host to a century of presidents and visionaries, still remain some of the national parks' best lodges, but now they share space with remote resorts and modern retreats, each vying to rest among the country's most scenic destinations. Should you wish to stay in any of the lodges below, one thing is for certain: Plan well in advance.

Somehow, the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park didn't make the list, but the Ahwahnee in Yosemite National Park did. Go figure.

To see the lodges, go here. 

Limited Lodging Returning To Yellowstone Monday

Above, Lake Yellowstone Hotel lobby. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Limited lodging is starting to open up in Yellowstone National Park, according to National Parks Traveler.

They reported:

Limited lodging is scheduled to return to Yellowstone National Park on Monday, with the possibility of more rooms becoming available later this summer. 

For now, cabins with private baths will be available at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel on Monday, with more cabins expected to come on line at the Old Faithful Lodge and Old Faithful Snow Lodge on June 8, at Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Lake Lodge on June 17, and at Canyon Lodge on June 19. 

For now, the Old Faithful Inn, Grant Village, or Roosevelt Lodge "may reopen in 2020 if conditions allow," a release from Xanterra Travel Collection said. 

Concessions in national parks have been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, with problems revolving around when lodges, restaurants, and other commercial businesses in the parks could open this year as well as how concessionaire employees would be housed without risking an outbreak of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

To read more, go here. 

Some Facilities At Grand Teton National Park To Remain Closed

Above, the lobby of Jenny Lake Lodge at Grand Teton National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The coronavirus is playing havoc with out national parks. The pandemic is forcing partial openings of facilities as many of them.

One is Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

From Jackson Hole News & Guide:

Historic lodges in view of the Tetons and lakes nestled beneath the jagged range are among Grand Teton National Park offerings that will not open for the 2020 summer season. 

Grand Teton Lodge Company announced Tuesday that Jenny Lake Lodge and Jackson Lake Lodge are not expected to open this year. Some of the concessionaires’ services in the park will start to boot up the second half of May, but many facilities’ opening dates have been pushed back or put off altogether. 

“Unfortunately this summer will look very different than in years past, and we share the disappointment of our guests and employees, but prioritizing their health and safety remains our top priority,” Grand Teton Lodge Company Vice President Alex Klein wrote the News&Guide in an email. “For those who are not able to join us this year we hope to welcome you to the Tetons next summer.” 

Teton park itself remains off-limits for now, joining most national parks that have closed entry gates temporarily to discourage travel and tourism amid the global pandemic. So far, park officials aren’t giving any hints about when the Moran, Moose and Granite Canyon gates might open.

Readers of this blog will recall that I visited Grand Teton National Park last summer and that the dining room at Jenny Lake Lodge serves breakfast that costs $34.00 per person. We ended up having breakfast at Signal Mountain Lodge. The prices were much more reasonable there and we had a great view of the lake.

To read more, go here.

Yellowstone's Largest Concessionaire Starting Operations June 15

Above, Old Faithful Inn does not have an opening date at present. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Now that the pandemic is starting to taper off (well, somewhat), decisions for openings by national park concessionaires are beginning to be made.

The latest is at Yellowstone National Park.

From the Gillette News Record:

CODY (WNE) —Yellowstone National Park’s largest concessionaire has announced it will not begin operations until June 15, and some of its most iconic structures may not open at all this summer. 

The Park itself is also closed, with likely delays to opening the east gate. 

Xanterra Travel Collection, operator of more than 830 buildings, nine hotels and more than 30 food service facilities and tour operations, said when operations do begin lodging and service operations will be limited. Its operations at other parks are also delayed. 

Rick Hoeninghausen, a media representative for Xanterra, said initially, lodging operations will be limited to cabins with private bathrooms – meaning only Frontier Cabins, Western Cabins, and Cottages at Old Faithful, Canyon, Mammoth and Lake areas will open. 

The Old Faithful Inn however, does not have an opening date, along with Grant Village, and Roosevelt Lodge. Those with reservations at any of these lodging facilities during the closure will have their reservations canceled and refunded their money.

To read more, go here. 

Outside: Ultimate Yellowstone National Park Travel Guide

Above, Old Faithful Inn is a short walk from Old Faithful Geyser. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It there is one national park in the United States that should be on everyone's "bucket list", that would have to be Yellowstone National Park. I have been to Yellowstone three times and it never fails to captivate.

Although things are now winding down at the park in preparation for the winter season, it is not too early to begin planning a visit to Yellowstone next year. Because, if you don't, lodges and campgrounds get booked up pretty fast.

Above, Old Faithful Geyser during eruption last July. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I visited Yellowstone last summer and, as I expected, it was jamb-packed with people.

Thankfully, Outside magazine's website has posted their "Ultimate Yellowstone National Park Travel Guide" to help in the planning.

They (with tongue firmly in cheek) begin with:

Yellowstone is a trippy place. Its 2.2 million acres are dotted with bubbling mud pots, steaming hot pools of concentric rainbow hues, and some 500 geysers that spew water—and, occasionally, cinderblocks and decades-old pacifiers. Among it all are elk, bighorn sheep, and 1,000-pound bison that would just as soon toss you 10 feet in the air as look at you. 

The people are just as strange. More than 4 million pour in from around the globe every year, causing mile-long bear jams on the park’s two-lane roads, in addition to petting bison, challenging bison to fights, loading them into their cars, and peeing directly into Old Faithful. (Luckily, the park has its own jail.) Yellowstone visitors have been boiled to death in thermal pools, drowned while searching for hidden treasure, and, of course, eaten by grizzlies.  

Personally, I find the mayhem fascinating (apart from people throwing garbage into geysers—honestly, what the hell?) and indicative of just how wild the landscape is. When president Ulysses S. Grant designated the area the country’s first park in 1872, Yellowstone took hold in the modern imagination as the quintessential portrait of the American West and, despite its recent news coverage, has largely remained that way. Spanning the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into parts of Montana and Idaho, the park’s sheer magnitude means that, with the right planning, you can have the unspoiled experience that made our forefathers awestruck enough to preserve it. 

To read more, go here. 

No Wonder!

Above, the lobby of Jenny Lake Lodge. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When Mitch Geriminsky and I were exploring Grand Teton National Park, we were looking around for a place to stop at for breakfast.

One of the first places we stopped at was the Jenny Lake Lodge. Since the park's guide sheet indicated there's a restaurant there, we went inside. There, we had a bit of "sticker shock" to find that breakfasts there were $34.00 per person.

We said, "Thanks, but no thanks!" and we left. We ended up having breakfast at the Signal Mountain Lodge. Their prices were much more reasonable.

Above, another view of the lobby with the gift shop in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

On Jenny Lake Lodge, Wikipedia says this:

Jenny Lake Lodge is a luxury resort concession in Grand Teton National Park. Located close to the base of the Teton Range at Jenny Lake, the resort as operated since the 1920s, when Tony Grace established the Danny Ranch, a dude ranch, on the site, with two rental cabins.. The ranch was purchased by the Snake River Land Company, which made improvements starting around 1933, under the auspices of its operating company, the Teton Investment Company. The ranch's lodge burned in 1935, but a new lodge was built, accompanied by enough cabins to accommodate 65 guests.

"Luxury resort concession". That explains the price. 

As far as national park lodges go, I have to admit that Jenny Lake Lodge is a nice one. It's just out of my price range.

First Timer's Guide To The Grand Canyon

Above, the Desert View Watchtower at the eastern portion of the South Rim. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Thanks to the folks at Jack Rabbit Trading Post in Arizona, the "First Timer's Guide To The Grand Canyon" was posted over at Facebook.

I took a look at it and it is worth a perusal if one is planning to visit Grand Canyon National Park for the first time during this summer's vacation season.

The guide was produced by VisitArizon.com and they start the guide with:

Before you pack your bags and make the trip to Grand Canyon National Park, a few words of practical advice: 

WHEN TO GO 

With the kids out of school, summertime is undoubtedly the busiest time of year, making peak season at Grand Canyon between June-August. If you're staying during this time, be sure to book your lodging early, as reservations start filling up nine months to a year in advance. 

For cooler weather, lighter crowds and better lodging availability, plan your trip during the shoulder seasons between March-May, and September-November.

To read more of the guide, go here. 

Best Time To Save On A National Park Trip

Above, a view of Grand Canyon Village where there are 6 lodges and campgrounds. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When is the best time to visit a U.S. national park and, at the same time, save money on a trip?

It is generally very difficult, if not near impossible, to make a lodge or cabin reservation during the peak summer months at or near the more popular national parks and, if one's lucky, an available room or even a campsite may be pricier.

However, there are times when prices and crowds are down and there are places available to book nearby (within an hour and a half's drive, or less).

Travel + Leisure has an article on the best times to save on a national park trip.

They start it with:

At America's most popular national parks, travelers are greeted with everything from one of the country’s oldest mountain ranges to terrain dotted with as many trees as all of Europe, which is why the locations often draw large crowds.  

This can often mean higher accommodation rates when staying around the parks, which is why Priceline took a look at 16 of the most popular parks to pinpoint the most affordable time of the year to stay at accommodations ranging from hotels to lodges and bed and breakfasts near each park.  

To determine this, Priceline looked at weekly hotel bookings from 2017 to 2018, selecting nearby locations that offered an ample amount of lodging and were around an hour-and-half drive or less from the park.  

For cases where there was only one main city or location near the park, Priceline looked at lodging solely for that area. In instances where a park had multiple entrances or spanned a larger territory, Priceline looked at the nearest locations that offered ample lodging availability and were easily accessible by car.  

The list of most popular parks was based on the 2018 visitation numbers from the National Park Service, although the following parks were not included due to limited inventory to pull from on Priceline: Bryce Canyon National Park, Hot Springs National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Glacier National Park.

To read more, go here. 

20 National Park Spectacular Lodgings

Above, Zion Lodge in Zion National Park, Utah. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last night, I watched for the first time in years the Clint Eastwood thriller, The Eiger Sanction (1975).

For me, the movie is notable for some superb locations used, such as Monument Valley and Zion National Park. The scenes at Zion National Park included some at the Zion Lodge swimming pool. The pool had been removed decades ago, but there it was in its nostalgic glory in the movie.

I mention Zion Lodge as it is one of 20 national park lodgings that BobVila.com spotlights as places to stay.

The article begins with:

Planning a trip to Yosemite, Denali, or one of the other 59 national parks in the United States? Instead of holing up at a chain hotel miles away from the action, consider bunking at one of the many accommodations found right inside or nearby a national park.…

Along with park lodges, cabins and campgrounds are also mentioned.

To read more, go here. 

The Best National Park Lodges

Above, the Ahwahnee Hotel, now alled the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who don't have a RV (or even a tent), but want to stay overnight in a national park, there is the option of staying at a lodge or inn inside the park.

Fodor's has an article on the 14 lodges to stay at in U.S. national parks.

They begin it with:

The most historic and noteworthy inns, hotels, lodges, and more in America’s national parks. 

Even if you’ve explored a particular park before, until you stay overnight you won’t really get the whole picture—the quirky historical details and scenic angles day-trippers miss. One lodge, for instance, inspired that creepy hotel in The Shining, while another’s now-magnificent Great Hall was once so unstable it verged on collapse. Here are the hotels and lodges in national parks around the country that offer the most eye candy and have the most personality.

Above, one of the grand sitting rooms in the former Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To see what they are, go here. 

Vanished National Park Lodges

Above, the Zion Lodge today. It no longer has a swimming pool. Photo by Armand Vaquer

National parks have lodging facilities of one kind or another. Some are new and some are historical. Some national parks have none (such as Joshua Tree National Park).

Some of the historical ones have vanished. Some still remain but some of their facilities are now gone.

One of them was the Zion National Park Lodge swimming pool. It used to sit near the Virgin River. But it is no longer around after having been demolished either in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Swimming pool scenes (where "Buns" introduces herself to Jack Cassidy) from the Clint Eastwood movie, The Eiger Sanction (1975) were filmed at the Zion Lodge pool.

National Parks Traveler has a two-part article on national park lodges. The first part details lodges that have vanished.

They wrote (in part):

National park lodges vanish for a number of reasons. Some are destroyed by fire or weather while others close due to financial or maintenance issues. A succession of lodges once welcomed guests in the Norris area of Yellowstone National Park. Now there are none. Only the dining hall/kitchen that currently serves as a camp store remains of Two Medicine Chalet that once welcomed guests in Glacier National Park. 

Here are seven national park lodges that have been lost to visitors since our 1996 road trip. Others have undergone significant changes. For example, impressive new lodge buildings replaced many of the old cabins in the Canyon area of Yellowstone. All of the old cabins at Cedar Pass Lodge in Badlands National Park have been replaced with much nicer cabins. Likewise, much of lodging at Maswik South in the Grand Canyon is now utilized for employee housing. We plan to discuss new lodges and lodging that has undergone major changes in the next article. 

To read more, go here. 

Booking Campsites At Recreation.gov

Above, The Beast at the North Pines Campground in Yosemite National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The best way to reserve a campsite in a national park (not all national parks have campgrounds where people can reserve a site) is Recreation.gov. Besides campsites, it will also let people sign up for other things.

I made use of the reservation site in November 2015 to reserve a campsite at the North Pines Campground in Yosemite National Park in April 2016. I found out the date and time the reservations start and I was ready on that date and time by setting it on my cell phone's calendar. It was a good thing I did as sites were gobbled up in short order.

The features I like the most is that a map of available (and taken) campsites is provided along with a photograph of each site. This way, people can see what's available and see what the site looks like without blindly selecting a site and finding later on arrival that the site is too short for their 40' motorhome.

Do It Yourself RV has an article with 5 tips to using the government website.

They wrote:

Recreation.gov lets you search and reserve campsites, lodging, permits, and tours at the largest inventory of federal land in the country. Not only can you reserve a campsite, but you can also sign up for cabins, group facilities, lotteries, and special events. With campgrounds becoming more and more crowded on summer trips, these five tips will help you plan an RV trip ahead of time using the online service.

Once people sign up in Recreation.gov, they'll always have an account to make future reservations and see their past reservations for future reference.

To read more, go here.