Where To Stay When Visiting Yellowstone- Our Favorite Lodging Options

Our Specific Recommendations And Best Locations For Park Lodging In Yellowstone and Nearby Towns

Wondering where to stay in Yellowstone National Park? Your lodging location can make a huge difference in how much time you spend exploring the park versus sitting in your car.

After multiple family trips to Yellowstone, we’ve found that staying inside the park is worth it if you can get reservations. (You can book up to 13 months in advance!)

Staying in the park is such a unique experience, and it will minimize travel time in your car driving from site to site.

Our first choice for a single home base inside the park is Canyon Village because of its central location. For longer trips, we recommend splitting your stay between two areas to reduce driving.

If you can’t find lodging inside Yellowstone, don’t worry. The gateway towns of West Yellowstone, Gardiner and Silver Gate/Cooke City are excellent alternatives, depending on which parts of the park you want to explore.

Below, we’ll share our favorite places to stay, the pros and cons of each location, and specific hotels and cabins we’d recommend for families.

P.S. See our Family Vacation To Yellowstone- A 5 Day Itinerary, detailing the best stops, lodging, hikes, and more!

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Our Recommended Lodging Strategy When Visiting Yellowstone

I can’t stress enough that Yellowstone National Park is HUGE. Encompassing 2.2 million acres, it has two major touring loops, the Upper Loop and the Lower Loop, and FIVE entrances to the park!

For more details, see “Which Entrance To Yellowstone Is Best?”

Yellowstone National Park is so large that you need several days to see most of its major attractions. If you can, book lodging in two different areas of the park for your visit.

If possible, reserve one place to stay to explore the Upper Loop, and one place to stay to explore the Lower Loop.

Touring The Upper Loop– Stay at Mammoth Hot Springs, Roosevelt Lodge, or in the entrance towns of Gardiner, MT or Silver Gate/Cooke City, MT to tour the Upper Loop and explore the Lamar Valley.

Touring The Lower Loop– Stay at Lake Village, Old Faithful, or the West Entrance town of West Yellowstone.

Staying in two different areas of the park will minimize time spent in the car and allow for more time to take the time to enjoy your stops along the way.

If you prefer to stay in one place for the duration of your visit, your best bet is to find lodging in Yellowstone’s Canyon Village. It has the most central location and would be reasonable to tour both the Upper and Lower Loop of Yellowstone from this location.

To help you choose the perfect lodging, we’ve outlined the pros and cons of each area, both inside and outside the park below. Let’s dive in!

Where Should You Stay in Yellowstone?

All of these “villages” are located in different areas of Yellowstone and will have some combination of the following lodging options: standard hotel rooms, lodge rooms, cabins with private baths, cabins without baths, and campgrounds.

They will also have at least one of the following: a General Store, one or more dining facilities, a lounge/bar, a nearby Visitor Center, etc.

Here’s a brief description of each village with more detailed info to follow below. I’ve listed these in order of lodging area preference.

1. Canyon Village– Is the largest complex and has the best central location with several lodging options as well as dining choices
2. Yellowstone Lake Village– Features the beautiful yet expensive Yellowstone Lake Hotel as well as the Lake Lodge and cabins; restaurants; beautiful lake setting
3. Old Faithful– Several lodging options including the famous and historic Old Faithful Inn as well as several dining choices; walk to the thermal basins
4. Tower-Roosevelt– Roosevelt Lodge has 50 rustic cabins, rocking chairs on the porch, and a dining restaurant; the smallest complex so it’s quiet
5. Mammoth– Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is here as well as cabins and a restaurant
6. Grant Village– Has hotel-style lodge rooms, restaurants; located closest to Grand Teton National Park

Lodging Inside Yellowstone- Quick Glance

I generally recommend lodging areas rather than specific hotels in the park, because location is more important than amenities if you are exploring the entire park. The table below lists the 6 lodging areas found in the park (in descending order of preference).

Each area is discussed in detail further below.

Location	Best For	Advantage
Canyon Village	One central home base	Best overall location
Yellowstone Lake Village	Views of lake and relaxation	Best scenic setting
Old Faithful Village	Exploring thermal basins	Walk to Old Faithful and more geysers
Mammoth Hot Springs Village	Exploring the Northern Loop	Most northern lodging inside the park
Roosevelt Lodge	Exploring the Lamar Valley and Upper Loop	Best rustic experience
Grant Village	Combining Yellowstone & Grant Teton National Park	Best southern base

For specific hotel recommendations inside the park, here are my top 3.

1. The Yellowstone Lake Hotel where you can enjoy views overlooking Yellowstone Lake is the nicest lodging setting in the park (and most expensive).

2. The historic Old Faithful Inn is another wonderful option to experience its unique architecture and you are within steps of the Old Faithful geyser basin.

3. And finally, any of the lodging in Canyon Village puts you in the best location to explore all of Yellowstone.

More on these below.

The reservation booking window for Yellowstone National Park Lodges accepts reservations for stays up to 13 months in advance. Important! Be sure to make a reservation early!

All lodging areas are open from late spring through fall, but note that only Old Faithful Snow Lodge (not accessible by car) and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (via North Entrance only) are open during winter.

Canyon Village- First Choice For Location  

Canyon Village is a large, sprawling complex and has a great central location in Yellowstone National Park. This is my first choice of lodging inside the park.

It has the most central location of any of the park lodging and could be a home base to explore both the Upper and Lower Loops. Less time in the car and more time exploring is always the best option.

It also has plenty of dining options and a Visitor Center to help you plan your day.

If you could only get lodging at one place inside the park, Canyon Village would be my recommendation.

Canyon Village is convenient to:

• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
• Both the Upper and Lower Loops of Yellowstone (for example- Old Faithful- 1 hour; Lamar Valley- 1 hour, Yellowstone Lake- 30 min, Norris Geyser Basin- 20 min, Mammoth Hot Springs- 45 min)

Canyon Village has a campground, cabins, suites, and lodge rooms. It is a huge complex with numerous dining options.

We stayed in a cabin which was quite basic but quiet and clean. Again, make reservations well in advance.

We have also camped in Canyon Campground. It’s a large campground with a variety of sites (warning some are on a slope!), and we enjoyed our stay there as well.

Yellowstone Lake Lodging- Most Scenic Setting

You can’t beat the beautiful setting of Yellowstone Lake. You’ll be surprised how large this lake is!

The views of the lake are lovely, and you can rent boats or take a sunset cruise.

The lodging location here is also pretty convenient to exploring the rest of Yellowstone.

• The Canyon area (Canyon Falls, Artist Point, etc)- 30 min
• Fishing Bridge Visitor Center- 5 min
• Old Faithful- 1 hour
• West Thumb Basin- 30 min

Lodging options include The Lake Hotel, another Historic National Landmark, as well as more basic rustic cabins in Lake Lodge.

The Lake Hotel is quite expensive, but you are paying for its wonderful setting on Yellowstone Lake.

Old Faithful Lodging- Have The Geyser Basin All To Yourself

If you stay in the Old Faithful area, you have the opportunity to enjoy Old Faithful and the boardwalks throughout the thermal basin in a quiet and less-crowded setting later in the day once everyone leaves to return to their lodging outside the park. 

In the morning, you can get up early to watch Old Faithful erupt again or take advantage of the short drive to see Grand Prismatic before parking there gets too crowded. 

This flexibility is the biggest advantage of staying overnight here. The disadvantage of staying in the Old Faithful area is that it’s one of the park’s busiest tourist sites in terms of crowds.

You’ll find plenty of dining options at Old Faithful, a General Store for provisions, and an impressive Visitor Center.

The star lodging here is at Old Faithful Inn, an impressive historic landmark built in 1904 and one of the few remaining log hotels in the United States.

Tip: Even if you don’t stay here, make sure to stop in and take a peek at its lobby.

Old Faithful Lodge Cabins and Old Faithful Snow Lodge round out the lodging here and are well located and within walking distance to Old Faithful Geyser.

We stayed in the Snow Lodge, but all are great options if you can find a reservation that works for you. Remember to reserve well in advance (remember you can book 13 months in advance!) 

Important! Keep in mind that none of the national park lodging in the Old Faithful area or anywhere else in the park for that matter has air-conditioning. They do supply you with a fan, though I have to admit it was still a bit warm. 

Evenings typically cool off rather quickly, but unusually high daytime temps can make the evening temps uncomfortable.

If you have camping supplies, you’d be cooler in a tent and save a lot of money. Something to think about! FYI- Yellowstone’s Madison Campground is the closest campground to Old Faithful.

The next closest lodging is in the small tourist town of West Yellowstone, about an hour away. The downside, however, is that you will then have to deal with traffic and wait times at this popular entrance to the park.

Roosevelt Lodge- Best For Wildlife Viewing

Roosevelt Lodge is the closest lodging inside the park to the Lamar Valley for some excellent wildlife spotting- only 15 minutes away.

Roosevelt Lodge is the smallest lodging complex in Yellowstone and thus feels more quiet and remote than the other lodging villages.

The cabins are basic but nice. Note that some have private bathrooms while others do not.

We stayed in a “Rough Rider” cabin with no bathroom (the only room available for our dates), and I thought the room was very nice and we loved the location close to Lamar Valley for wildlife watching. Price was $150/night– the lowest in the park.

The community bathrooms were well kept and showers were available. If possible though, I would book a cabin with a bathroom for the convenience.

For one night though, it was fine and we really enjoyed our stay here. The cabins are cozy, the restaurant and bar is good, and it’s a quiet place here.

None of the cabins have air-conditioning but it cools off quickly at night and fans are provided.

Mammoth Hot Springs- Best For Upper Loop Exploration

Located in the northern area of the park, the newly remodeled (2019) Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins is super close to the North Entrance to Yellowstone and the town of Gardiner, MT. It’s also convenient to:

• Mammoth Hot Springs (walking distance)
• Lamar Valley (55 min)
• Upper Loop of Yellowstone (e.g., Norris Geyser Basin- 30 min, Tower Fall- 35 min, Canyon of the Yellowstone- 50 min)

You will have a couple of dining options, and the Visitor Center is within walking distance. This is a pretty area, and we always see wildlife here.

It’s only 15 minutes from Gardiner, so I would compare prices at hotels in town as well. You might save money, have a nicer room, and more dining options.

Grant Village- Last Choice of Lodging

Grant Village is also located on Yellowstone Lake in the southern area of the park and is the closest Yellowstone National Park lodging to Grand Teton National Park.

The lodging here is fairly outdated, and it seems to garner the worst reviews of Yellowstone’s lodging options. That’s why I’ve listed it last. But it could be a good location if you are also visiting Grand Teton National Park as well.

Grant Village is convenient to:

• West Thumb Geyser Basin- 5 min
• Old Faithful Geyser- 35 min
• Yellowstone Lake
• Canyon Area- 1 hour
• Lower Loop of Yellowstone
• Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton National Park- 1 hour

You can dine with views of the lake at the Lake House or the dining hall.

How Much Does Yellowstone Lodging Cost?

In general, the least expensive lodging found inside Yellowstone National Park is found at Roosevelt Lodge with prices hovering around $130 (keep in mind some cabins have no private bathrooms), while the most expensive are generally the rooms in the West Wing of Old Faithful Inn ($530).

In general, prices vary by the type of room (how many beds and whether you have a private bath). Note that most beds are doubles rather than Queen size.

To give you an idea of the range in pricing, here’s an example of recent summer pricing.

Best Towns To Stay Near Yellowstone

If you didn’t get reservations for lodging inside the park or want more amenities with your lodging (like air conditioning), you’ll find plenty of lodging in the nearby gateway towns of:

1. West Yellowstone, MT (West Entrance)- the largest and most popular of the three gateway towns
2. Gardiner, MT (North Entrance)- small but several great lodging options
3. Silver Gate/Cooke City, MT (Northeast Entrance) – the smallest in terms of lodging and dining amenities but will have the basics

Note that Yellowstone National Park has 5 entrances, but only 3 of them have a fairly convenient gateway town to serve as a base camp to visit the park. If you’re not staying inside the park, these three entrances have the most convenient lodging options.

The East Entrance is too far away from most of Yellowstone’s attractions, and the South Entrance to Yellowstone is essentially located in Grand Teton National Park.

For more details, see Which Entrance To Yellowstone Is Best?”

Remember that all entrances require a park pass to enter. You can purchase ahead of time at the National Park Service website or at the entrance gate.

Lodging In Gateway Towns- Quick Glance

Of the surrounding towns, these 3 gateway towns have the best proximity to the park. Note that each is very different in terms of their vibe and amenities. Read on!

Gateway Town	Best For	Advantage
West Yellowstone, MT	Touring both loops	Best gateway town for amenities
Gardiner, MT	Touring Lamar Valley and Upper Loop	Not overly touristy but has all you need
Silver Gate & Cooke City, MT	Touring Lamar Valley and Beartooth Highway	Wildlife watching and less crowds

Lodging in West Yellowstone, MT (West Entrance)

West Yellowstone, MT, the “largest” and most touristy of the three gateway towns, is a small town filled with a nice selection of lodging options, souvenir shops, ice cream counters, and plenty of cafes and restaurants.

If your main goal is to see Old Faithful Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring, two of the park’s most iconic geothermal features, it takes 35 minutes from the West Entrance to reach Grand Prismatic and 50 minutes to reach Old Faithful.

For this reason, West Yellowstone is a good bet if you have only one day to tour Yellowstone.

For gateway town lodging, West Yellowstone would also be my choice if you’re visiting with children as you’ll find more fun things to do here.

West Yellowstone offers additional activities beyond the park. We like to visit the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, wander through the fantastic book store, the Book Peddler, explore the rock shops, and bike the easy and scenic Shortline Trail (see our guide here).

I would try to stay in the “downtown” of West Yellowstone so that you can walk to restaurants and shops, and it’s super close to Yellowstone’s West Entrance.

But keep in mind that the West Entrance is also the busiest entrance to Yellowstone and can require a significant wait in line each day just to enter during the busy summer season. That’s a big downside of staying here.

Tip: You can check out the webcam at the West Entrance to get an idea of how long the wait is to enter the park.

West Yellowstone Hotels

West Yellowstone has a large number of hotels, many of which have indoor pools for the kids to enjoy. They are still expensive for what you get though ($300 and up in July). Reserve all of these well in advance.  Here are several excellent options:

• Holiday Inn– A solid and reliable hotel chain close to the park. Has an indoor pool.
• Kelly Inn is also a solid choice. There are plenty of restaurants and two grocery stores within walking distance. Rooms with bunk beds for the kiddos and an indoor pool.
• Yellowstone Park Hotel– Sure to please with its location, pool, game room, and ice cream socials!
• Explorer Cabins At Yellowstone– A multi-cabin property within walking distance of shops and restaurants. These modern cabins have everything you need: fireplace, kitchenette with dishwasher. Request a single rather than a duplex cabin if you prefer not to share a wall. Fire pits on the grounds with s’mores kits. Some cabins have bunk beds for the kiddos.
• Under Canvas Yellowstone– If you’d like to try “glamping” (luxury camping), this place gets great reviews and provides all you need including an onsite restaurant. Even though it’s a bit north of West Yellowstone, I would love to stay here! The nearby Bar N Ranch also gets good reviews.

West Yellowstone Vacation Rentals

You’ll find plenty of vacation rentals including both condos and cabins scattered throughout town. Pay attention to how far the vacation rental is from the West Entrance to Yellowstone so you can minimize time in the car.

Here are some good examples of vacation rentals found in West Yellowstone:

Arrowhead Lodge #7 is a studio condo that sleeps 4. Similar to a hotel room but has all you need with a good price and location. VRBO 2147333.

Worldmark West Yellowstone 1 minute to Gate! 2 bedrooms. VRBO 1284279. Sleeps 6. A Wyndham Resort Property. 2 bedroom, pool access, community game room, walking distance to restaurants in West Yellowstone and super close to West Entrance. There are lots of 2 bedroom Worldmark Resort listings on VRBO as well as 3-bedroom Presidential Suite.

Need more room? Teton Townhouse – Sleeps 6 – 12, 5 Blocks from Yellowstone’s West Entrance. VRBO 592249. 4 BR, sleeps 12. 2 story townhouse with 6 Queen beds. Walking distance to downtown.

Lodging In Gardiner, MT (North Entrance)

The gateway town, Gardiner, MT is a good option to explore the northern part of Yellowstone (Mammoth Hot Springs, Lamar Valley, and Canyon Village are all within about an hour’s drive).

The tiny town of Gardiner, MT (population 900) has a handful of restaurants, a few shops, outfitters, and a variety of lodging options. It is a stone’s throw away from the Northern Entrance to Yellowstone which has a much shorter line of cars to enter the park compared to West Yellowstone.

You’ll have great views of the mountain ranges, the Yellowstone River, and a high probability of seeing wildlife. It’s not unusual to see elk walking down the sidewalks along the store fronts in Gardiner. Our kids loved that!

Gardiner is much more laid back than West Yellowstone, and you can enjoy a soak in the Yellowstone Hot Springs nearby or book a float on the Yellowstone River.

Antler Lodge (also has a good restaurant) and Absaroka Lodge are good bets here. You’ll also find plenty of vacation rentals that are located near the North Entrance and within walking distance to shops and restaurants.

Or perhaps try luxury glamping at DreamCatcher Tipi Hotel. Your kids will love it! Comfortable beds, common bath house, breakfast, and an evening fire with s’mores. My brother stayed here and really liked it! Here are his photos:

Gardiner has a number of vacation rentals as well, but again, be sure to pay attention to how far your vacation rental is to the North Entrance. You don’t want to add too much driving time!

Here are some examples of vacation rentals in Gardiner:

Amazing Views of Yellowstone Park & River! A 1/2 mile from YNP’s North Entrance. VRBO: 1030684. 2 bedroom, 3 beds, sleeps 4 with views of the Yellowstone River.

Yellowstone Treasure Guest House #1. VRBO 9591909ha. 2 bedroom, 1 bath, sleeps 6. Gorgeous river views and walking distance to restaurants, etc.

Lodging Near Silver Gate and Cooke City, MT (Northeast Entrance)

Staying near the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone in the TINY towns of Silver Gate or Cooke City, MT is the best place to stay if you want a quiet place to focus on wildlife viewing in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley.

If your goal is to see wildlife during your trip to Yellowstone, the Lamar Valley is undeniably the best place to do it. (Hayden Valley being a second!) You are practically guaranteed to see wildlife here!

See our “One Day In Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley” for all the details.

The TINY town of Silver Gate, MT is a 20 minute drive to Yellowstone’s scenic Lamar Valley, and Cooke City, MT is just a bit further away. You won’t find many amenities here, but the towns will have all you need.

In Silver Gate, the Log Cabin Cafe is terrific for breakfast and/or lunch! They also have cabins to rent.

FYI: Inside the park, Roosevelt Lodge is the closest to the Lamar Valley- only 25 minutes away.

The Lamar Valley isn’t technically included on the Upper and Lower Loops, so this area of the park doesn’t feel as crowded. But there is plenty to do here between wildlife watching, hiking, and driving the scenic Beartooth Highway.

You’ll find plenty of cabin rentals and a sprinkling of motels in the Silver Gate and Cooke City area.

We stayed at Silver Willows Sarva Cabin on 4 Acres by the Creek (sleeps 9) for 3 nights and appreciated the convenient location when waking early to view wildlife in the Lamar Valley. It was also close enough to be convenient to return later in the day for more wildlife watching.

Their sister cabin “Ursa “ on the same property is another good option and sleeps 5.

You’ll find plenty of cabin rentals in the Silver Gate and Cooke City area.

The Wrap Up

That wraps it up! If you can swing it, I would definitely try to stay inside the park. Ideally, my first choice would be to stay at two different locations inside the park to minimize driving. For instance, stay at Old Faithful and Canyon Village.

If you want to stay in just one place during your visit or only have a day in Yellowstone, I would stay at Canyon Village.

If you’re traveling with kids, staying outside the park at West Yellowstone might provide more activities as well as hotels with a swimming pool.

If you want less crowds, consider Gardiner, MT and Silver Gate/Cooke City. No matter where you end up staying, you will have a fantastic time exploring Yellowstone! Hope this helps! Happy Trails- Amy

P.S. Most travelers fly to Bozeman Airport and drive to Yellowstone. If you have a late flight or early departure, see our guide to where to stay in Bozeman for our favorite hotels, family-friendly options and advice on choosing the best location.

For future reference, our Yellowstone 5 day itinerary is also available in a handy, convenient PDF file ($15) for your device. You’ll find all the details you need for each day including worthwhile stops along the way to each location, travel time between destinations, the best family-friendly attractions, helpful tips, labeled maps, and the best lodging/dining choices.

• 

  Can You Visit Yellowstone in One Day from Bozeman? Two One-Day Itineraries

• 

  A Guide To Biking Yellowstone Before Roads Open In April

• 

  Yellowstone With Kids – A 5-Day Family Itinerary

• 

  How To Spend A Simply Awesome Day In Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley

• 

  Which Entrance To Yellowstone Is Best?

• 

  Biking The Yellowstone Shortline Trail