Skip to Content

Where To Stay In Yellowstone: Best Places + Hotels

Where To Stay In Yellowstone: Best Places + Hotels

Planning the perfect Yellowstone itinerary requires research, organization and even a spot of good fortune. You want to plan your trip around geysers, hot springs and major attractions, but in the end your Yellowstone itinerary will be adapted to fit around hotels and where you can stay in the popular places inside or near Yellowstone National Park.

Is it better to stay inside or outside Yellowstone?

Staying inside Yellowstone is more convenient for sightseeing but hotel rooms are more expensive and highly sought after. Whereas staying outside Yellowstone is less convenient but hotels are cheaper and nearby towns have a better restaurant selection. So there are pros and cons to both.

Here’s what we will show you in this guide:

  • Where you can stay inside and outside Yellowstone
  • How many days you need to book hotels in Yellowstone
  • Should you book one hotel or move around?
  • Best park run places to stay in Yellowstone
  • Top rated hotels near Yellowstone

Let’s figure out exactly where you should stay in Yellowstone based on your budget and travel plans!

Our Yellowstone Hotels Experience

Why trust us to help with booking your Yellowstone hotels?

Well, we have personally stayed at hotels inside Yellowstone National Park, as well as at hotels in Cody, Gardiner, West Yellowstone and Jackson during two separate visits to Yellowstone.

We know how to plan the perfect Yellowstone itinerary and we know the best places to stay around the park.

Top Tip: The best advice we can give you before you start reading our guide is to consider whether you want to stay in the same hotel throughout your trip, or change hotels each night to maximize efficiency.

Mark and Kristen from Where Are Those Morgans stood on a grate with smoke billowing out in Yellowstone national park Wyoming
Mark and Kristen at Yellowstone National Park

Where Do You Stay When You Go To Yellowstone National Park?

Let’s start with the most basic aspect of planning your Yellowstone lodging:

Where can you actually stay around Yellowstone?

Well, you have several options available both inside and outside the park.

Inside the park – You can stay in 6 different regions scattered throughout Yellowstone, close to popular tourist hotspots such as Old Faithful and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Outside the park – You can stay in 5 towns around Yellowstone. All 5 towns may work at the start or end of your journey, but only 2 of those towns are realistic options to spend each night on the duration of your visit to Yellowstone.

Let’s take a closer look at each place inside and outside Yellowstone.

Where To Stay Inside Yellowstone National Park

Many visitors to Yellowstone want to stay in a park run hotel because it is more iconic and part of the overall experience. However, rooms at these lodges fill quickly and they aren’t cheap.

You can book park lodging rooms through Yellowstone Park Lodges but we suggest trying to beat the price at each lodge you are interested in with any hotel booking platforms available, such as Hotels.com.

There are 6 areas located within Yellowstone that you can book official lodging (plus location within Yellowstone):

  • 1. Mammoth Hot Springs (north)
  • 2. Roosevelt (northeast)
  • 3. Canyon (center)
  • 4. Lake (southeast)
  • 5. Old Faithful (southwest)
  • 6. Grant Village (south)

Old Faithful and Canyon are the two most popular places to stay in Yellowstone. They have excellent locations close to many of the park’s top attractions and they have the most rooms available.

We will cover each area in greater detail later in the guide.

Morning Glory Pool wide angle photo capturing the vibrant colors perfectly
Vibrant colors of Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone

Best Places To Stay Near Yellowstone National Park

The small towns around Yellowstone offer visitors a wide range of hotel options at various price points.

Competition between hotels and the fact you can book lodging through popular hotel booking platforms mean that you can find good deals.

There are 5 towns located close to Yellowstone that visitors tend to stay (plus closest entrance to Yellowstone:

  • 1. West Yellowstone (west)
  • 2. Gardiner (north)
  • 3. Cooke City (northeast)
  • 4. Cody (east)
  • 5. Jackson (south)

West Yellowstone and Gardiner are the two best places to stay near Yellowstone.

The other 3 places are excellent for staying either the night before entering or the night after leaving Yellowstone, but they are not recommended for the duration of your stay at the park because they are too far away.

Jackson is by far the most popular place to stay for visiting Grand Teton National Park. We have stayed in Jackson twice and strongly recommend it if you decide to include a trip to the stunning Tetons.

We will cover each town in greater detail later in the guide.

 

Where To Stay Near Each Yellowstone Entrance

Are you planning your hotels around your transport plans such as flights or a road trip route?

Here are the best places to stay near each of the 5 entrances to Yellowstone National Park (first inside and second outside the park):

  • North Entrance – Mammoth Hot Springs or Gardiner
  • Northeast Entrance – Roosevelt or Cooke City
  • East Entrance – Lake or Cody
  • South Entrance – Grant Village or Jackson
  • West Entrance – Old Faithful or West Yellowstone
Inside Canyon Hotel and Lodges Food Court various cuisines and loads of tables
Canteen at Canyon Village

How Many Days Is Enough For Yellowstone?

Next, let’s figure out how many nights you need to book.

First time visitors should plan to spend 3-4 days in Yellowstone National Park. Three or four days is enough time to hike the popular trails, explore the famous geyser basins and spot wildlife around the park.

Two days is not enough time to see everything in Yellowstone, but you could at least hit the top attractions. Your itinerary would be rushed but it would be a cheaper trip.

Five days for Yellowstone is not really necessary unless you plan to hike some of the bigger trails. Hotel costs starts to add up significantly if you stay this long.

Need help planning your itinerary? Read our popular 4 days in Yellowstone itinerary for ideas on exactly how you can fill your days with activities.

Should You Move Hotels Each Night?

Here’s the tricky part about planning where to stay in Yellowstone.

Should you stay at one hotel for the whole trip or move around each night or two to save on driving?

Well, we have to say that we personally always move around each day so that we are efficient. But we know that isn’t going to suit everyone.

Yellowstone is huge and driving the loop road eats up a lot of time. If you stay at one hotel you will end up spending more time driving to distant attractions and back to your base.

Canyon or Old Faithful inside the park and West Yellowstone or Gardiner outside the park are the 4 best options for those planning to stay in just one hotel throughout.

If you don’t mind moving around a bit more, you can save a lot of time by booking hotels in different places each night.

Yes, it means more organization, but trust us it is worth the effort.

Old Faithful eruption from a distance walking through Upper Geyser Basin at Yellowstone
Steam billowing out from Old Faithful Geyser

Yellowstone Hotel Itinerary Ideas

Let’s walk through some basic 4 day Yellowstone itinerary examples to show how you could spend each night based on your travel budget:

Low Budget Hotel Itinerary

  • Cody, WY – Night 1
  • Gardiner, MT – Night 2
  • West Yellowstone, MT – Nights 3 and 4
  • Jackson, WY – Night 5

This itinerary would be affordable and it would allow you to explore Yellowstone for 4 full days with some time in Grand Teton on the last day.

You could change Cody and Jackson for any of the other towns depending on which of the airports near Yellowstone you will be using.

Mid Range Budget Hotel Itinerary

  • Cooke City, MT – Night 1
  • Canyon, WY – Night 2
  • Old Faithful, WY – Nights 3 and 4
  • Jackson, WY – Night 5

This itinerary would be a more expensive because you have 3 nights in park lodging but it would be more convenient for sightseeing.

Again, change the first and last night to suit your travel plans.

High Budget Hotel Itinerary

  • Mammoth Hot Springs, WY – Night 1
  • Canyon, WY – Night 2
  • Old Faithful, WY – Nights 3 and 4
  • Lake, WY – Night 5

This itinerary would be much more expensive because you have all 5 nights in park lodging.

Need help organizing your visit to Yellowstone? Our popular 60+ page Yellowstone Guidebook can help you with planning every aspect of your trip.

Mammoth Dining Hall next to hotel and cabins
Dining Room at Mammoth Hot Springs

Seasonality At Yellowstone

Yellowstone is one of the best US national parks and seasonality is going to play a huge role in your itinerary.

During the summer months when Yellowstone is busiest, hotel rooms inside and outside the park are almost always full and excessively overpriced.

We strongly recommend booking as far in advance as possible if you want to visit Yellowstone in June, July or August.

Winter offers a completely different experience at Yellowstone, where only Mammoth Hot Springs has year round accommodation availability.

Best Time To Book A Cheap Hotel In Yellowstone

The shoulder season months of April, May, September and October are the best times to visit Yellowstone if you want to book a cheaper hotel and have flexibility with your dates.

Yellowstone lodging begins to open at the end of April before mostly closing up for the winter season throughout October.

If you want to avoid crowds, pay less for hotels and generally have a more relaxing experience, consider planning a trip to Yellowstone in April or going to Yellowstone in October.

They are the two months we visited Yellowstone and we managed to book cheap last minute deals both in and out of the park.

Yellowstone Hotels Map

Here is a map showing the location of all hotels inside Yellowstone National Park, as well as the top rated hotels in towns nearby.

Click or touch the map to activate. Scroll in and out, move around and orientate yourself with the geography of Yellowstone.

You will find clusters of hotels at each of the nearby towns and hotels within the park scattered throughout the loop road.

Map Key:

  • Red icons – Lodging options inside Yellowstone
  • Blue icons – Top rated hotels in towns near Yellowstone

Lodging Inside Yellowstone National Park

OK, let’s take a closer look at each of the best places to stay in Yellowstone.

We will start with Mammoth in the north and work down to the south of the park.

Mammoth frontier cabin where to stay in north yellowstone inside the park
Our frontier cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone

1. Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs is the major hub for northern Yellowstone National Park. You will find the famous Hot Spring Terraces, the Boiling River, hikes and plenty of wildlife in this region. 

You can choose between a hotel style room inside the main Mammoth Hotel or a semi-detached frontier cabin nearby.

Note: Mammoth Campground and Indian Creek Campground are both in this region.

We stayed at a Mammoth frontier cabin during our first visit to Yellowstone and it was great. There is a huge dining hall in Mammoth Village serving meals throughout the day.

Mammoth Hotel and Cabins is open between the end of April and the end of November in 2023.

>> Book Mammoth Hot Springs: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Bison Jam on the main Yellowstone Loop Road
Bison Jam on the Yellowstone Loop Road

2. Roosevelt Lodge Cabins

Roosevelt Lodge is located in the northeast of Yellowstone near Tower Fall.

Lodging at Roosevelt is basic but it is the closest place to stay for accessing Lamar Valley, which is widely regarded as having the best wildlife spotting in Yellowstone.

You can choose between frontier cabins and rough rider cabins at Roosevelt.

Roosevelt Lodge Cabins shows TBD for open dates at time of updating this guide in January 2023.

>> Book Roosevelt Lodge: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Where to stay at yellowstone national park Mammoth Canyon Old Faithful inside the park Cody Cooke City Gardiner West Yellowstone Jackson outside the park hotels cabins lodges
Canyon Lodge during our visit to Yellowstone in October

3. Canyon Lodge

Canyon Village is Yellowstone’s most popular accommodation region with over 500 guest rooms spread across 5 hotel-style lodges and 100+ basic cabins.

Nearby attractions include Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls, Mount Washburn Trail and Hayden Valley for wildlife spotting.

A canteen style dining room offers various cuisines for meals throughout the day and a place to relax by a huge fire.

We stayed in one of the hotel rooms at Canyon Lodge and the room was excellent.

Canyon lodging is open from mid May to mid October.

Exact dates change each year so be sure to triple check these dates if you plan to visit in May or October.

>> Book Canyon Lodge: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Yellowstone Falls and Grand Canyon from Artists Point on a beautiful sunny day
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lower Falls

4. Lake Yellowstone

Lake is located to the southeast of Yellowstone close to east entrance and US-20 to Cody.

Nearby attractions include West Thumb, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, Mud Volcano and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

There are two different places you can stay at Lake.

Lake Lodge Cabins

The first is Lake Lodge Cabins, which has Western Cabins and Frontier Cabins available between June and October.

>> Book Lake Lodge: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Lake Yellowstone Hotel + Cabins

The second is Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins, which has various hotel rooms and cabins available between May and the end of September.

>> Book Lake Yellowstone Hotel: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Old faithful inn is the best hotel to stay in south yellowstone national park
Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park

5. Old Faithful

Old Faithful is the most famous place in Yellowstone and most visitors want to stay here for an authentic experience.

Watching Old Faithful geyser erupt is among the most popular things to do in Wyoming and staying nearby allows you to watch the event several times.

We haven’t stayed at Old Faithful yet because the rooms are always booked up or too expensive!

There are 3 different places you can stay at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn is listed as a national historic landmark and as a result is the most requested lodging option in all of Yellowstone. So you need to get in even earlier for this one!

The Inn was built in 1903-1904 from materials sourced around the park and is labelled “the largest log structure in the world”.

Old Faithful Inn is open from early May to mid October.

>> Book Old Faithful Inn: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Old Faithful Lodge Cabins

Old Faithful Lodge Cabins is your budget option within the Old Faithful Village area.

You can stay at either a Frontier Cabin or a Cabin Without Bathroom if you really want to stay at Old Faithful but also need to keep costs down.

Views of Old Faithful Geyser are excellent from the lobby and you have access to a cafeteria style food court.

Old Faithful Lodge Cabins is open from mid May to early October.

>> Book Old Faithful Lodge Cabins: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Old Faithful Snow Lodge

Old Faithful Snow Lodge is the newest of all accommodation offerings at Yellowstone.

Completed in 1999, you can choose between Western Cabins, Frontier Cabins and Premium Lodge Rooms.

Summer opening dates at Old Faithful Snow Lodge are from the end April to the end October.

But Snow Lodge also reopens for the winter season between the middle of December and the start of March.

>> Book Old Faithful Snow Lodge: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Blue geyser and hot spring pool at West Thumb Basin in Yellowstone national park
West Thumb Geyser Basin close to Grant Village

6. Grant Village

Grant Village is located close to south entrance and the road to Grand Teton National Park.

Lodging here includes 300 lodge style hotel rooms and there is a restaurant on site. West Thumb is the only nearby Yellowstone attraction.

Grant Village is open from the end of May to the start of October.

>> Book Grant Village: Park Lodges | Hotels.com

Lodging Near Yellowstone

Let’s take a closer look at each of the best places to stay near Yellowstone.

We will start with Gardiner in the north and work down to the south of the park.

Yellowstone riverside cottages in gardiner are a great place to stay outside the park boundary near mammoth
Yellowstone Riverside Cottages overlooking the Yellowstone River

1. Gardiner, MT

Gardiner is the gateway to northern Yellowstone and it is just 15 minutes drive from Mammoth Hot Springs.

We have stayed at 2 hotels in Gardiner during our visits to Yellowstone. There’s not a lot going on in town, but the location so close to the park is excellent.

Gardiner is the perfect alternative town to stay in if there is no availability at Mammoth or you want to book a cheaper night.

You will find a wide range of hotel options in Gardiner, plus a variety of cafes and restaurants.

Best Hotels In Gardiner Montana

Hotels in Gardiner are similarly priced across the board at a mid range budget level.

There are no real standout low budget or luxury lodging options here on the north side of Yellowstone.

Here are the top rated hotels available in Gardiner with Booking and Google ratings.

Mid Range Budget:

1. Yellowstone Gateway Inn

  • Booking 9.2 / 10
  • Google 4.8 / 5

2. Yellowstone Riverside Cottages

  • Booking 9.1 / 10
  • Google 4.7 / 5

3. Yellowstone Basin Inn

  • Booking 9.1 / 10
  • Google 4.7 / 5

4. Yellowstone Big Rock Inn

  • Booking 8.7 / 10
  • Google 4.4 / 5

5. Yellowstone Village Inn + Suites

  • Booking 8.5 / 10
  • Google 4.5 / 5

We have stayed at both Yellowstone Gateway Inn and Yellowstone Riverside Cottages.

Both were fantastic stays and we would definitely go back to either next time we are in Gardiner, Montana.

However, all of the options listed above are highly rated, so we would happily stay at whichever has the best value for money.

Want to stay in Gardiner? Read our complete guide to the 8 best hotels in Gardiner MT on our sister site Best Hotels Anywhere to see each hotel listed above in far greater detail.

Bison silhouetted against a yellow sunset sky on the top of a hill
Lone bison grazing at dusk

2. Cooke City, MT

Cooke City is a tiny village close to the northeast entrance for Yellowstone.

Many visitors stay in Cooke City for a cheap night before entering Yellowstone through Lamar Valley at sunrise for the best wildlife spotting opportunities.

Hotel options are limited in Cooke City and driving distance to Yellowstone loop road is 45 minutes, but you will find a number of highly rated eateries here.

Best Hotels In Cooke City Montana

Hotel rooms in Cooke City are a little more expensive than we imagined, but it is probably because there isn’t much competition and supply is low for a relatively high demand.

Here are the top rated cheap and mid range hotels available in Cooke City with Booking and Google ratings.

Low Budget:

1. Alpine Motel

  • Booking 8.3 / 10
  • Google 4.1 / 5

2. Silver Gate Lodging

  • Booking 8.1 / 10
  • Google 4.6 / 5

Mid Range:

3. Elk Horn Lodge

  • Booking 8.4 / 10
  • Google 4.8 / 5

4. High Country Motel + Cabins

  • Booking 8.1 / 10
  • Google 4.7 / 5

5. Antlers Lodge

  • Booking 7.9 / 10
  • Google 4.3 / 5

We haven’t stayed in Cooke City yet but we know both Alpine Motel and Elk Horn Lodge are very popular so they would be top of our list depending on budget.

Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody WY on a snowy day in October
Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum in Cody WY

3. Cody, WY

Cody is a large town with a wide range of hotel and dining options on offer. You can also visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum, which is really interesting.

We spent an unexpected 2 days in Cody on our first trip to Yellowstone thanks to a massive snowstorm. Rawhide Coffee is great for a morning coffee and Fat Racks BBQ is awesome for dinner.

Cody is 1 hour 45 minutes drive from Yellowstone east entrance so we do not recommend using the town as base for your entire Yellowstone vacation.

However, Cody is the perfect place to spend the night before or after Yellowstone when driving the classic Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone road trip or vice versa.

Best Hotels In Cody Wyoming

Hotel rooms are extremely affordable in Cody, which is great if you need to spend a night here before or after exploring Yellowstone.

Here are the top rated cheap and mid range hotels available in Cody with Booking and Google ratings.

Low Budget:

1. Cody Cowboy Village

  • Booking 9.1 / 10
  • Google 4.6 / 5

2. Big Bear Motel

  • Booking 8.4 / 10
  • Google 4.3 / 5

3. Cody Legacy Inn

  • Booking 8.3 / 10
  • Google 4.2 / 5

Mid Range:

4. Chamberlin Inn

  • Booking 9.2 / 10
  • Google 4.8 / 5

5. The Cody

  • Booking 9.1 / 10
  • Google 4.7 / 5

6. Hampton Inn

  • Booking 9.2 / 10
  • Google 4.5 / 5

We have stayed at Cody Legacy Inn, The Cody, a great low budget motel called A Western Rose and a historic hotel in Cody called the Irma Hotel.

Cody Legacy Inn was excellent value for money and The Cody was very luxurious. A huge downpour of snow made our stay even better!

The Irma Hotel and A Western Rose aren’t as highly rated as the options above so they doesn’t make the list of top rated Cody hotels, but we certainly enjoyed our stays.

Want to stay in Cody? Read our complete guide to the 8 best hotels in Cody Wyoming on our sister site Best Hotels Anywhere to learn more about your top hotel options.

Woman stood underneath the Elk Arch in Jackson Hole Wyoming
Kristen stood underneath the Elk Arch in Jackson WY

4. Jackson, WY

Jackson is a popular year round resort town idyllically located just 15 minutes drive from Grand Teton and 2 hours from Yellowstone loop road.

Similar to Cody, Jackson is not the place to stay between days exploring Yellowstone.

However, it is the perfect place to spend a few nights before or after Yellowstone, so you can enjoy the stunning beauty inside Grand Teton National Park.

Jackson has a huge selection of hotels and places to eat. Our top foodie recommendation is Hand Fire Pizza, which is a fantastic pizza place inside an old theater.

Best Hotels In Jackson Wyoming

Hotel prices in Jackson are more expensive on average than most other areas around Yellowstone. The cowboy town continues to grow in popularity with wealthy second home owners and ski vacations in winter.

Here are the top rated cheap, mid range and luxury hotels available in Jackson with Booking and Google ratings.

Low Budget:

1. Alpine Motel

  • Booking 8.4 / 10
  • Google 4.4 / 5

2. Super 8

  • Booking 6.9 / 10
  • Google 3.6 / 5

Mid Range:

3. Cowboy Village Resort

  • Booking 8.6 / 10
  • Google 4.5 / 5

4. Elk Country Inn

  • Booking 8.6 / 10
  • Google 4.5 / 5

Luxury:

5. Wyoming Inn

  • Booking 9.0 / 10
  • Google 4.7 / 5

6. Parkway Inn

  • Booking 8.9 / 10
  • Google 4.4 / 5

7. Lexington at Jackson Hole

  • Booking 8.7 / 10
  • Google 4.5 / 5

We have stayed at Alpine Motel and Cowboy Village Resort.

Alpine Motel offers excellent value for money but if you need a really cheap place to stay in Jackson you can always book a room at Super 8.

Cowboy Village Resort was fantastic and we would definitely stay again, but we would maybe try one of the other similarly priced hotels at the same level of quality just for comparison.

Want to stay in Jackson? Read our complete guide to the 8 best hotels in Jackson Wyoming on our sister site Best Hotels Anywhere to see each hotel listed above in far greater detail.

Kelly Inn west yellowstone is a very popular place to stay outside the park
Entrance to Kelly Inn Hotel in West Yellowstone

5. West Yellowstone, MT

West Yellowstone is essentially a resort town for Yellowstone National Park. It is the closest built up area outside the park to popular areas such as Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring.

You won’t find much else in West Yellowstone other than hotels and restaurants. Our top foodie selections are Firehole Bar-B-Que and Wild West Pizzeria and Saloon.

West Yellowstone is the best place to stay near Yellowstone if you only want to book one hotel and stick with it. You will benefit from a central location and easy access to the park each morning.

Best Hotels In West Yellowstone Montana

Hotel prices in West Yellowstone are affordable and competitive, especially considering how close it is to the park. You can also stay at a wide range of accommodation types.

Here are the top rated cheap, mid range and luxury hotels available in West Yellowstone with Booking and Google ratings.

Low Budget:

1. Al’s Westward Ho Motel

  • Booking 7.9 / 10
  • Google 4.1 / 5

2. Stage Coach Inn

  • Booking 7.8 / 10
  • Google 3.9 / 5

Mid Range:

3. Crosswinds Inn

  • Booking 8.8 / 10
  • Google 4.5 / 5

4. Gray Wolf Inn

  • Booking 8.5 / 10
  • Google 4.3 / 5

5. Kelly Inn

  • Booking 8.6 / 10
  • Google 4.4 / 5

Luxury:

6. Explorer Cabins

  • Booking 9.0 / 10
  • Google 4.6 / 5

7. Yellowstone Park Hotel

  • Booking 8.7 / 10
  • Google 4.3 / 5

We have stayed at Kelly Inn and Explorer Cabins.

Kelly Inn is one of the most popular hotels near Yellowstone National Park. We had a great experience and enjoyed the breakfast.

Explorer Cabins is a wonderful place to stay near the park if you can stretch the budget a little. The only issue is not wanting to leave your cozy little cabin!

Want to stay in West Yellowstone? Read our complete guide to the 8 best hotels in West Yellowstone on our sister site Best Hotels Anywhere to see each hotel listed above in far greater detail.

Grand Prismatic Spring vibrant colors swirling and light steam billowing
Grand Prismatic Spring showing off its vibrant colors

Yellowstone National Park Campgrounds

If you find that hotels are too expensive or you can’t find availability for your dates either inside or near Yellowstone, why not consider camping instead?

There are 12 campgrounds in Yellowstone National Park. You must book in advance for every campground except Mammoth Hot Springs in the winter months between October and April.

Like hotels in Yellowstone, campgrounds are booked up well in advance so you must be organized.

Camping Exclusive

Are you planning to camp in Yellowstone National Park?

Take advantage of our exclusive 30 day free trial of The Dyrt PRO to get reservations at sold out Yellowstone campgrounds with no extra booking fees, and gain access to free dispersed camping locations around Yellowstone National Park. You can try The Dyrt PRO for free, no strings attached!

Where Are Those Morgans Yellowstone Guidebook

Yellowstone Hotels FAQ’s

Let’s finish with some of the most asked questions about where to stay in Yellowstone National Park.

What is the best place to stay inside Yellowstone National Park?

Old Faithful is the most popular area to stay in Yellowstone. There are 3 lodging options around Old Faithful and you can easily visit Upper, Midway and Lower Geyser Basins. However, if you want to stay more centrally within Yellowstone in order to access all areas of the park, stay at Canyon near Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

What is the best place to stay near Yellowstone National Park?

Gardiner MT and West Yellowstone MT are the two best places to stay outside the Yellowstone National Park boundary. Both towns are close the park and they both have plenty of hotel options. Jackson WY is the best place to stay if you plan to visit Grand Teton before or after Yellowstone.

Our Popular Yellowstone Guides
Our Popular Hotel Guides

We hope this guide on where to stay in Yellowstone National Park helps with planning your visit to Wyoming!

Please let us know if you have any questions or need help planning your Yellowstone trip in the comments below.

Happy booking,

Mark and Kristen

Find This Guide Helpful? Pin It For Your Visit To Yellowstone!

Note: This article contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

All Rights Reserved © Where Are Those Morgans, LLC. Republishing this article and/or any of its contents (text, photography, maps, graphics, etc.) in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Share this article!

Jim and Susan McCormick

Friday 26th of February 2021

I love your blog for Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. I would love your opinion on the closed roads and what is not accessible this summer. I would also love your thougths on accessing the Lamar Valley from the Canyon area and the best time to see it. Thanks!

Mark and Kristen Morgan

Friday 26th of February 2021

Hi Jim and Susan - thank you, we're glad you found the Yellowstone and Grand Teton guides helpful. As far as we can tell, the road between Canyon and Tower Junction is going to be closed until Spring 2022, which is frustrating if you plan to stay at Canyon village and want to visit Lamar Valley. You would have to drive from Canyon to Norris, up to Mammoth and then over to Tower in order to enter Lamar Valley. Alternatively, you could enter the park from Northeast early in the morning, pass through Lamar Valley and spend your first night either in Mammoth or continue to Canyon.

Best times to be in Lamar Valley are dawn and dusk when animals are more active, especially in the heat of Summer. Sunrise would be your best bet, far fewer people will be around than at sunset. If you'd prefer not to drive so much, Hayden Valley is another fantastic wildlife spotting area and it's very close to Canyon village.

Please let us know if you have any more questions about either park or planning your trip, we'd be happy to help!