staff Yellowstone is an unforgettable destination for families, filled with fun outdoor activities. Whether you go whitewater rafting or take a boat tour on Yellowstone Lake, the memories are endless. But the drive between Yellowstone’s many attractions can be long — especially for younger kids.
Privacy
Yellowstone’s cabin rentals offer a truly unique wilderness retreat. Pine-scented walls, antler decor, and stone fireplaces make it easy to feel at one with your natural surroundings. Plus, staying inside the park means you’re only a short drive from Yellowstone’s best attractions, including Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring. This makes it easier to beat the crowds and avoid waiting long lines for these popular landmarks.
Staying in one of the vacation rentals in Yellowstone National Park can also help you avoid the crowds visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs area, North Yellowstone, or the Lamar Valley. But these locations are far from other park destinations, so they’re better suited for before and after your Yellowstone trip rather than as your main base of operations.
Convenience
When planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park, staying at one of the secluded cabins or lodges will make your trip more convenient. Instead of trying to find a campsite in the middle of the summer or dealing with the noise and crowds at the hotels and motels, you can enjoy a peaceful getaway where you can spend your days exploring the many natural wonders of the national park.
For example, if you stay at a cabin near Old Faithful, you can walk or bike to the geyser and snap postcard-worthy pictures of it erupting every 35 minutes to two hours. Similarly, you can easily hike to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, where you can witness the thundering waterfalls.
You can also visit the Grizzly Den Museum and learn about the wolves, bison, and other wildlife that call Yellowstone home. You can even take a winter tour of the Yellowstone National Park and snow coach or snowmobile into the park for a truly unique experience.
Availability
Yellowstone National Park needs more lodging for all people who want to visit during peak summer. That’s why the five gateway communities have plenty of hotel options for visitors who still need to get a reservation at a park campground.
There are 12 campgrounds inside Yellowstone, and reservations must be made well in advance for most of them. However, some sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis during the summer at Lewis Lake, Indian Creek, Mammoth, Norris, Slough Creek, and Tower Fall.
If you still need a campground reservation, the best chance of finding a campsite is to arrive early in the day and search for available sites. Some campgrounds fill up by mid-day, especially during the busy summer months.
Value
Yellowstone National Park is a nearly 3,500-square-mile wild recreation area atop a supervolcano, with spectacular canyons, alpine rivers, and bubbling geysers, including the famous Old Faithful. This natural wonderland draws millions of visitors yearly to see stunning landscapes and wildlife in an unspoiled wilderness.
The most famous sight in Yellowstone is the Grand Prismatic Spring, one of the world’s most colorful and most photographed thermal pools. Then there is the huge Old Faithful Geyser, a towering geyser that erupts every 90 minutes.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake above 7,000 feet in North America and provides fantastic scenery and opportunities for boating or fishing. It also is the perfect spot to see wild bison roaming the vast grasslands of Lamar Valley, often called the Serengeti of North America.
