Hello, my name is Diane and I work in Y'stone NP. I will be happy to help you out with Yellowstone!
The Park will be crowded on Labor Day Weekend, and I would highly reccommend coming to Yellowstone during the Elk or Bison rut in mid-late September.
First and foremost you do need to make reservations for lodging or camping in Yellowstone. Here is Xanterra's (lodging concensioner) website:
http://www.travelyellowstone.com/ Our website gives you a lot of valuable information on things to do in Y'stone, where to stay, etc.
You may make lodging reservations online, but in order to make dinner, activity, or camping reservations you must call us at the reservations center. If you're in the US you can call us toll free at 1.866.GEYSERLAND (439-7375) and the current hours are 8-5pm MST. If you are going to camp you do need to know the size of your equipment before calling our reservations office.
Lodging in Yellowstone that I highly reccommend:
Lake Yellowstone Hotel-it is the oldest hotel in the park, and one of the guests sent in a comment card saying how she loved her stay after I reccommended it to her. Architectually speaking, it is the most gorgeous hotel in the Park IMO.
Old Faithful Inn-2nd oldest hotel in the park, and the most famous in the park. Right by several geyser basins, hiking trails, and the Firehole River (which is a popular swimming spot in the summer). If you're a history buff like me the above two hotels (along with the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel) are good bets.
Tip: if you would like to get up to the Crow's Nest and roof of the Old Faithful Inn very politely ask (not demand) the bell staff in the morning. The bell staff put up and take down the flags every day, and sometimes they take a few guests with them. It never hurts to politely ask. If you do go up to the Crow's Nest the please tip the nice bellman
Canyon Lodge-because of it's central location inside the park. For guests who do not like to hotel hop Canyon is the best choice. Also, because the Grand Canyon is a spectacular area of the park-tons of great hiking trails.
Tip: There are cabins and hotel rooms at Canyon. The rooms are in Dunraven Lodge and Cascade Lodge. Dunraven has an elevator while Cascade does not.
Roosevelt Lodge-because of the Old West Cookout, Lamar Valley (where wolf watchers go in the early morning hours), American black bears, hiking, and of course fly-fishing. The
Old West Dinner Cookout is the most popular activity in the park and you do need to book that several weeks in advance.
Tip: "Rosy" has only cabins, and the vast majority of those cabins are rustic (meaning no private bathroom, log-burning fireplace for heat, etc.) These cabins are aptly called the "Roughriders". Rosy does have 12 "Frontier" Cabins, which do have private bathrooms, but these quickly sell out.
For rooms and cabins that do not have private restrooms there are communal restrooms/showers located nearby.
Bear in mind that the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and the Old Faithful Inn all have steam heat, which can be noisy at times. Also you may make special requests (upper floor room, ground floor, etc.), but requests are not guaranteed. Request for views cannot be granted at any time. No rooms at the Old Faithful Inn have a view of The Geyser (because of the trees), the frontside rooms at the Lake Y'stone Hotel do not have a view of the Lake (again, the trees), etc. The only exception to this is the upper suite at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel-it does have an excellent view of the Terraces.
Pets are NOT allowed in the hotel rooms, however; they are allowed in the cabins. You cannnot leave your pet unattended for long periods of time, you cannot take your pets into the backcountry, on the boardwalks, etc. To be frank, this National Park is very pet unfriendly to begin with, so my advice is to leave the pets at home. No hotel rooms or cabins have the usual amenities~we do not have televisions*, Wi-Fi/internet access, etc. Some rooms and cabins do have coffeemakers, hairdryers, etc., but you would have to call our reservations center to get more infomation. For rooms that do not have the amenity that you would like feel free to inquire at the front desk. We have single, double, and queen sized beds-there are no King-size beds in the entire park. And for people who spend a lot of time in the gym we don't have exercise equiment or guest gyms (but hey, that's what the hiking trails are for!) The park hotels don't have any pools, but do inquire about the Firehole River and the Boiling River swimming spots at any NPS Visitor's Center.
*with two exceptions. The two suites at the Mammoth Hotel do have satellite television.
Also, and I cannot stress this enough, explore the National Park Service Website for Y'stone:
http://www.nps.gov/yell
Ths NPS website will give you detailed maps of the different areas of the Park, etc. I also cannot stress this enough-always obey the Park rules. The Park's historian Lee Whittlesey has written a book about foolish people called Death In Yellowstone, which unfortunately needs to be revised. We also recently had a bull elk attack a brand new truck and damaged it severely.
Xanterra Parks & Resorts does not have a lodging contract with the NPS in the Grand Tetons, so I am very unfamiliar with the Lodges down there.
http://signalmountainlodge.com/ (Operated by Forever Resorts)
Again, I would explore the NPS site on the Grand Tetons:
http://www.nps.gov/grte/
Also, there are some great places around Yellowstone that are worth a visit. Chico Hot Springs (
http://www.chicohotsprings.com/) is a resort in Pray, Montana that has a fantastic dining room, a day spa, two hot spring pools, and live music in their saloon on weekends. In fact, if you don't want to stay at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (just five miles into the park via the North entrance) you should stay in Chico. Cody, Wyoming has the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (
http://www.bbhc.org/home/index.cfm)-it is five musuems in one and well worth a visit! Just outside the Northeast entrance to the park are the Beartooth Mountains-Charles Kuralt said that this was the most scenic drive in America! It it a beautiful drive!!!
Drink plenty of water before you come to the Greater Yellowstone area-we are in a high elevation mountain region. Also, be on the lookout for deer and other wildlife on the road. The deer are stupid and will not stop for a car or truck. I know this from personal experience, and it's costing me several hundred $$$.
). Most of the cabins have two double beds, and all have private bathrooms with a shower. Also, if memory serves there are no stand-alone cabins at LH, but they are a good value for that area of the Park.
Do you have any other suggestions for interesting hikes? We are all used to hiking and in good shape, so anything up to 6-8 miles is very do-able for us. Shorter hikes are most welcome, too!
I can vouch for this-some of our rooms and suites are not shown on the website.
I would encourage you to email the webmaster and voice your complaints.
