best place to stay in yellowstone

We went in 2019, but we didn't stay in one place more than 2 nights. You'll be driving a LOT if you try and stay in one location the entire time.

We drove in from South Dakota. Stayed in Gardiner the first night, then Canyon Lodge 1 night, and Grant Village 2 nights.

We went in 2019 and stayed 3 nights at the lodge at Yellowstone Lake. Based on what I know now I would stay in 2 places; Old Faithful lodge and probably the Canyon area. If you don’t mind a cabin without a bathroom then stay at the lodge at Tower Junction (Roosevelt I think).

OF is in the southwest area & Tower Junction is northeast and near Lamar Valley.

It also depends on which roads are closed due to construction/repairs. None were closed in ‘19.

Best advice I received about YS was to move around the park each night. It is way too big to stay in one "central" location. You will be doing a lot of backtracking and wasting valuable time. The roads are narrow and traffic can be heavy during busy season.


We did the following:
1 night at Old Faithful Inn - reservations were cancelled right before our trip but we were able to grab rooms at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge

1 night at Canyon Lodge - this is the most "central" area of the park. But that is not always a good thing because you have to retrace your steps each night heading home.

1 night at Mammoth Hotel - This is the far NW corner of the park near Gardiner. We left out very early to see Lamar Valley

1 night back at Canyon Lodge - we stayed here to see the southern part of the park on our way out to Grand Teton NP.

Hit the major spots EARLY. We arrived at the grand canyon of Yellowstone around 7 am and had it basically to ourselves. After a couple hours of hiking and exploring, we came back up the trail to see people everywhere trying to get a picture.

We did it with 2 kids ages 9-10. My wife was reluctant to pick up and move every night, but once we saw the value of it it was a no brainer.

Try to get a night or 2 in the Tetons/Jackson if possible. It is a great pairing for a Yellowstone trip.

I would HIGHLY recommend staying a night in Mammouth during the fall. The way the elk come into the "town" and are bugling in the evening, at night, and in the morning is pretty awesome.

100% agree to not stay in the same place in Yellowstone to see Yellowstone. Its hard to explain how slow the traffic is.

You also want to get up early or stay late in different areas, which is very difficult if you aren't right there.