Fundamentals

• The National Park Service contracted with Xanterra Parks & Resorts to operate all lodging, including reservations, for properties within the borders of Yellowstone National Park in the northwest corner of Wyoming, according to the National Park Service website.
  
  Hotels, lodges and cabins are located at crossroads and popular sites within Yellowstone. Campsites are scattered throughout the 2.2-million-acre park.
  
  

Options

• The nine lodging properties within Yellowstone offer widely different experiences and amenities, according to the Xanterra Parks & Resorts website.
  
  The Lake Yellowstone Hotel, the oldest accommodations in the park, shows off its Victorian influences on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Mammoth Hot Springs, the site of the old Fort Yellowstone, was developed for lodging in the late 1800s.
  
  Roosevelt Lodge Cabins sit near one of President Theodore Roosevelt's favorite campsites in the park. The Old Faithful Inn, located next to the geyser of the same name, has become an icon of historic national park architecture, known as "parkitecture," with its towering lobby ceiling, wood beams and natural décor.
  
  Old Faithful Snow Lodge became the newest lodging in the park when it opened in Old Faithful Village in 1999.
  
  Twelve campgrounds offer more than 2,000 campsites throughout the park.
  
  

Summer Lodging

• All nine lodging properties within Yellowstone National Park accept reservations for the summer: Canyon Lodges and Cabins, Grant Village, Lake Lodge Cabins, Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins, Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful Lodge Cabins, Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins, Roosevelt Lodge and Cabins.
  
  

Winter Lodging

• Only one lodging property, the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, remains open during Yellowstone's harsh winters.mud volcano in yellowstone park image by PHOTOFLY from Fotolia.com
  
  Given the extreme winter weather conditions in Yellowstone, only the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel opens for winter guests. The hotel stays open from late December to early March for snow sports enthusiasts and hardy visitors. Located near the park's north entrance, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel remains accessible by automobile in the winter, according to the Xanterra website.
  
  All campsites close for the winter.
  
  

Features

• Cabins and rooms in Yellowstone National Park have no televisions or radios. Most hotel and lodge rooms have telephones, but the cabins do not, according to the Xanterra website. Limited cell phone service is available in the Old Faithful, Mammoth, Grant Village and Canyon areas, but not all providers can be accessed in the park.
  
  In 2010, limited wireless Internet service was proposed for non-historic accommodations, according to the Xanterra website.
  
  Temperatures in Yellowstone National Park rarely climb above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so the lodging properties do not have air-conditioning. Fans are provided in most rooms, according to the Xanterra website.
  
  Smoking is prohibited in all Yellowstone lodging properties, according to the Xanterra website.
  
  Cabin accommodations allow pets.
  
  

History

• Yellowstone became the United States' first national park in 1872 and has been a popular tourist destination since then. Native Americans and their ancient ancestors used the park area for hunting and seasonal homes, according to the National Park Service website.
  
  Communities have built up at the entrances to Yellowstone, and all offer a variety of outside-the-park accommodations.
  
  

Significance

• More than 10,000 thermal features exist in Yellowstone National Park, including hot springs, mud pots and geysers.geothermische quellen im yellowstone national park image by pmphoto from Fotolia.com
  
  Yellowstone National Park is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.
  
  Bison, moose and elk live in Yellowstone along with bears, wolves and other mammals, western fish species and hundreds of different birds. More than 10,000 thermal features, including geysers and hot mud eruptions, dot the Yellowstone landscape.