Lodgings in national parks—such as Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone—often dazzle visitors with their fascinating histories, iconic “parkitecture,” and incredible views. The lodges are so beloved, in fact, that it’s often difficult to secure a reservation.
But here are six alternative accommodations outside of park boundaries that offer similarly scenic surroundings and a fresh perspective on the national park.
Blackberry Mountain
Instead of: LeConte Lodge, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
If the five-mile hike into LeConte Lodge, the rustic retreat that sits at 6,400 feet atop Mount LeConte, sounds daunting, there’s an easier way to experience the sublime views of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Reserve a treehouse at Blackberry Mountain. At this 5,200-acre all-inclusive haven in Tennessee, guests can stretch their minds with sound baths, stretch their legs with daily hikes and yoga classes, or simply stretch out and relax in a luxurious room with floor-to-ceiling views. Come prepared to eat well. Joey Edwards, executive chef of the resort’s Three Sisters restaurant, has crafted a menu that changes daily and focuses on locally foraged produce. “Before summer veggies come up, we look to root vegetables like turnips and sunchokes,” says Edwards. “In July when chanterelle mushrooms cover a hillside in the valley, they are also on our menu. Our connection to the land through farmers and foragers is a major inspiration for us.”
With 2,800 acres of land dedicated to conservation, Blackberry Mountain offers cabins, cottages, homes, and treehouses nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains, in Tennessee.
Photograph courtesy Blackberry Mountain
Flathead Lake Lodge
Instead of: Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park
Forty miles southwest of Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake Lodge is a Montana unicorn. The 2,000-acre property is a real ranch, complete with 140 horses, but it also sits on the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. Guests get the best of both worlds, taking daily trail rides through a private elk reserve, then cooling off in the clear, glacial-fed lake. “Flathead Lake Lodge has a firm connection to wild places, like the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Glacier National Park, which is just 39 miles away,” said Chase Averill, general manager and the third generation of the Averill family to run Flathead Lake Lodge. With its Rocky Mountain views and a full roster of activities that includes sailing, hiking, whitewater rafting, and fly-fishing, Flathead Lake Lodge is an ideal alternative to Many Glacier Hotel, the sprawling 1915 facsimile of a Swiss chalet on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake, inside the national park.
Volcano Village Estates
Instead of: Volcano House, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Far below the crater rim of Kilauea, an active volcano inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, tranquil Volcano Village Estates sits on two acres in the upcountry village of Volcano, Hawaii. The collection comprises five contemporary bungalows and six cottages, anchored by a Queen Anne-style residence originally built in 1923 by a Scottish immigrant. A Japanese garden onsite was planted by Kanichi and Fujino Nakamoto, the same master landscape architects who created Hilo’s Liliuokalani Gardens.
Voyagaire Lodge & Houseboats
Instead of: Kettle Falls Hotel, Voyageurs National Park
A one-time bootlegger hideout, Kettle Falls Hotel is the only lodge concession in Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park, but it’s 15 miles from the nearest road and accessible only by boat or float plane. A more comprehensive way to see Voyageurs, which sprawls across four massive lakes, is to reserve a houseboat at Voyagaire Lodge & Houseboats. Guests stay at an onshore lodge the first night and, after a short orientation course, float off the next morning on Crane Lake in a houseboat that can fit a family of four or an entire family reunion. Forgot ice? A hospitality boat will deliver it to you. Run into trouble? The boat’s digital radio system is always available even in the remotest areas. “Our kids loved it,” says Nikki Lahtinen, a North Dakota visitor who rented a houseboat with another family for a total of eight kids and four adults. “We had a hot tub on the roof, a deck, and a water slide, so these kids were in heaven.”
Visitors can rent houseboats from Voyagaire Lodge to explore Crane Lake in Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park.
Photograph courtesy Voyagaire Lodge & Houseboats marketi
Tonglen Lake Lodge
Instead of: Camp Denali, Denali National Park and Preserve
At water’s edge in an Alaska spruce forest, Tonglen Lake Lodge lies about eight miles south of the Denali National Park and Preserve entrance. It was once the private off-the-grid home of fine artist Donna Gates, who moved here in 1980. After raising her family, she opened her property to guests 13 years ago, engaging carpenter friends to build log cabins and a café, which now displays friends’ Alaskan art. The works “add a lot of color and depth to the lodge experience,” says Gates’ daughter and lodge manager, Cali Best. Guests can go on excursions into the park with private guides, but on property, they eat hearty meals, practice yoga, listen to live music in the open-air amphitheater, or walk the grounds with an ethnobotanist who has insight into how Native Alaskans used the land.
(10 places to embrace the wild without pitching a tent.)
Clear Sky Resorts
Instead of: Bryce Canyon Lodge, Bryce Canyon National Park
In 2019 Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah, officially earned International Dark Sky status, thanks to its high desert air, remote location, and clean air. Clear Sky Resorts, which opens in August 2024, will capitalize on those dark skies by providing floor-to-ceiling stargazing opportunities. Located 12 miles from the park entrance, the upscale resort claims to be the first glass-domed accommodations in the United States (and one of only three in the world). “The location is equally as impressive as the Grand Canyon as far as the night sky,” says Craig Averell, a veteran amateur astronomer who will be offering astronomy programs at the new resort, using an Obsession Telescope with a 20-inch diameter mirror. “Out here we can see horizon to horizon on either side,” says Averell. “I can point out constellations that guests probably have not seen in the city.”
(One of these places may be America’s next national park.)
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