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Accommodations
It will come as no surprise that rates for accommodations are noticeably higher in the Yel-
lowstone region than in the surrounding areas of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, particu-
larly in the mad high-season months of July and August. Still, you'll find a wide range of
places to stay, from the excellent National Park Service (NPS) and US Forest Service
(USFS) campgrounds to private RV parks, simple motels, B&Bs and five-star luxury ho-
tels, as well as that uniquely Western institution, the guest or dude ranch. You should be
able to find something reasonably priced in most areas, especially off season.
BOOK YOUR STAY ONLINE
For more accommodation reviews by Lonely Planet authors, check out hotels.lonelyplanet.com. You'll find inde-
pendent reviews, as well as recommendations on the best places to stay. Best of all, you can book online.
Yellowstone itself remains the biggest headache, with noncamping accommodations lim-
ited to a handful of lodges or cookie-cutter cabins, both of which get booked up months in
advance, despite there being almost 2200 rooms in the park.
Outside the parks you can normally find somewhere to stay if you just roll into town, but
it's still a good idea to make a reservation at least a day or two in advance. The more popu-
lar hotels fill up a month or two in advance of high summer (July and August). Winter is
also a prime season in Cooke City and West Yellowstone. The good news is that you can
often score discounts of up to 50% on lodging outside the parks in the shoulder season
months of April, May, late September through to mid-December, with winter discounts of
at least 30% from January to March.
In this guide we use the following price ratings for a double room in high season,
without tax:
budget $ under $100
