The Best New Lodges Near U.S. National Parks

Updated January 10, 2025 03:48PM

We get it—not everyone wants to pitch a tent and forego showers when visiting our public lands. And honestly, because of a recent boom in new national-park lodging, you don’t have to. In 2020, I moved into my minivan and traveled to nearly every park in the U.S., penning dispatches about them for Outside. When I wasn’t catnapping in the back of my vehicle, I occasionally splurged on fun motels and lodges in gateway towns.

Whether you’re headed to the rust red maw of the Grand Canyon or the wooded summits of Great Smoky Mountains, loads of new hotels and glamping retreats are popping up to meet the demands of park visitors, whose numbers have exploded since the pandemic. From retro-futuristic roadside motels to Dolly Parton-themed resorts and remodeled national-park lodges, there’s a little something for everyone on this list.

1. Ofland Escalante

With its modernist cabins, spa-inspired bathhouses, and food truck that serves up Americana fare (like meatloaf patty melts and cornbread French toast), this newer outpost on Southern Utah’s stunning Highway 12 just rebranded and added deluxe cabins in 2024 and is a true outdoor-lover’s paradise. Situated a mere ten minutes from Hole in the Rock Road, the washboard byway leading to many of Grand Staircase Escalante’s top slot canyons, Ofland Escalante is the ultimate, pet-friendly base camp for exploring the Beehive State’s red-rock country.

An hour’s drive delivers you to the colorful hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, while a 90-minute car ride gets you up to my personal Utah fave, Capitol Reef. In the evening, enjoy a steamy outdoor shower, followed by a drive-in movie with free popcorn at Ofland’s own big-screen theater, or plop into the property’s pool and hot tub before enjoying the snap, crackle, and pop of your personal fire pit. If it’s not too hot, spend an afternoon clambering around in Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons.

2. Populus Hotel

Set in downtown Denver, a stone’s throw from the State Capitol, the Denver Art Museum, and Civic Center Park, Populus is making history in 2024 as the nation’s first carbon-positive hotel. It has been designed from the ground up to utilize solar and wind power, highlight locally sourced ingredients from Colorado in each of its dining concepts, and closely monitor all emissions so that remaining carbon is balanced out by supporting projects that capture carbon elsewhere. The hotel has already planted over 70,000 trees (and counting).

A stay at Populus is ideal for the Denver-bound traveler who wants to experience the best of two worlds: city-focused creature comforts with the option to hike amidst the Rocky Mountain National Park tundra or scramble up Longs Peak. With the Wild Basin entrance roughly 66 miles away, it’s an easy day trip to the park. Rooms here are jaw-droppingly gorgeous and themed after the state’s famous aspen trees, with ultra-soft earth-toned bedding, natural forest sounds in the elevators, and eyelet-shaped windows overlooking the Denver skyline.

Chow down on post-hike grub with dreamy sunset views at the on-site rooftop restaurant Stellar Jay or enjoy fresh, seasonal Colorado fare at the downstairs restaurant Pasque, both helmed by executive chef Ian Wortham.

3. The Pathmaker Hotel

With a primo location in downtown Bar Harbor, two blocks from the Bar Island Trail, whale-watching tours and the delicious, creamy rolls at Stewman’s Lobster Pound, The Pathmaker Hotel opens in late 2024. Featuring suites, double queen, and classic king-sized rooms decorated in elegant neutral tones, this hotel also offers kitchenettes with mini-fridges and microwaves. What’s even better is that breakfast is included, making it easy to start your morning hike up neighboring Cadillac Mountain or a stroll around Sieur de Monts’ historic gardens with a full belly.

It’s also worth noting that Acadia is home to 45 miles of crushed-stone carriage roads, which are all bike- and dog-friendly. Rent a bicycle at Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop, a five-minute walk from the hotel’s front door, and spend a day zipping around the park without your car before relaxing with a pot of tea and freshly made popovers at Jordan Pond House–it was one of my favorite things I did on my giant parks road trip.

4. The Rusty Parrot Lodge and Spa

Just remodeled and reopened in early July, following a devastating 2019 fire, this Jackson Hole favorite is back and better than ever. Rusty Parrot’s rooms and suites boast a bit of a chic hunting-lodge feel, complete with stone fireplaces, tufted headboards, and the occasional pop of cowboy-themed art.

Fly fish in the Snake River, feel the leg burn on a hike up Death Canyon, or pop on over to the nearby National Elk Refuge for a wildlife tour. When you’re done exploring the toothy Teton Range, fill up on Idaho Trout Saltimbocca at the lodge’s Wild Sage Restaurant, or indulge in a CBD-infused herbal sugar scrub at its Body Sage Spa. Either way, you’ll leave feeling full and rejuvenated.

5. Wildhaven Yosemite

Wildhaven Yosemite is making waves this year as the newest glamping resort outside the Free Solo-famous Yosemite National Park. Situated 34 miles from the Arch Rock Entrance Station on 36 rugged acres of rolling Sierra Nevada foothills, the property offers 30 safari tents and 12 tiny cabins, well-appointed with amenities like fire pits and private decks.

A communal BBQ area boasts grills and shaded picnic tables, while glamping sites share communal bathrooms and showers. After a day of hiking and snapping photos of Half Dome from Cook’s Meadow, recharge your electronics with electricity access in every tent.

Complimentary coffee and tea help start your day off, and every stay at Wildhaven includes access to on-site classes and events, like Yogasemite yoga classes and Sierra Cider tastings, for when you’re not huffing and puffing up Upper Yosemite Falls for those epic views. Looking for even more regional glamping news? A top national-park lodging purveyor, Under Canvas, has announced that it’s also opening a brand-new Yosemite location near Big Oak Flat in 2025.

6. Field Station Joshua Tree

Field Station’s hotels are designed with the intrepid outdoorsperson in mind. Bike racks for your hardtail are in every room, hooks for hanging packs are in ample supply, and an on-site gear shop makes it easy to grab any of the Ten Essentials you might have forgotten before speeding off and into the park, which is just 13 miles (a 20- to 25-minute drive) away by car. If you’re a diehard coffee drinker, you’ll be thrilled that the lodge has a small espresso bar, Little Station Coffee & Kitchen, which serves everything from cold brew to toasted bagels to start your morning out right.

Choose between standard king-bed rooms and double-queen bunk rooms (which sleep up to 10) and have plenty of space for your whole crew to spread out and save cash, then head on over to the North Entrance (it’s the closest one) of Joshua Tree and enjoy epic trails like the Maze Loop or bouldering along the formation-filled Boy Scout Trail.

When you’re not adventuring in the park, don’t miss the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum in town, which exhibits loads of large-scale found-object art, like TVs and rubber tires.

7. Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort

Opened in November 2023, Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort seems tailor-made for families traveling with young kids. Even the hotel’s standard-issue rooms offer fun extras, like murphy beds, sleeper sofas, clothing-storage space, and mini fridges. Lovely mid-century modern furnishings combine with a massive stone fireplace in the four-story, atrium-style lobby, where guests can chill out when they’re not splashing about in the large pool complex or dining at one of the lodge’s four restaurant options.

Though the resort is clearly geared towards travelers heading into the Dollywood theme park (there’s complimentary trolley service from the hotel), it’s also a brief 15-mile (20-minute) drive to Great Smoky Mountains’ Sugarlands Visitor Center. From there, visitors can easily drive to the exceedingly popular Alum Cave Trail, or gaze out at verdant, forested hills at Newfound Gap, which marks the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Best of all, adjoining rooms and roomy family suites with cozy bunk beds make it easy for you and your loved ones to spend loads of time together, whether that’s in the lodge or trekking to the park’s many rushing waterfalls.

8. Flamingo Lodge

Initially opened in the 1960s as part of the National Park Service’s retro-futuristic Mission 66 Project, Flamingo Lodge was forced to shut its doors in 2005, after suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Wilma, when storm surges swelled up to nine feet. Thankfully, the lodge, which is named after the distinctive pink birds that once migrated to the area in droves, before plume-hunters nearly poached them out of existence, has been fully rebuilt and reopened in October 2023.

It’s the only non-camping, non-houseboat option for accommodations inside the parklodging available inside Everglades National Park, and given the park’s enormous acreage (at 1.5 million acres, it is roughly twice the size of Yosemite), creates a welcome bastion for beachgoers exploring the state’s coastal prairie and boaters enjoying the sunshine and warm, tropical air of the Florida Bay.

Inside the lodge’s four eco-friendly container buildings are 24 spacious guest rooms, ranging from studios to two-bedroom suites, in clean neutral hues with the occasional pop of tropical jewel tones. Also onsite are a restaurant serving organic, locally sourced cuisine (think breakfast burritos and pineapple pulled-pork sandwiches) and a marina, where visitors can rent anything from bicycles to double kayaks and pontoon boats. Spend a day cycling the Rowdy Bend route and keep your eyes peeled for huge herons.

9. Americana Motor Hotel

There’s so much to love about the Jetsons’-style Americana Motor Hotel that it’s hard to fit it all into a single paragraph, but we’ll do our darndest. Set in the northern Arizona city of Flagstaff, one hour from the Grand Canyon and 90 minutes from Petrified Forest, this vintage-style motor lodge should check every box on your Route 66 daydream list. First of all, there are EV chargers aplenty, free morning coffee, and communal fire pits with outdoor hang space.

But this site truly goes above and beyond the standard-issue motel amenities by offering loaner telescopes for optimized night-sky viewing, year-round heated pool, and a fenced-in “barkyard” with a dedicated dog-wash station to rinse off your muddy trail pooch. They’ve even got free hotel bicycles for those wishing to take a spin around Flagstaff.

The interiors of the rooms are just as fabulous as the resort’s exterior, with space-age décor (think astronaut sculptures and galaxy wall art), walk-in showers, and disco balls. Hungry? After a trek down to Skeleton Point or a stroll along the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, fill up at the Americana’s Pacific Mexican seafood truck, Baja Mar, which dishes out badass shrimp ceviche and battered fish tacos to hungry hikers.

Emily Pennington is a freelance journalist specializing in outdoor adventure and national parks. She’s traveled to public lands on all seven continents and visited all 63 U.S. national parks. Her book, Feral, Losing My Way and Finding Myself in America’s National Parks, was released in 2023. This year, she’s getting more acquainted with her new backyard, Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Best New Hotels with Easy Access to U.S. National Parks