Hello from Big Sky Country, the beautiful state of Montana! Where you’re almost guaranteed to see antelope on top of mountains and bison sitting in front of your car on the way to get coffee. Did you know Yellowstone National Park is the first National Park EVER? It’s always a popular choice, so there is a high demand for lodging. Sure, you could stay in a hotel or a swanky lodge, but wouldn’t you rather experience a little bit of rustic mountain living?
Where to stay in Yellowstone National Park
Welcome to our home for the next three days, Sunny Slope Lodge!
Getting to Sunny Slope Lodge
Our secluded glamping accommodations were a perfect spot in the North Yellowstone area. The drive from Bozeman to Gardiner only took about an hour and a half. For folks flying into Bozeman, it’s ideal! It’s only 2.5 hours from Gardiner to Billings – another airport with great access and lots of daily flights.
Once in Gardiner, the climb up to Sunny Slope Lodge begins. This is also where the GPS stops working.
YIKES
As a millennial, I was a little scared about this. I have literally never read a paper map in my life.
Turns out – it wasn’t bad at all, especially with the directions we had from the owners. It’s impossible to get lost on this 5 mile road up to the lodge because, thankfully, it’s just one long winding road. We were the only ones on that road most of the time, with one notable exception.
How rude, he didn’t even use his blinker!
Welcome to Sunny Slope Lodge!
WOW. This enormous cabin would have been great all by itself, but the fact that the location is so good, too? AMAZING. Completely surrounded by mountains and rolling hills, you almost forget Yellowstone National Park is just 10 minutes away.
The owners of Sunny Slope Lodge built this gem in 2007 completely from recycled materials. So much of what’s inside the hand-hewn log cabin was found along trails or in lumber sites. The ceiling in one of the bedrooms was once a floor from a mill and old railroad tracks are used as toilet paper holders and coat hangers. This place is truly one of a kind.
We used Glamping Hub to book our stay here and if you haven’t checked them out before, have a look because they have more than 30,000 unique outdoor accommodations around the world.
Sunny Slope Lodge is perfect for a big group of travelers. Originally, there was going to be four of us on this trip but unfortunately, Hurricane Dorian kept Angie and Rick from being able to come with us. We would have all had our own bedrooms!
The lodge is roughly 3000 sq. ft. and sleeps 10 with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a fully equipped kitchen. You can cook every night, make sandwiches for day hikes and spread out comfortably.
THERE’S SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES.
I love that you can view wildlife (safely) from the comfort of the bay window. Ben and I sat here for a few hours drinking coffee and playing a game called “rock or bison.” And because we’re both 100 years old, we were happy to find a cabinet full of card games. Ben won every single round of Rummy (it’s not fair playing against an engineer).
We loved experiencing this place in the late summer, but I’d love to see it in the snow, too. All the locals said visiting Yellowstone is a completely different trip during winter. All four of us will have to come back and go dog sledding and skiing. Can you imagine how hilarious it would be to watch the Floridians try to snowboard?!
My takeaway from using Glamping Hub to stay at the Sunny Slope Lodge – I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It’s just minutes away from the north entrance of Yellowstone, horseback riding, hiking, museums, fly fishing and so much more.
I hope this helped you choose where to stay in Yellowstone. I know we will definitely be back!
Thanks to Glamping Hub for hosting my visit. All opinions are my own.
Curious about what that means? Check out Angie’s travel content creator code.
