Standing no more: a Giant Forest Lodge cabin in Sequoia National Park/NPS

After nearly three decades of visiting America’s national parks in a series of four VW vans, it wasn’t until the summer of 1996 that we became acquainted with the lodges. The trip was designed to visit and stay in as many of the national park lodges as possible while gathering information and photos for a book we were to write for the Globe Pequot Press.

The trip’s first surprise occurred following a one-night stay in Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest Lodge. We had visited the park on a number of occasions, but this was our first overnight stay in the lodge, which was in obvious need of some serious TLC. Following breakfast in the restaurant across the road we encountered a NPS ranger who mentioned the lodge was scheduled for permanent closure at season’s end. She commented the closing was related to environmental issues. It became clear why the lodge was in such shabby condition: Neither the NPS nor the concessionaire wanted to put money into a facility that was to be razed.

The ranger told us a new lodge was expected to replace Giant Forest Lodge, but we were skeptical. Little did we realize then that our return three years later would include a night in the park’s brand new Wuksachi Lodge.

Wuksachi Lodge replaced the accommodations in Giant Forest at Sequoia National Park/David and Kay Scott

While the National Park Service is tasked with preservation, the Sequoia experience was evidence that changes do indeed occur. A number of major lodging changes have taken place in the national parks following our 1996 road trip. Some lodges have been constructed, while existing lodges have undergone major renovations. At the same time, several facilities have been razed, repurposed, or sit empty. This column is about lodging facilities that are only memories.

Rocky Knob cabins along the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the authors' favorite stops/David and Kay Scott

National park lodges vanish for a number of reasons. Some are destroyed by fire or weather while others close due to financial or maintenance issues. A succession of lodges once welcomed guests in the Norris area of Yellowstone National Park. Now there are none. Only the dining hall/kitchen that currently serves as a camp store remains of Two Medicine Chalet that once welcomed guests in Glacier National Park.

Several hotels once welcomed visitors to Norris in Yellowstone, including this one built in 1886/U.S. Public domain

Here are seven national park lodges that have been lost to visitors since our 1996 road trip. Others have undergone significant changes. For example, impressive new lodge buildings replaced many of the old cabins in the Canyon area of Yellowstone. All of the old cabins at Cedar Pass Lodge in Badlands National Park have been replaced with much nicer cabins. Likewise, much of lodging at Maswik South in the Grand Canyon is now utilized for employee housing. We plan to discuss new lodges and lodging that has undergone major changes in the next article. 

1. Giant Forest Lodge (Sequoia National Park, California) – Giant Forest Lodge had a total of 83 guest rooms – many dating from the 1920s and '30s - in one-story motel-type buildings and newer two-story lodge structures. The registration office, general store, and restaurant were across the road. The setting in a giant sequoia grove was perfect for visitors, but not the trees. Most of the facility was razed following the 1996 season. The old market building across the road was repurposed in 2001 as a museum and is the only remaining trace of the former lodging facility.
2. Flamingo Lodge (Everglades National Park, Florida) – Flamingo Lodge consisted of a complex of two-story cement block motel buildings, plus multiple wooden cottages for a total of 126 guest rooms on Florida Bay at the southern tip of the park. A nearby building was home to a restaurant, café, and gift shop. The entire facility was in sad shape before being destroyed in 2005 by two major hurricanes. The cabins and motel buildings are gone and, although the NPS is interested in a replacement lodging facility, the effort has to date produced no results.
3. Old Faithful Snow Lodge (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming) – The Original Snow Lodge was an unattractive two-story stone building that opened in 1957. The first floor housed a dining room, cocktail lounge, and registration area for visitors staying in nearby cabins. Second-floor rooms were utilized as employee housing. In the early '70s second-floor rooms were converted into guest lodging for the park’s winter visitors. The original Snow Lodge was torn down in 1998 and replaced in a different location with a lodge of the same name.
4. Bluffs Lodge (Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina) – Bluffs opened in 1949 with two two-story wooden buildings offering 24 guest rooms; it remained unchanged until the day it closed. The rooms were dated, but the lodge was one of our favorite places to stay. A classic coffee shop was within walking distance across the parkway. Bluffs' final season was in 2010 when the National Park Service was unable to locate a concessionaire.  The lodge still stands and there is hope the coffee shop will be renovated and leased.
5. Rocky Knob Cabins (Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia) – The seven cabins at Rocky Knob were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Each cabin included a kitchen, but only one handicap accessible unit had a private bathroom. The rent was cheap and guests could take a short drive to Mabry Mill for morning biscuits topped with honey. The few rental units made it impossible for a concessionaire to make the facility profitable even when Mabry Mill was thrown in. The cabins closed within a year of the Bluffs closure.
6. Echo Bay Resort (Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada) – The two-story cement block motel was part of a marina complex on Lake Mead. The motel closed in 2010 following a major decline in overnight stays.  The marina closed three years later when the NPS received no bids to operate the facility.
7. Lake Mead Resort (Lake Mead National Recreation Ares, Nevada) – The resort consisted of three cement block buildings that opened in the early 1940s with 43 guest rooms on the west shore of Lake Mead. Declining lake levels caused the nearby marina to be moved several miles south, thereby dooming the lodging facility, which closed in 2009.

If you found this column rather depressing, stay tuned. Next we will discuss national park lodges that have debuted during the last couple of decades.  

David and Kay Scott are authors of “Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” (Globe Pequot).  Visit them at mypages.valdosta.edu/dlscott/Scott.html

Bluffs service station and coffee shop/David and Kay Scot