Old Faithful Inn closed for 2020 Yellowstone summer season

Xanterra has issued further information on what 2020 Yellowstone lodging and services will be available on June 15–and, sadly, Old Faithful Inn and sit-down restaurants will be closed for the entire summer season.

Given that it will take months for life return to normal after the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s no surprise that we’ll see limited services in Yellowstone National Park once it opens. On April 21 Xanterra announced that it did not expect to resume seasonal operations in national parks, including Yellowstone, until June 15. Xanterra originally suspended all public national parks operations, including Yellowstone lodges and dining, through May 21 in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The June 15 date is tentative, according to a note from Xanterra President and CEO Andrew Todd, and will likely involve limited openings at first. 

Limited may be an understatement. The current policy calls for the opening of facilities with cabins with private baths (Frontier and Western cabins at specific locations) on June 15.

In short, Old Faithful Inn, Grant Village and Roosevelt Lodge will not reopen in 2020.

Frontier cabins, Western cabins, and Cottages only will be available at the following locations and revised operating seasons: 

Mammoth Hotel: June 15-November 1, 2020
Old Faithful Lodge: June 15-October 4, 2020
Old Faithful Snow Lodge: June 15-October 25, 2020
Lake Hotel: June 17-October 4, 2020
Lake Lodge: June 17-September 27, 2020
Canyon Lodge: June 19-October 12, 2020

The lodging that is available will be serviced by a much smaller staff, according to Xanterra’s Yellowstone Lodges General Manager Mike Keller. Instead of hiring a staff of 3,500 for lodging operations, Xanterra will hire only 800–a reduction of some 80 percent. Similarly, Keller says sit-down restaurants in Yellowstone will not be opened, just grab-and-go facilities, while there will be limited retail with access monitored to limit the number of shoppers in a store at a given time.

Xanterra also announced new dates for the concessionaire campgrounds:

Madison Campground: June 15-October 18, 2020
Bridge Bay Campground: June 17-September 7, 2020
Canyon Campground: June 19-September 20, 2020
Grant Village Campground: June 17-September 13, 2020
Fishing Bridge will remain closed through fall of 2020

Editor’s note: Since this article was published, Xanterra has posted new information about Yellowstone offerings. You can check it out here.

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