These towns and cities near Yellowstone National Park are the best places to stay to access all the wilderness and wildlife in the popular park.

Famous for its geysers, hot springs, waterfalls, and wildlife, Yellowstone National Park is a bucket-list vacation spot. But with more than 2.2 million acres to explore and five different park entrances, you may be wondering, what is the best place to stay near Yellowstone?

This guide has you covered! I’ve broken down how to pick the best Yellowstone entrance, which towns near Yellowstone National Park have hotels and lodges, and what nearest cities to Yellowstone National Park you should fly into.

I’ve visited the park a few times and stayed in several of these Yellowstone towns, so you’ll see my hotel recommendations as well as some of the other top-reviewed options I found while researching.

If you’re visiting Yellowstone for a few days, I suggest picking a couple of hotels in different locations to cut back on your driving time in the vast park. The lists below will show you the entrances to Yellowstone National Park and the nearest towns to Yellowstone to help with your planning.

Use this Yellowstone guide to plan your route before you pick your hotels.

Where are the Entrances to Yellowstone National Park?

The Yellowstone map below displays the entrances to the national park and the closest cities to each one. You can click on the square in the top right corner to open and save a Google Map for your own planning reference.

The five entrances to Yellowstone National Park are miles apart from each other in Montana and Wyoming. You may end up using just one or two during your vacation, or making your way around to several of them.

Yellowstone North Entrance

The North Entrance Station is by Gardiner, Montana, near the Mammoth Hot Springs section of the park. It’s home to the 1903 Roosevelt Arch, built as a grand entrance to the first national park. Gardiner is one of the closest towns to Yellowstone’s north side.

Yellowstone West Entrance

Located in West Yellowstone, Montana, the West Entrance Station is one of the busiest and often gets backed up with traffic during the summer season. If you’re staying in this area, it’s best to drive into the park before 8 a.m. or later in the afternoon to avoid long lines at the west entrance to Yellowstone. One of the closest cities near Yellowstone National Park, West Yellowstone is a very popular place to stay.

Yellowstone Northeast Entrance

Near the tiny community of Cooke City-Silver Gate, the Northeast Entrance Station is housed in a 1935 log building on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s very remote — the closest towns are Gardiner, 50 miles west, and Red Lodge, Montana, 70 miles east through the Beartooth Mountain Pass. 

Yellowstone East Entrance

The East Entrance Station is close to Yellowstone Lake, about an hour from Cody, Wyoming. From this one, you can access slightly less busy sections of the park like the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Old Faithful is about 1.5 hours from this entrance and Canyon Village is about an hour away.

Yellowstone South Entrance

Yellowstone’s South Entrance Station is just a few miles from Grand Teton National Park and a little over an hour drive from Jackson, Wyoming. Jackson Lake and Colter Bay Village are only about 30 minutes away. You will pass through this entrance station if you do a Grand Teton and Yellowstone road trip.

2 DAY GUIDE TO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Towns Near Yellowstone National Park

If you’re looking for towns near Yellowstone to stay in, these are your best options. The first three make the most sense for a base and the rest as road trip stops on the way in.

If you’re visiting for a few nights, I recommend staying in a couple of different bases (like West Yellowstone and Gardiner) during your trip to decrease driving time each day.

Yellowstone National Park Lodges and Campgrounds

While this isn’t a town, lodging inside the national park is something you will probably consider when deciding where to stay near Yellowstone. The benefit to staying inside the park is the proximity to some attractions, though others will still be over an hour away. You also won’t have to wait at the park entry booths in the morning since you’ll already be inside the boundary.

For accommodations inside the park, you can check the availability here. Yellowstone hotels book out months ahead and are pretty expensive. Most hotels are located in Canyon Village, by Lake Yellowstone, at Mammoth Hot Springs, and around Old Faithful.

There are also 12 Yellowstone campgrounds, and the eight that take reservations also book up months ahead of time.

West Yellowstone

West Yellowstone, Montana, is one of the most popular places to stay outside the park, given its proximity to several top attractions in the park. The town is just outside the West Entrance Station, and within about 30 miles you can reach the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins, Old Faithful, and the Norris Geyser Basin. Other destinations like the Lamar Valley and Yellowstone Lake are a couple of hours away, though.

West Yellowstone has more amenities than most of the other towns on this list, including a small regional airport, a supermarket, souvenir shops, several restaurants and hotels, a movie theater, a museum, and the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. The downtown streets are walkable and the buildings have an old-timey Western look.

The town is 90 miles from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.

Where to Stay in West Yellowstone

Gardiner

Gardiner, Montana, is just outside the park, near the North Entrance Station and its historic Roosevelt Arch. This is the closest town near Yellowstone for access to the northern attractions like the Mammoth Hot Springs, Lamar Valley and Tower Fall.

The Northeast Station is also the only park entrance open year-round to cars, since many roads in the park close down to vehicular traffic for the winter season. A compact downtown area here has a few shops, restaurants, and hotels on opposite banks of the Yellowstone River, with select accommodations offering water views.

Gardiner is about 80 miles from the airport in Bozeman.

Where to Stay in Gardiner

Cody

Cody, Wyoming, is the nearest town to Yellowstone National Park on the east side, about 50 miles from the entrance. While it doesn’t make sense to stay here for a multi-day visit to Yellowstone, if you’re road-tripping in from that direction or just visiting Yellowstone Lake, you should consider spending a night here.

A walkable downtown strip with an old-West vibe is full of shops, eateries and hotels, with more accommodations on the outskirts. The biggest attraction in Cody is the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a museum full of Wild West history and memorabilia.

Cody has a small airport with flights to hubs in a couple of larger cities in the region. It’s about 110 miles from the Billings-Logan International Airport.

Where to Stay in Cody

Red Lodge

Red Lodge, Montana, is another spot that’s best for a stay on the way into Yellowstone, but doesn’t make a great base to return to each night since it’s 2 hours from the Northeast Entrance and even farther from most attractions in the park.

In summer, this town is the gateway for driving the Beartooth Highway through a stunning mountain pass into Yellowstone and in winter, a base camp for skiing in the Beartooth Mountains. A walkable downtown strip with historic Western buildings hosts a collection of eateries, saloons and shops.

Red Lodge is about 60 miles from Billings and 150 from Bozeman.

Where to Stay in Red Lodge

Cooke City-Silver Gate

Cooke City-Silver Gate, Montana, is too small to even be called a town, but it is in a prime location at the Northeast Entrance Station to Yellowstone. It’s also the first blip of civilization you’ll hit after driving the famous Beartooth Pass route from the east or the Lamar Valley from the west.

A couple of downtown blocks in Cooke City have a handful of hotels and cafes, a trading post and a gas station. There’s also a welcome center with a small museum.

Due to the remote location, it doesn’t make sense to stay more than a night here on the way into Yellowstone unless you want to spend some time hiking in the mountains. Cooke City is about a 3-hour drive from Billings or Bozeman.

Where to Stay in Cooke City

Jackson

Jackson, Wyoming, is the best option if you’re looking for towns near the South Entrance of Yellowstone. How close is Jackson Hole to Yellowstone?

The town of Jackson is about 60 miles from the entrance and over 2 hours to southern park attractions like Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake, so it’s not a great base for spending multiple days in Yellowstone. But, if you’re just popping in for a day trip while visiting Jackson Hole, or heading north on a road trip, the town is a fantastic vacation destination.

Jackson is a hub for the nearby Grand Teton National Park and for a handful of ski resorts in the surrounding mountains. A bustling commercial zone has plenty of shops and restaurants around a park square, while just outside the town, you can visit the National Elk Refuge, National Museum of Wildlife Art, and Mormon Row Historic District.

Jackson has its own small airport with flights on a few major carriers. The international airports in Salt Lake City and Bozeman are both about 5 hours away.

This is how to plan a 3 day itinerary in Jackson Hole.

Where to Stay in Jackson

Cities Near Yellowstone National Park

These cities near Yellowstone don’t make the best base, but you might want to stay the night in one on your way in or out of the park.

Bozeman

If you’re looking for the best city to fly into to visit Yellowstone, Bozeman, Montana, typically makes the most sense. While you wouldn’t want this to be a base for Yellowstone trip, you may stay here a night or two on either end of your trip. At about 90 miles to the West Entrance or North Entrance, Bozeman is the closest city to Yellowstone National Park.

Bozeman has just about any amenity you would need for your trip, from an international airport, to hotel chains, to mega retailers and sporting goods stores. Montana State University is also located here. A walkable downtown strip on Main Street has boutique hotels and local cafes and shops.

With the Rocky Mountains for a neighbor, Bozeman is also a great spot for an outdoorsy vacation.

Where to Stay in Bozeman

Idaho Falls

While it’s not the most common place to stay for the park, Idaho Falls is one of the nearest cities to Yellowstone, and might make sense as a road trip stopping point. The small city is about 110 miles from the West Entrance to Yellowstone and about the same distance to Grand Teton National Park.

With a regional airport, big supermarkets and retailers, and chain hotels, it’s an easy and convenient place to stay near Yellowstone before heading closer to the park. There’s also a few things to check out in the city, like a small waterfall on the Snake River, history and art museums, and waterfront trails and parks.

Where to Stay in Idaho Falls

Billings

Billings is the largest city in Montana and the biggest city near Yellowstone, though it’s at least 3 hours from the Northeast Entrance. Given the distance, it’s not a great place to stay while visiting Yellowstone, but you may stop here on a road trip or fly into the Billings-Logan International Airport.

In addition to the standard shopping, dining, and accommodations you would expect in a small to mid-sized city, Billings has some great museums and parks, including the Moss Mansion Museum, the Yellowstone Art Museum, and Pictograph Cave State Park. The Yellowstone River also runs by the town.

Where to Stay in Billings

Tips and Questions About Yellowstone Towns

What is the closest big city to Yellowstone?

Montana and Wyoming aren’t exactly full of big cities. With a population of roughly 120,000, Billings in Montana is the biggest city near Yellowstone and the largest one in the state. It’s about 3 hours away from the park, though.

Where are the closest airports to Yellowstone?

Bozeman in Montana is one of the nearest cities to Yellowstone with a major airport, about 90 miles to a park entrance. Jackson in Wyoming also has an airport and is about 60 miles from the South Entrance to the park.

Where should I stay for visiting Yellowstone National Park?

There are lots of great options of where to stay near Yellowstone. The park is massive, though, so no matter which town or resort you pick, you will still have to drive quite a bit to explore Yellowstone.

If you can get a reservation, staying at one of the historic park lodges within Yellowstone is a great choice. The areas of Canyon Village and around Old Faithful are close to a lot of popular attractions.

Outside of the park, West Yellowstone is ideal, since it’s close to an entrance and has tourist amenities.