America’s national park lodges offer a wide range of styles, sizes, history and amenities.

Some, including Old Faithful Inn, the Ahwahnee, and Many Glacier Hotel are familiar to most travelers, while many smaller lodges like Lewis Mountain Cabins, Hotel Hale, and Log Cabin Resort are not well-known outside the regions where they are located.

Three relatively small national park lodges that have long been under the radar of many travelers have encountered some difficult times and face iffy futures. This is a shame because these historic structures are delightful places to stay and deserve better. We’ve spent several nights in each of the three and found them to be interesting places where guests can rest, explore, and connect with nature without the crowds of better-known lodges.

Each remains standing but two are closed, one for over a decade and another for seven years. Unfortunately, the third may well be headed for a similar fate.

If you are an individual in search of a lasting legacy or a company CEO wanting to demonstrate your firm’s interest in America’s future, consider adopting one of the three lodges and ensure these icons of America’s history remain part of America’s future.

Bluffs Lodge, Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina)

Bluffs Lodge opened in 1949 with 24 guest rooms as part of what was planned as a major tourist activity area along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Other than a nearby coffee shop and gas station, planned upgrades for the area failed to materialize. The National Park Service was unable to attract a new operator when then concessionaire Forever Resorts decided in 2011 not to bid on the contract. The agency currently is in search of an operator.

Bluffs Coffee Shop underwent a major renovation and reopened in 2020 under a new concessionaire and is currently being operated by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. Bluffs Lodge has been sitting empty and deteriorating since its closing. The facility suffers from mold, split siding, loose shingles and more.

According to one estimate at least $10 million would be required to bring the lodge back to operating condition.

Bluffs was long one of our favorite overnight stops when traveling the parkway. It was old school with small guest rooms, reasonable room rates, no TVs and no lobby to speak of. Strolling over the hill to the coffee shop for dinner, followed by a morning walk for breakfast, was an enjoyable part of the experience. Chats with other guests came easily and NPS rangers offered occasional evening programs around the patio fireplace.

On one occasion a female guest played her newly-acquired harp on the balcony near our room. It was part of another memorable and enjoyable evening at Bluffs Lodge.

Chateau at the Oregon Caves, Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve (Oregon)

The six-story rustic chateau with 23 guest rooms was completed in 1934 as a replacement for a 1924 chalet that now serves as a gift shop and employee dorm. The chateau’s cedar bark covering and unusual location in a narrow canyon make this a unique and delightful national park lodge. The chateau is noted for Monterey furniture is in the attractive lobby and guest rooms. One floor down from the lobby is a small gift area with local crafts, a 1930s-era coffee shop and a dining area with a flowing creek.

The chateau closed in 2018 for major restoration that uncovered structural issues. The original construction contract for the chateau’s restoration has been cancelled while the nonprofit Friends of Oregon Caves and Chateau attempts to raise funds to take care of a portion of the estimated $35 million cost required for a reopening. The organization hopes to welcome back guests in 2030.

In May 2025, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the Chateau of the Oregon Caves on its most endangered list.

We have enjoyed at least a half-dozen stays in the chateau and each time found it a refreshing change compared to the better-known and busier national park lodges. We took the monument’s cave tour during our initial trip in 1996, but subsequent visits were limited to staying overnight in the lodge, strolling the grounds, eating dinner in the dining room and enjoying breakfast in the coffee shop. The chateau never felt crowded, the employees were friendly and during each visit we discovered new facets of the lodge.

Kettle Falls Hotel, Voyageurs National Park (Minnesota)

Kettle Falls Hotel was the first permanent lodging facility in this remote area of Minnesota when it opened in 1910. Additional bedrooms and today’s saloon were added two years later. The hotel was initially built with a lobby, dining room, kitchen and ten guest rooms to house stonecutters and masons working on the nearby dam. Following completion of the dam it attracted lumberjacks and commercial fishermen.

Reportedly, the first owner sold the hotel in 1918 for $1,000 and four barrels of whiskey. Kettle Falls Hotel was sold to the National Park Service in 1977 and underwent extensive rehabilitation in 1986 near the date when 10 villas were added 400 yards east of the hotel. Four camper cabins with electricity but no running water were recently added.

In 2023, the National Park Service issued a prospectus seeking proposals for operating the hotel but got no takers. The existing operator agreed to an extension through 2026 when NPS hopes to have another management agreement in place.

In April 2025, the National Park Service issued a request for expressions of interest seeking suggestions for alternative uses for the facility. This will be followed by a request for proposals.

We enjoyed stays at Kettle Falls Hotel on two occasions, each time during fall near the end of the hotel’s season. While the draw for most visitors is fishing, the two of us have no interest in fishing, but found our visits to be quite pleasant. We enjoyed sitting on the screened porch talking with other guests, eating fresh walleye in the restaurant, strolling the grounds and visiting the dam and standing where voyageurs once portaged canoes around the rapids.

We almost forgot to mention, we also enjoyed a room in the hotel for less than $100 per night. The price in 2025 is still under $100.

David and Kay Scott live in Valdosta, Georgia, and are authors of “Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” (Globe Pequot). Visit them at blog.valdosta.edu/dlscott.