I am going to yellowstone first week of June. I have reservations to stay at Lake Yellowstone however I am wondering if it makes more sense to make reservations at two different places in the park so less time is spent commuting back and forth from the sites to the hotel? I mentioned this to the reservationist but she persuaded me that Lake Yellowstone was central to all locations. Thoughts, comments?

The park is in a form 8 as you probably know.We stayed in two location on two separate occasions. First in Gardiner near the North entrance and second in W.Yellowstone. It's all nice and it doesn't bother me to drive several times along the same route.The whole 8 is about 240 km or 384 miles.Paul

Are you staying just 1 week total? What are your personal "must sees" in the park? How much do you mind packing/unpacking?

I have been to Yellowstone many times and stayed in just about every area of the park. I personally find it rather tedious to be driving back and forth around the park (maybe just because I've done it so many times!).

Anyway, I do prefer to divide my stays in different parts of the park and minimize the driving.

Either way will work - it depends on so many personal variables.

With a full week, I would divide my stay between two locations.

We will be there 4 1/2 days. Plans now are to visit the Mammoth/Madison/Old Faithful and the Canyon area...the typical tourist stops. No I don't mind packing/unpacking.

The reservationist is wrong. Lake Yellowstone is not central to all locations, and is in fact one of the more out of the way locations. Canyon is the most Central. You could stay there if you don't want to move, or split time between the north and south loops. I would recommend the Old Faithful area for the south loop. We've stayed in Mammoth twice, but Gardiner is only five minutes away with cheaper and nice accomodations.

We stayed at Lake Yellowstone and really liked the place, the location, and the restaurant. Part of the reason might be because we liked the hiking best in the area near Lake Yellowstone, but that's an individual thing--I believe we liked Artist's Canyon and the areas nearby even more than the areas around Old Faithful. Also, IMO Lake Yellowstone had a nicer, more serene, less crowded feel than Old Faithful Lodge.

We camped in Canyon for 3 days, and we really liked the location. When we go to Yellowstone again, we're thinking 1/2 of the time in Canyon and the other half near or at Old Faithful.

Oh, if you are thinking of staying in Gardiner MT, check out Chico Hot Springs (30 minutes north I think): http://www.chicohotsprings.com/
We stayed overnight there, and really enjoyed ourselves. Very good dining room also.

Since you'll be staying a month I would certainly include a visit to Cody and the museums and do the Beartooth mountains trip.Paul