Great Lodges of the National Parks: The Companion Book to the PBS Television Series

by Christine Barnes, David Morris (Photographer), Christine Barnes

Updated 2016. Stand amid soaring Douglas fir in the great hall of Glacier Park Lodge or sit in the setting sun and gaze into the Grand Canyon at El Tovar. This beautiful book will transport you to the majestic lodges of our national parks to relive the glory of past vacations or plan adventures anew. This book and the PBS television series of the same title take armchair travelers into these architectural wonders and explore the surrounding natural beauty of our national parks. Lodges, wildlife, and stunning vistas are showcased in 175 full-color and black-and-white photographs, along with historical documents from the PBS series. In his introduction, Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers a call to preserve this national heritage.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Architecture, Reference, American History, Art

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2002

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG I now have my next 10 road trips planned out! Great Lodges, here I come!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested in the lodges of the National Parks after visiting two that contrast with each other-Old Faithful Inn and the lodge in Jackson- from the craftsman 1870s to the moderne 1960s. A friend told me about a 15-year old PBS special on these lodges and I found the book at the library. It was very interesting with details about the parks and the lodge history, as well as the architecture, architects and design. The photos are beautiful. My only complaint is that I wanted more detail on each lodge.

[Scott Benowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

National Park Rustic, or "parchitecture" is a style of architecture which is unique to the inns and the hotels that were designed and constructed for tourists who were traveling to national parks and state parks or provincial parks throughout the U.S. and Canada. This style of architecture of national parks lodges, state parks and provincial parks lodges dates mostly from the early 1900's through the 1930's.
In "Great Lodges Of The National Parks," and "Great Lodges Of The National Parks vol. 2," Christine Barnes, David Morris and Fred Pflughoft explore the architecture as well as the history of the historic lodges which are located in some of the national parks in the U.S., and some historic lodges which are located in some state parks are also featured in this 2 part
You don't need to have watched the series on PBS which this book is intended to be a companion to in order to enjoy these 2 books. However, if you have watched the series on PBS, you'll already be familiar with some of the history of the historic lodges which are featured in these 2 books, and if you have watched the television series which had originally aired on PBS in 2002 about the national parks lodges, I promise you that you'll thoroughly enjoy these 2 books.
If you're interested in a unique niche style of architecture, the history of architecture, or if you've enjoyed traveling in some of the national parks and state parks in the U.S., or of you're planning on traveling to the some of the national parks and state parks in the U.S., I highly recommend this book.

[Kristine L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The national parks and lodges of this beautiful book set The Gold Standard for Awesome.

Beautiful photographs accompany meticulously researched historical facts regarding the origin, architecture, and construction of each lodge. Incisive quotes from locals are also included.

Bonus points: All my favorite parks and lodges are featured: Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge, Yosemite's Ahwanee, Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn, and the grand dame of them all: Mount Rainer's Paradise Inn. The photo of the Mountain from Reflection Lake is worth the "price of admission" alone.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the lodges in some of the national parks. Very informative. I loved the pictures in it. Reading this book made me really want to visit a few of our nation's national parks. This is an ideal book for history buffs and nature lovers.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, but if you've seen the series, it doesn't offer a lot of new information. I guess I wanted more of a companion book, where the fact that it's written means you get a different kind of approach and thus different information (the Frontier House book works that way, IMHO). While the writing itself is fine, I don't like the way this book is organized. The lodges are presented roughly by the date their park was established -- Yellowstone first, then Yosemite, etc. -- except for Glacier, which was established in 1910 and so should have been between Crater Lake and Grand Canyon, but instead it's at the end.

But this is a book about the Lodges, about the buildings, not the parks (although of course it has park info). Add in the facts that a lot of the same architects were involved, and the various architects sometimes influenced each other, and that's a problem. Because the book is organized by parks, the book keeps jumping around in time -- the first lodge discussed was built in 1904, then it's 1927, back to 1917, jump to 1937, pull back to 1934... So the story of how the architects influenced each other, and how they moved from the idea that buildings should show man's conquest of nature, to the idea that the buildings should fit into their settings, gets pretty lost. Which I think is a pity.

If this had maps and/or floor plans, I'd still buy it (got it from the library), but as it is, probably not. The pictures are fine, but I'd rather watch the series (Netflix has it) -- much the same info, with many more visuals including establishing shots to get you somewhat oriented. I do plan to track down the author's Great Lodges of the West, which uses the same photographers, to see if it's more logically organized.

[KellBrouillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features amazing photos of the Great Lodges along with brief histories of the parks, locations, and lodges themselves. Wonderful illustrations and blue-print depictions are also included. Great gift idea! Will make you long for more travel time!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this book... I enjoy the styles of the Lodges and the national parks. This is a great coffee table book also good to refer to national parks.