Description
Starlight Retreat Yellowstone’s Large lotus bell tent has beds for 3 guests. It’s a rustic, eco-friendly glamping retreat on 40 acres of stunning forest, meadows, and aspen groves; yet only several minutes from hwy 20 and 19 minutes to West Yellowstone. It has 1 King and 1 futon/twin, each with their own bedding. You’ll enjoy AC electrical, interior lighting, heater, extra blankets and be walking distance from shared bathrooms with hot showers.
We have several identical tents, if you want to book more than one for larger parties, you can book them through this same listing twice. If we have availability, it will automatically be reflected in what's available to you in the calendar. If we don't have availability, contact us and we'll make sure you get another tent type on site.
The Space
Our Large lotus bell tent is roomy yet cozy inside. With 6 foot tall side walls, a 200 sq foot (16 foot diameter) interior, and a 10 foot height, you won’t feel cramped. It includes fresh linens and extra thick comforters for the king bed and the fold out futon couch/twin bed. There’s also extra wool blankets and heaters in each unit to keep you warm in the coldest of nights. It gets warm during the summer days, but summer nights drop to a cool, comfortable temperature which is why we don’t have A/C.
We’re also the only eco friendly glamping site near west Yellowstone to supply AC electrical, all off grid, to every accommodation. This will power all the interior lighting, and allow you to charge all your devices, even laptops that take a standard 2 or 3 prong AC wall plug.
Restrooms are walking distance and shared with other guests. We offer toilets, sinks and hot showers, all off grid. We also provide you with fresh bath towels.
Our season starts in May as soon as the snow melts and ends Sept 30th. The tents are waterproof so we do operate in all weather conditions. It’s easy to forget this is still camping so please remember to plan for the weather, that includes warm/cold weather, rain, mud, and even snow during some months.
The photos pictured are of our 315 sq foot 5 person family tent, but this tent will have similar furniture, with less beds, on this smaller (200 sq/ft) footprint. We are working on getting updated photos of this tent.
Guest Access
At a quick 19 minute drive from the main Yellowstone gate, only several minutes off HWY 20, surrounded by stunning mountain landscapes and some of the best fishing in the country, Starlight Retreat is in an ideal location for your Yellowstone vacation.
Here you'll have access to all 40 acres of forest on site as well as miles and miles of trails all through the forest behind our property, perfect for mountain biking, jogging, hiking or a side by side. The area has hundreds of miles of ATV trails connecting rivers, lakes and Yellowstone.
Love fishing? You’re only .8 miles to the closest river and another mile to world famous fishing destination, Henry's lake. Plus you’ll find miles of world class river fishing and stunning waterfalls all over Island park. Good luck finding better fishing on the planet. There's a reason they call this area sportsman's paradise.
Free parking on site marked by naturally fallen timbers. You may have to walk as much as a few hundred feet to your tent, feel free to use our off road luggage carts if you feel the need.
Access Starlight Retreat by exiting Hwy 20 at Red Rock Rd, first right on bootjack drive, Starlight Retreat will be 1,000 feet down the road on your left, follow signs for parking.
Food
Breakfast: We have a cafe on site (Starlight Cafe) with our dedicated barista. Open from 7am to 9am for breakfast. Order coffee, tea, pancakes, hot chocolate, coffee cake and a variety of other baked goods, then enjoy them around the campfire as you relax under the mountain views. You're also welcome to make your own food on one of our picnic tables near the campfire.
Lunch: Eat in the park at one of the many restaurants near old faithful or pack your own lunch in.
Dinner: We recommend dinner at the Yellowstone Playhouse at Island Park. It's dinner with a live show and only a few miles north of Starlight Retreat and is a perfect way to wrap up a fantastic day.
Restrooms
We have separate men's and women's restrooms located centrally so no one needs to walk too far. The women's restroom has 4 hot showers, 3 flushing toilets, and 2 sinks while the men's has 4 hot showers, 2 flushing toilets, 2 urinals, and 2 sinks. They're custom designed to fit the theme of the site and are built into our largest tents.
Other Details
This is glamping, which is still a form of camping, so there are a few things to be prepared for that will be different than a hotel stay.
- WILDLIFE One of the unique draws to this area is its amazing variety of wildlife. The ones our guests should be aware of are bears, insects, cows and dogs.
- Bears. Although most Grizzly bears are mostly found inside the national park, they can travel distances and have a great sense of smell. We do not want them interacting with you or any other guests so our #1 rule at Starlight Retreat Yellowstone is no food, deodorant, toothpaste or anything else with a strong scent inside the tents ever. Please leave your food inside your car with the windows closed, most cars will do a great job of limiting smells from escaping but it’s even better if you put them inside ziplock containers as well. For added peace of mind, we include 1 can of bear spray inside each tent (although we don’t have any reason to believe any guest will need to use it). For more on bear safety, please refer to the bear safety guide in your tent. Please leave the bear spray behind as you check out, we will charge you for anything you take with you from the tent. You can buy more at the check in center if you like.
- Insects. Every forest has insects, including mosquitos, if you forgot bug spray, we sell it in our check in center.
- Cows. We work with local ranchers and allow cows to graze on site, they usually only come on property in September/October, don’t be alarmed if you see them, it’s perfectly OK and expected. Although relatively harmless, treat them as a wild animal.
- Dogs. We are pet friendly with limitations, you can bring 1 dog for an additional fee, it must be on leash at all times, and not irritate other guests with barking. Please be respectful of the forest and clean up any waste your dog leaves.
- TENT USE Before checkout we kindly ask that you leave the sheets out so we can know which ones need to be cleaned.
We have off grid mini solar power stations for each unit. You just need to power it on to use it.
We supply heaters to every unit, some of those are wood fire heaters for units that have a stove jack, others have propane heaters. To start them, follow the simple instructions in the tent.
- OPTIONAL EXTRAS You may want some of our other optional extras, these can be purchased on site, before you arrive on our website, or through the link in your booking confirmation.
They include:
$10/night - Pack and Play rental (We suggest you reserve this in advance as we have a limited quantity of these and they are first come first serve)
$20 - Two hour early check in, allows you to check in as early as 2pm.
