7 state park lodges to consider across the u. S.

America’s famous national park lodges get lots of love, and rightly so, but sometimes travelers don’t realize there are grand, historic state park lodges, too. Like their national

counterparts, many offer impressive architecture in dramatic natural settings, full-service dining and outdoor amenities. Some state park lodges were created under Depression-era programs

such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in the National Park Service’s (NPS) “rustic style.” Also called “parkitecture,” the style

emphasized hand-building with native wood and stone. Here’s a sampling of places where you can enjoy vintage grandeur in a state park. Guests can enjoy the giant two-sided fireplace inside

the Starved Rock Lodge & Conference Center at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. Sandra Rust STARVED ROCK LODGE & CONFERENCE CENTER, STARVED ROCK STATE PARK, ILLINOIS The Great

Hall, with its colossal, two-sided fireplace, lies at the heart of this lodge erected by the CCC and opened in 1939 about 100 miles southwest of Chicago. The exterior is made of logs and

Joliet limestone; 41 original but updated rooms feature knotty pine paneling, and 28 rooms occupy a wing built in 1988. Guests can enjoy the indoor pool, live music and an outdoor collection

of chain saw art sculpted from felled trees. The 13 miles of trails through 2,630-acre Starved Rock State Park link forest, canyons, bluffs and seasonal waterfalls. Rates start at $135. The

Asilomar Hotel and Conference Grounds are part of the 107-acre state park and beach on the Monterey Peninsula in California. Courtesy Asilomar Hotel and Conference Ground ASILOMAR HOTEL AND

CONFERENCE GROUNDS, ASILOMAR STATE BEACH AND CONFERENCE GROUNDS STATE PARK, CALIFORNIA  Architect Julia Morgan, known for designing Hearst Castle, designed this ocean-side complex. The

spectacular showcase of Arts and Crafts style was constructed from 1913 to 1928 as a YWCA retreat center. Now a 107-acre state park in its own right, along with the adjoining beach, the

property on the Monterey Peninsula offers 313 rooms and breathtaking public spaces such as Crocker Dining Hall, where the cathedral ceiling is supported by redwood trusses measuring more

than 50 feet long. Trails on the property take visitors through dunes and along the crashing Pacific surf. Rates start at $162. Sylvan Lake Lodge in South Dakota was built in 1937 and

features a two-story lobby. Courtesy Sylvan Lake Lodge SYLVAN LAKE LODGE, CUSTER STATE PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA Surrounded by a Black Hills forest of spruce and ponderosa pine, this 66-room lodge

(29 of them original) dates from 1937. Frank Lloyd Wright’s constant demands and delays lost him the original commission, and a Sioux City architect created the impressive design, which

includes a two-story lobby with oak floors, a native stone fireplace and a forest’s worth of knotty pine paneling. In Custer State Park, the property overlooks 17-acre Sylvan Lake where

guests can kayak, fish, swim or stroll a mile-long lakeside path weaving through gargantuan boulders. Rates start at $189.