You’ll be roughing it this summer – barely – in a premium cabin

With summer approaching, you may be thinking about booking a stay in one of America’s 50,000 hotels. Right now, millions of travelers have the same idea. According to Hotels.com, 67% of Americans are currently planning their summer trips and 40% have already booked them.

While there’s no shortage of nice hotels from coast to coast, when was the last time you stayed in a cabin? Has it been since you were a kid? Many of us grew up with summer trips to State Parks. Those cabins were great, but they weren’t very fancy. The cabins of yesteryear are simple, spartan things, which don’t offer a ton of creature comforts. Quite honestly, if you have a family of five or more, squeezing into a small cabin is a tight fit.

But the concept of cabins is a great one. That’s why Delaware North Parks & Resorts has worked to innovate its trademark Explorer Cabins, which bring nature to you in style. Picture the cabin you loved from when you were young. Now double the size. Class it up with home-like amenities such as a kitchenette and Wi-Fi. But keep the cabin situated in some of the prettiest wilderness settings in America. This is the four-star Explorer Cabins outdoor experience.

Imagine, you’ve just spent a long day exploring a National Park. You gather around your cabin’s fire pit with your family, and see that others are doing the same. Suddenly, the day’s adventures become bigger and bolder. You’re on a first-name basis with the camp host who is serving beverages. And you’ve made friends with a nice couple from Virginia who also have three kids. S’mores are being roasted, drinks are being toasted and smiles are everywhere. This is the peak vacation experience the Explorer Cabins offer.

These are cabins on steroids, and it’s how one who loves the outdoors but also enjoys the finer things in life explores better.

Explorer Cabins at Yosemite National Park

Not much can compare to the wonders of Yosemite National Park, but the Explorer Cabins at Yosemite give it a run for its money. Just two miles from the park, these upscale, two-bedroom cabins with a 90-square-foot covered porch debuted in 2019. The setting is picture-perfect, with a creek, pond and communal fire pits as your backdrop on 27 forested acres. And the Explorer Clubhouse, which offers grab-and-go breakfast and wine in the evening. The aroma of incense cedar, juniper and fir only adds to the sensory experience. Plus, guests have access to all the amenities at neighboring Tenaya Lodge. So you can roast s’mores at your cabin and take a dip in the resort’s indoor or outdoor pool the next morning. These are next-level cabins in an unparalleled natural world.

Explorer Cabins at Yellowstone National Park

If you’ve always wanted to spend time in Yellowstone National Park, the Explorer Cabins at Yellowstone offer a terrific way to explore Montana’s Big Sky Country. These two-bedroom cabins are located right where the action is in the Old West town of West Yellowstone. They put you within walking distance of restaurants, bars, shops and the awe-inspiring Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. And less than a mile from Yellowstone National Park. Each cabin features a covered front porch and fireplace. They’re really more like small homes than cabins. If you want to feel like a pioneer – one with a flat-screen TV – this is how you do it.

Jim Bridger Explorer Cabins at Yellowstone National Park

The newest Explorer Cabin offering in Gardiner, Montana will provide another terrific vantage point from which to explore the Yellowstone region. Any realtor will tell you it’s about “Location, location, location.” In this ideal setting, that mantra is borne out. Here, you’re just one mile from the north entrance of the park, and within close distance of a wide array of must-see Yellowstone destinations, including otherworldly Mammoth Hot Springs and stunning Tower Fall. If you thought bison were the most memorable thing in Yellowstone, wait until you step into one of these deluxe cabins. Named for famed Western explorer Jim Bridger, the latest Explorer Cabins are scheduled to open this year.

Exploring America’s woodland areas is a great way to spend your free time – especially when you’re with people you care about, among a whole community of explorers. Out west, this summer, your premium cabin is waiting…