When asked about the first of our ten best North American National Park lodges, former park ranger Bob Jones says, "I remember the elegant woodwork at Wawona and the windows in the dining room that overlook the golf course. It was interesting watching elk graze the rough along the fairway while we enjoyed a meal on the crisp white tableclothes." The luxurious Wawona offers 104 guest rooms in six buildings, a Victorian-style dining room, outdoor pool, tennis courts, and golf.

Pottery, baskets, rugs and other handmade artworks decorate the six floors of what many would argue is the finest lodge in the park system. Built in the 1920s, the hotel was created to wine and dine decision makers who would throw their weight behind supporting and funding the parks. The Great Lounge here earns its moniker with enormously high ceilings, stained-glass windows, and humongous stone fireplaces. Afternoon tea is a long-held ritual.

Bob Jones says, "If you want to experience the Grand Canyon without the crush of crowds associated with the South Rim, try the North Rim lodge, nestled among ponderosa pines and snuggled right up to the rim of the canyon. The Lodge is modest, but the landscape is the real point." The limestone walls and great timber beams enclose a sunroom, two stone fireplaces, a saloon, and other amenities. Lodging is actually in 100 nearby cabins.

"The hotel sits right on a lake with a mountain backdrop," says Kay Scott. "You can sit on your balcony and drink a glass of wine and enjoy the view." The five-story Swiss-accented lodge has a log-beamed lobby with a conical metal fireplace suspended from the ceiling and a wrap-around porch perfect for contemplating said views. It's worth paying extra for a lakeside room.

Earlier hotels on this site, going back 125 years, were made of grass or wood. Not surprisingly, they burned down. Though it's perched on the edge of Kilauea Crater, one of the world's most active volcanoes, the current old-style lodge, built in the 1940s, is far sturdier. The 42 rooms all contain local koa wood furniture. "The surprise of finding a good hotel at such an outlandish spot startled me considerably more than the volcano did," wrote Mark Twain after a visit. Ten cabins are also available.

Wildlife, history and bike-riding guests converge at this 19th-century mansion adjacent to the lakes, dunes, marshes and beaches along the Florida/Georgia border. Built in 1900 for a member of the Carnegie family, and decorated with family heirlooms and antiques, the Inn offers 16 rooms (ten in the main building) that include all meals (picnic lunch), a ferry ride to the island, use of bikes and fishing gear, and a quiet southern ambience.

The attractions of Minnesota's only national park are of the aquatic variety. Namely, a series of interconnected lakes spread through the north woods and perfect for canoeing, kayaking and even houseboating. Reachable only by boat (or plane) and a trip down a long dirt road, the Kettle Falls Hotel is a white-framed, red-roofed island of rustic comfort. Completed in 1910 (and sold for the first time five years later for $1,000 and four barrels of whiskey), the hotel features a popular bar in addition to rooms furnished with local antiques.

Located in Canada's Banff National Park, the hotel was designed to emulate a Scottish baronial castle. It blends opulence with seclusion—the high stone turrets of the structure are only outdone by the surrounding peaks of the Canadian Rockies. The world-class spa, classic Stanley Thompson golf course and three fine restaurants balance the ruggedly beautiful terrain. Michael Collier, who enjoyed a romantic dinner overlooking the valley at Banff Springs, says, "It was the most grandiose lodge I've ever seen. Reading the history and learning about the Canadian railroads was a big highlight. And the spa was insane."

Bob Jones worked as both a ranger in Oregon's Crater Lake National Park and a night watchman at Crater Lake Lodge before it was renovated in the 1990s. He says, "The lodge was built right on the edge of the caldera and seems to teeter on the very edge of the abyss. It was not so much restored as torn down and rebuilt from the ground up on its original setting. When you enter the great hall and stand in front of the massive rock fireplace, whisper something to the ghosts. The spirit of the original building is still very much alive." The lodge is open from late May to mid-October.

Dating from the 1920s, this stone and adobe structure in the Mission style is among the most luxurious in the system. Surrounded by an oasis of palms, ponds, streams and rock walkways on the side of a hill, the hotel is also an oasis of comfort and elegance in one of the harshest climates on earth. The inn's facilities include the world's lowest golf course, four restaurants, a saloon, swimming pools, tennis courts and an airstrip.