The Grand Lodges of the national park are those that were primarily built between the years of 1904 through 1938, and which lodges are a reminder of an entirely earlier time in the history of this country and its national parks.

The architectural concept of the Grand Lodge was seen beginning after the turn of the twentieth century, even though the term Grand Lodge is a more recent expression.

With the inception of national parks, there came to be a huge crowd of families traveling from all over the country to come to the national park and see these marvels of creation. Therefore, to complement these new national parks, there was also built awe-inspiring lodges and other buildings to house, feed and entertain this multitude of visiting vacationers.

The most notable architects and builders in this country at the time were creating architecture that visually united with the natural landscape that surrounded it. These features that define the Grand Lodge style are multi-story log building with massive overhangs and immense open lobbies with timber columns, all covered with multiple roofs and peaks. Too, all of these features include the wood and stone that are native to the building site.

This architecture style created structures that seem to nestle itself right into the landscape, almost as if the landscape has sprouted up around the structures themselves. The purpose of this architecture style is to increase the appreciation of the national parks and cause their visitors to feel that these buildings blend into the land and are not encroaching on its natural beauty.

Right in the heals of the establishment of the National Parks during the early 1900s, the railroads were rapidly spreading westward and eager to gain passenger business on their new rails. They did this by providing lodging near the national park destinations and even modeled their lodges to look much like those that were being built within the national park.