Keep On the Grass

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts June 2003 Current Issue
June 2003
Short Cuts:
Keep On the Grass

These parks offer a green carpet for groups

America’s national parks are not just for leisure travelers. Among ideal event venues is Grand Teton National Park (www.gtlc.com/lodging.htm) in Moose, Wyo., where Jenny Lake Lodge offers spectacular mountain views and 37 rustic yet well-appointed log cabins (telephones are optional). Larger groups can head down the road to the 385-room Jackson Lake Lodge, a full-service resort with 18,000 square feet of meeting space.

The 123-room Ahwahnee hotel (www.yosemitepark.com/html/accom_ahwahnee.html) is a jewel in California’s Yosemite National Park, set against a backdrop of sheer granite cliffs. The hotel, decorated in Native American motifs, has more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space.

In the Florida Everglades, groups can do that swamp thing at the Flamingo Lodge & Outpost Resort (www.flamingolodge.com), with 102 lodge rooms and 24 cottages. Crocodiles, alligators, bobcats, deer, dolphins and all kinds of birds populate the area. The Flamingo offers a function room for 75, a café that seats 90 and a tour boat that accommodates up to 95.

Jim Gasser, management specialist at the Washington, D.C.-based National Park Service (www.nps.gov), says a park’s special-use permit office is the first stop for inquiring planners. At smaller parks, call the superintendent’s office.

• CARLA BENINI