It’s Christmas, at least if you’re in Yellowstone National Park.
Christmas in August is a longstanding tradition in Yellowstone. Every August 25, the interior of the Old Faithful Inn is staffed by elves and decorated with garland and an artificial Christmas tree.
It culminates with the arrival of Santa Claus in a vintage Yellowstone tour bus. He sits on a lavish throne and hears what all the summer tourists want under their Christmas trees in December.
“It's a fun way to mark the end of the summer season for staff and visitors alike,” said lifelong Yellowstone enthusiast Katie La Salle Lowery. “It takes first-time visitors who are unaware of the tradition by surprise, and that's part of the fun.”
Yellowstone’s First Noel
The origins of Yellowstone’s Christmas in August are difficult to pinpoint.
According to legend, the first Christmas in August occurred in the early 1900s. A group of visitors traveling by stagecoach got trapped at Old Faithful Inn by a snowstorm.
Instead of bemoaning their misfortune, they sang Christmas carols and decorated a tree.
There might be some truth to that account, but it’s likely more fiction than fact. The Old Faithful Inn didn’t open until 1904, and while there have been August snowfalls in Yellowstone, there are no historical records of one severe enough to impede traffic.
A more likely origin was the “Savage Day” celebrations from the 1930s. Yellowstone’s concessionaire employees, who called themselves “savages,” held big summer celebrations to enjoy their camaraderie while it lasted.
“Many of the employees were college students, recruited for their enthusiasm, endurance, and often their ability to entertain in the evening,” said Yellowstone archivist Anne Foster. “The students might only work a summer or two but would always recall their experiences fondly. Despite the short tenures, the savages are a tight-knit community with their own lingo, alumni group, and occasional reunions.”
“Savage Day” was an annual event at Old Faithful on July 25, at least as far back as 1947. The last record of this event comes from 1953.
The modern iteration of Christmas in Yellowstone might have started with the National Park Service as early as 1916. NPS held a big celebration for seasonal staff in August, at the end of the summer.
By 1960, Christmas in August at the Old Faithful Inn had become an annual tradition and has remained so for the last 66 years.
As part of an August tradition, Santa Claus arrives at the Old Faithful Inn in a 1936 White Motor Company 706 14-passenger bus. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
Santa Claus and his elves entertain tourists in the towering lobby of the Old Faithful Inn in an August tradition. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
Santa Claus and his elves entertain tourists in the towering lobby of the Old Faithful Inn in an August tradition. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
Christmas In August
Today, Christmas in August isn’t an official NPS event. The tradition is maintained by the employees of Xanterra, Yellowstone’s concessionaire, particularly those who return to work at the Old Faithful Inn year after year.
Lowery said she has many fond memories of Yellowstone’s Christmas in August.
“For a few years, (my family) made a point of visiting during that week,” she said. “My late son loved seeing Santa at Old Faithful Inn when he was little. He painted a glass ball ornament there with Santa's Helpers one year. When I hang that ornament on my tree every year, it brings back the memories of those happy days.”
Lowery can remember when Christmas in August was a park-wide affair rather than solely celebrated at Old Faithful Inn.
“The whole family loved the boat parade of lights on Yellowstone Lake, viewed from the shore at Lake Hotel,” she said. “It's been many years since I was last in the park during Christmas in August, but I hope people post photos and videos so we can enjoy the festivities, wherever they are.”
At Old Faithful, children get to make ornaments and holiday-themed crafts with employees dressed as elves. Everyone can get a special Yellowstone Christmas hat, and there are holiday-themed sugar cookies to decorate and devour.
It’s all fun and games until Santa arrives around 5 p.m. Rather than using reindeer or harnessing a bunch of bison to a sled, Kris Kringle arrives in a 1936 White Motor Company 706 14-passenger bus.
It keeps the towering lobby of the Old Faithful Inn full of laughter and shrieks of excitement all day. By 7 p.m., the festivities end, and all traces of Christmas are gone by the next morning.
Christmas Tree Rock
Another long-standing tradition during Christmas in August is the decorating of Christmas Tree Rock in the Firehole River, three miles south of Madison Junction.
Two small lodgepole pine trees have been growing on a hunk of volcanic rock in the middle of the flowing river. On the evening of Aug. 24, Xanterra employees ford the river and decorate the trees with ornaments and tinsel.
The next day, Yellowstone rangers ford out to Christmas Tree Rock to take down everything Xanterra puts up.
Cowboy State Daily was there in 2024 when two rangers arrived to see Xanterra’s Christmas decorations. Someone had left a gift under the tree for their trouble – a six-pack of Rainier Beer.
“That’s something else,” one ranger said. “We don’t condone this or recommend this activity in any way, but that is something else.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
