How to Visit the Million Dollar Room (Hamilton Tour) in Yellowstone National Park
The Million Dollar Room in the Lower Hamilton Store of Yellowstone National Park is one of the best-kept secrets in America’s oldest National Park—not to mention, it’s located in one of the oldest buildings within the park!
I say this because most who visit Yellowstone and the Old Faithful area eventually learn about the exclusive Crow’s Nest inside the Old Faithful Inn by simply admiring how beautiful the architecture is inside the +120-year-old inn. However, in comparison, the Million Dollar Room is a secret that few have ever even heard about, which is conveniently located in plain sight right next door!
This is all to say that if you know where to go and who to ask, you can enjoy this one-of-a-kind experience inside the Million Dollar Room of Hamilton’s Lower Store—a piece of Yellowstone’s history that few ever get to see!
Google Maps Directions: Hamilton’s Lower Store
How to See the Million Dollar Room?
Built in 1897, the inside of the historic Hamilton Store today may look no different than many other gift shops and restaurants found throughout the park.
However, if you simply ask one of the store’s employees (at the gift shop, not the restaurant) about the Hamilton Tour and the Million Dollar Room, they should be happy to share this unique experience, no reservations needed, which cannot be said about the neighboring Crow’s Nest inside the Old Faithful Inn.
Touring the Million Dollar Room
The tour begins up a set of stairs behind the restaurant in an employee only area.
On the way up to the second floor, you’ll have the opportunity to see old photos of Hamilton’s Lower Store and hopefully learn about its history, as guests of the past would stop here as one of their first stops when entering the park along Grand Loop Road.
Million Dollar Room
At the top of the stairs, the Million Dollar Room will be one of the first rooms that you will see, and to this day, the park staff is surprised that this piece of Yellowstone’s history has survived throughout the decades!
What is the Million Dollar Room?
The Million Dollar Room is the nickname for the office of Charles A. Hamilton, a former concessionaire in Yellowstone National Park. The room, located in the Lower Hamilton Store at Old Faithful, has its walls papered with canceled checks totaling over $1.8 million dollars!
Hamilton began pasting the checks on the walls in the 1920s as a way to track his business expenses, which in total amounted to $1,859,105.60 in checks covering the walls. These checks range in dates from 1915 to 1930, and eventually the room became a tourist attraction, which is still open to visitors to this day!
Overall, the touring the Million Dollar Room is truly what you make of it.
The tour itself takes no more than 10-15 minutes, but I encourage you to ask questions, as this is truly a piece of Yellowstone’s long history that very few get to see!
