Yellowstone National Park is an extraordinary treat any time of year, but in winter, it's in a class by itself. The summer crowds are replaced by buffalo, dusted with snow. Gasses bubble and steam through a stark, white winter landscape, with shapes and colors you've only seen in dreams.
My wife and I brought in the New Year a few years back at an earlier incarnation of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, a snowball's throw from the famous geyser. Everyone was asleep long before midnight, so they could be up with the sun and cross-country skiing through one of the most surreal landscapes in the world. You can rent skies at the Lodge, or bring your own.
Except for the road from Gardiner to Cooke City, Montana, via Mammoth Hot Springs, transportation in the park is limited to snowmobiles and enclosed heated snowcoaches, which bring you to the hotels. Always happy to go on two trips for the price of one, my wife and I started out skiing (downhill and cross country) at Jackson Hole, and then made the short drive to Yellowstone.
Winter rates at the Snow Lodge (Xanterra Parks & Resorts, www.xanterra.com; tel. 307/344-7311) cost $51 to $110.50 per room, with private bath. Xanterra is offering 25% for Dec 18-21 if you book by Nov 1. Unfortunately, the Lodge is fully booked for Christmas and New Year's. Fortunately, there's a lot more to winter at Yellowstone.