Places to stay in Ellensburg, WA

Ellensburg splits neatly in two for a Gorge trip: hotels clustered at the I-90 exits, and campsites tucked along the Yakima River Canyon south of town. This page gathers 24 places to stay in Ellensburg and nearby Kittitas, from 22 to 33.4 miles from the Gorge Amphitheatre. If you are comparing Ellensburg hotels with a riverside campsite, the canyon is where this town is most its own.

Most of the hotel rooms sit about 27.5 to 27.9 miles from the venue. Holiday Inn Express Ellensburg by IHG, rated 4.4 from 523 reviews, has an indoor pool, a hot tub and free breakfast, and Best Western Plus Ellensburg Hotel, a 4.4 from 845, is all suites. Days Inn by Wyndham Ellensburg, Comfort Inn Ellensburg, SureStay by Best Western Ellensburg and Red Lion Hotel & Conference Center Ellensburg fill out the exit cluster. SureStay has truck and bus parking, a help for anyone towing.

Two smaller hotels stand apart. Hotel Windrow on Main Street opened in January 2020 with 59 rooms, two on-site restaurants, a rooftop called Top of the 'Burg and Tesla chargers. Icon Inn, the first hotel off Exit 109, is a 14-room boutique hotel with phone-key check-in, rated 4.7 from 54 reviews, and the whole building sleeps 48, which suits a large group.

The Yakima River Canyon is the reason campers look at Ellensburg. Umtanum Creek Recreation Site and Lmuma Creek Recreation Site are Bureau of Land Management sites along the river, with campsites reserved in summer and first come, first served the rest of the year. Lmuma Creek has no drinking water and no hookups, so come prepared. Bighorn Boat Ramp doubles as a tent campground. Canyon River Ranch, rated 4.6 from 204 reviews, has ten river-view condos, an outdoor heated pool, the Canyon River Grill and Red's Fly Shop for float trips and fly-fishing.