Supplemental Guarantor / Non-Guarantor Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 93,119	$ 103,168	$ 68,195
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to properties and equipment	(39,337)	(25,103)	(32,999)
Acquisition of assets from HFC	0	(35,526)	(95,080)
Acquisition of assets from Sinclair	0	0	(25,665)
Investment in SLC Pipeline	0	0	(25,500)
Proceeds from sale of interest in Rio Grande, net of transferred cash	0	0	31,865
Other			0
Net cash used for investing activities	(39,337)	(60,629)	(147,379)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings under credit agreement	41,000		6,000
Repayments on promissory notes	(77,100)	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of common units	75,815	0	133,301
Capital contribution from general partner	5,887	0	3,812
Net repayments under credit agreement		(47,000)
Net proceeds from issuance of senior notes	0	147,540	0
Distributions to unitholders	(91,506)	(84,426)	(61,188)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0	(1,500)
Purchase price in excess of transferred basis in assets acquired from HollyFrontier Corporation	0	(57,560)	(3,120)
Purchase of units for incentive grants	(1,641)	(2,704)	(616)
Deferred financing costs	(3,150)	(494)	0
Other	(221)	0	(266)
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(50,916)	(44,644)	76,423
Increase (decrease) for the year	2,866	(2,105)	(2,761)
Beginning of year	403	2,508	5,269
End of year	3,269	403	2,508
Parent [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	11,666	(59,916)	(131,123)
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to properties and equipment	0	0	0
Acquisition of assets from HFC		0	0
Acquisition of assets from Sinclair			0
Investment in SLC Pipeline			0
Proceeds from sale of interest in Rio Grande, net of transferred cash			0
Other			0
Net cash used for investing activities		0	0
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings under credit agreement	0		0
Repayments on promissory notes	0
Proceeds from issuance of common units	75,815		186,801
Capital contribution from general partner	5,887		3,812
Net repayments under credit agreement		0
Net proceeds from issuance of senior notes		147,540
Distributions to unitholders	(91,506)	(84,426)	(61,188)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest			0
Purchase price in excess of transferred basis in assets acquired from HollyFrontier Corporation		0	2,580
Purchase of units for incentive grants	(1,641)	(2,704)	(616)
Deferred financing costs	0	(494)
Other	(221)		(266)
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(11,666)	59,916	131,123
Increase (decrease) for the year	0	0	0
Beginning of year	2	2	2
End of year	2	2	2
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	81,453	163,084	196,205
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to properties and equipment	(39,337)	(25,103)	(32,999)
Acquisition of assets from HFC		(35,526)	(95,080)
Acquisition of assets from Sinclair			(25,665)
Investment in SLC Pipeline			(25,500)
Proceeds from sale of interest in Rio Grande, net of transferred cash			31,865
Other			3,174
Net cash used for investing activities		(60,629)	(144,205)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings under credit agreement	41,000		6,000
Repayments on promissory notes	(77,100)
Proceeds from issuance of common units	0		(53,500)
Capital contribution from general partner	0		0
Net repayments under credit agreement		(47,000)
Net proceeds from issuance of senior notes		0
Distributions to unitholders	0	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest			0
Purchase price in excess of transferred basis in assets acquired from HollyFrontier Corporation		(57,560)	(5,700)
Purchase of units for incentive grants	0	0	0
Deferred financing costs	(3,150)	0
Other	0		0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(39,250)	(104,560)	(53,200)
Increase (decrease) for the year	2,866	(2,105)	(1,200)
Beginning of year	401	2,506	3,706
End of year	3,267	401	2,506
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities			6,613
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to properties and equipment			0
Acquisition of assets from HFC			0
Acquisition of assets from Sinclair			0
Investment in SLC Pipeline			0
Proceeds from sale of interest in Rio Grande, net of transferred cash			0
Other			(3,174)
Net cash used for investing activities			(3,174)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings under credit agreement			0
Proceeds from issuance of common units			0
Capital contribution from general partner			0
Distributions to unitholders			(5,000)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest			0
Purchase price in excess of transferred basis in assets acquired from HollyFrontier Corporation			0
Purchase of units for incentive grants			0
Other			0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities			(5,000)
Increase (decrease) for the year			(1,561)
Beginning of year			1,561
End of year			0
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	0	0	(3,500)
Cash flows from investing activities
Additions to properties and equipment	0	0	0
Acquisition of assets from HFC		0	0
Acquisition of assets from Sinclair			0
Investment in SLC Pipeline			0
Proceeds from sale of interest in Rio Grande, net of transferred cash			0
Other			0
Net cash used for investing activities		0	0
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings under credit agreement	0		0
Repayments on promissory notes	0
Proceeds from issuance of common units	0		0
Capital contribution from general partner	0		0
Net repayments under credit agreement		0
Net proceeds from issuance of senior notes		0
Distributions to unitholders	0	0	5,000
Distributions to noncontrolling interest			(1,500)
Purchase price in excess of transferred basis in assets acquired from HollyFrontier Corporation		0	0
Purchase of units for incentive grants	0	0	0
Deferred financing costs	0	0
Other	0		0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	0	0	3,500
Increase (decrease) for the year	0	0	0
Beginning of year	0	0	0
End of year	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0