Additional Financial Information Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 129,512	$ 710,579	$ 111,021	$ 66,533
Marketable securities	0	424,148
Accounts receivable, net	601,117	479,199
Inventories	1,317,497	1,135,676
Income taxes receivable	87,384	68,371
Prepayments and other	33,329	33,036
Total current assets	2,168,839	2,851,009
Properties, plants and equipment, net	4,453,675	4,008,448
Intangibles and other assets	2,919,838	2,576,204
Total assets	9,542,352	9,435,661
Accounts payable	953,928	935,387
Income tax payable	288
Accrued liabilities	187,440	147,842
Total current liabilities	1,141,656	1,083,229
Long-term debt	2,231,542	2,235,137
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	737,173	620,414
Other long-term liabilities	208,787	194,896
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	4,593,471	4,681,394
Equity – noncontrolling interest	629,723	620,591
Total liabilities and equity	9,542,352	9,435,661
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	122,505	706,922	101,987	51,520
Marketable securities		424,148
Accounts receivable, net	597,486	487,693
Inventories	1,316,043	1,134,274
Income taxes receivable	87,384	68,371
Prepayments and other	37,697	37,379
Total current assets	2,161,115	2,858,787
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,323,981	2,874,041
Intangibles and other assets	2,425,713	2,077,683
Total assets	7,910,809	7,810,511
Accounts payable	978,103	967,347
Income tax payable	288
Accrued liabilities	169,013	115,878
Total current liabilities	1,147,404	1,083,225
Long-term debt	990,977	991,225
Liability to HEP	208,763	208,603
Deferred income tax liabilities	736,599	619,905
Other long-term liabilities	146,525	132,515
Investment in HEP	145,885	136,435
Equity – HollyFrontier	4,534,656	4,638,603
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,910,809	7,810,511
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	7,007	3,657	9,034	15,013
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	45,746	50,408
Inventories	1,454	1,402
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	1,716	1,486
Total current assets	55,923	56,953
Properties, plants and equipment, net	1,357,322	1,365,568
Intangibles and other assets	493,547	497,966
Total assets	1,906,792	1,920,487
Accounts payable	17,940	26,942
Income tax payable	0
Accrued liabilities	24,511	37,793
Total current liabilities	42,451	64,735
Long-term debt	1,240,565	1,243,912
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	574	509
Other long-term liabilities	62,828	62,971
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	467,183	454,803
Equity – noncontrolling interest	93,191	93,557
Total liabilities and equity	1,906,792	1,920,487
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	(42,115)	(58,902)
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	(6,084)	(5,829)
Total current assets	(48,199)	(64,731)
Properties, plants and equipment, net	(227,628)	(231,161)
Intangibles and other assets	578	555
Total assets	(275,249)	(295,337)
Accounts payable	(42,115)	(58,902)
Income tax payable	0
Accrued liabilities	(6,084)	(5,829)
Total current liabilities	(48,199)	(64,731)
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	(208,763)	(208,603)
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(566)	(590)
Investment in HEP	145,885	136,435
Equity – HollyFrontier	(408,368)	(412,012)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	536,532	527,034
Total liabilities and equity	$ (275,249)	$ (295,337)