Yellowstone National Park--take a yellow bus road trip

May 10, 6:47 PMNational Parks Travel ExaminerMarilyn Crain

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Photo Courtesy of Xanterra Parks & Resorts

If you're planning a visit to Yellowstone National Park, be sure to include at least one historic yellow bus tour. A tour of the park's wonderous scenery aboard one of these vintage touring cars will turn your visit into a road trip to remember.

In 2007, eight “Old Yellow Buses” returned to Yellowstone National Park after 50 year absence. They are White Motor Company Model 706s that were used in Yellowstone and several other national parks starting in the 1930s. The yellow buses carried visitors around Yellowstone until the 1950s when private vehicle usage increased to the point where they were not needed. They were sold and left to find other homes across the country.

The Skagway (Alaska) Streetcar Company purchased eight of the vehicles and used them for tours until 2001 when they were returned to Yellowstone. After being refurbished, the eight were back to their original appearance, but updated to today’s commercial standards for safety and emissions. They once again transport visitors in the style and elegance of yesteryear.

The Yellowstone yellow buses now carry 13 people, because the front bench seat was replaced by bucket seats. The red buses of Glacier National Park have a capacity of 16, while the Yellowstone versions hold fewer people since they were outfitted to carry luggage in the back as people typically traveled to a different hotel each night they were in the park.

Photo Courtesy of Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Historic Yellow Bus Tours

Go back in time and enjoy the luxury that earlier tourists experienced when they toured the wonders of the park aboard a yellow roll-top touring car. Here is a sampling of the many tour options available this summer:

Where Gush the Geysers

"Ever wonder why geysers erupt? Or what causes the colors in hot springs? How do mud pots form? Yellowstone has more geothermal features than anywhere else in the world! Here's a chance for you to experience these natural wonders up close. We'll visit several of the Park's prime thermal areas including the Fountain Paint Pots, and the Midway, West Thumb and Old Faithful Geyser Basins where you'll have a chance to get answers to your questions."

Picture Perfect Photo Safaris from Lake Yellowstone Hotel or Old Faithful Inn

"Take home Yellowstone photographs! Enjoy a photographic tour of either the Lake Yellowstone area or the Old Faithful area with a photographer-guide who knows the photo hot spots and prime times.

Whether you're an experienced shutterbug, or a point-and-shoot novice, you can benefit from this experience. Since the tour leaves early in the morning, please dress warmly.

On the Lake Hotel Photo Safari you will travel around the north shore of Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone areas while on the Old Faithful Photo Safari you will explore the thermal features and scenic areas from the Firehole to the Madison. Our specific destinations will vary based on reported wildlife sightings and seasonal conditions. The tour price includes a continental breakfast."

Across the Northern Range (3 hour tour)"Enjoy expansive views as we travel the Grand Loop Road across Yellowstone's Northern Range. Upon arrival at Roosevelt corrals, you'll transfer for a one-hour ride in a replica Tally-ho stagecoach, whose predecessors carried visitors through the wonders of Yellowstone a hundred years ago."  

Photo Courtesy of Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Once Around the Park

Here's an overview of a new Yellowstone Lodging package, Once Around the Park, that includes tours aboard the historic yellow buses:

"Savor the sights, sounds and smells of Yellowstone as you travel around in one of our roll-top Historic Yellow Buses. Traveling clockwise around the Grand Loop, and staying at different locations in the park affords the opportunity to spend more time actually exploring the park. You'll overnight at Mammoth Hot Springs in the Northern Range, Grant Village on the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful Snow Lodge in the heart of the Upper Geyser Basin. In addition to lodging this package includes: meals, baggage handling, a Scenicruise on Yellowstone Lake, an Old West Dinner Cookout at Roosevelt Lodge by a wagon ride out to the cookout site and a welcome gift."

Pick your tour and hop on board a yellow bus to experience the by-gone days of luxury tourism around Yellowstone National Park--a road trip you'll surely want to take again and again.

You might also enjoy:

Yellowstone National Park--nature's geologic wonder

Articles from Andrew Stanton, our Yellowstone National Park Examiner

For more about the historic buses of America's national parks:

Glacier National Park--take a red bus road trip

For more information: Yellowstone National Park and Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Watch the video below and see the historic yellow buses:

The Great American Road Trip

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