"How do you handle a buffalo?" they ask you in Yellowstone National Park. "Safely" is the correct answer, by which they mean, "at a distance." "Warning!" reads the printed leaflet given to arrivals, "Many visitors have been gored by buffalo. They can weigh 2,000 pounds and sprint at 30 miles per hour, three times faster than you can run. Do not approach buffalo." That said, it's easy to see them from the roadside throughout the park, best from a guided tour arranged by Xanterra concessionaire in its remodeled "Old Yellow Buses" reintroduced this June and a huge success already.
On a recent trip, I spotted bison (the park's preferred term for buffalo), elk, deer, brown mama bear (with cub), pronghorn (similar to antelope) with its young, mountain bluebird, white owl (with nesting babies), herons, sand hill cranes (with an orange-colored baby), nesting peregrines and more in just three days of looking around the park. I thought the most profitable tours were the early morning trips arranged by Xanterra with knowledgeable guides. They said you should go before 9am for the best viewing, and again at dusk. In August, you may encounter bison jams, when the buffalo mating season causes the males to roam rapidly, sometimes blocking traffic on the park's two-lane roads. Our guide thoughtfully carried enough high-powered Nikon binoculars (on tripods) for each member of my party to view distant birds and animals when necessary.
There are 950 miles of hiking trails and about 300 miles of motor roads in the park, and Yellowstone is both a World Heritage Site and has six National Historical Landmarks within its boundaries. It's the world's first designated national park (1872) and one of the largest in the country, with more than 2 million acres of geysers, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, forests and meadows. Don't be surprised if you see fallen trees and those damaged by forest fires -- the park's philosophy is to let things go and allow Mother Nature to take her course.
In the five different regions of the park, you can experience fairly diverse types of natural bounty and things to do. The five "countries" of Yellowstone are: Mammoth Country (hot springs); Geyser Country (Old Faithful); Lake Country (the lake and much wildlife); Canyon Country (the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, etc); and Roosevelt Country (the Old West, Lamar Valley and more). Popular activities include free ranger-led programs and lectures, sightseeing tours, horseback riding, skiing in winter, and boating and fishing. There are said to be about 60 species of mammals and over 300 of birds here.
Good excursions organized by Xanterra include the following: "Wake Up to Wildlife" for $63 (children $31), thrice weekly with box breakfast; "Picture Perfect Photo Safari" five times weekly, $58 (kids $29); and "Lamar Valley Wildlife Excursions" at $43 (kids $21), daily. There are many others, ranging from one hour to all-day. Contact the organizers at tel. 866/GEYSERLAND or www.travelyellowstone.com.
Hotels in the Park
I stayed at three, and found Lake Yellowstone Hotel the best, in terms of service, food and quality of room. Open May 18 to October 7, double rooms from $106 to $201. Next in line was the venerable Old Faithful Inn, beloved of tour groups and families for its proximity to the geysers and location in the park. Open May 11 to Oct. 14. Double rooms from $111 to $206. Rooms sharing bath from $87 up. Old Faithful geyser itself, by the way, erupts on average about every 93 minutes. Last of the three lodgings, but entirely adequate, was the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, which has a nice dining room but quite Spartan accommodations. Open May 4 to Oct. 8. Double rooms from $99 to $173. Rooms sharing bath from $69 and up. For all three, contact: tel. 866/GEYSERLAND or website www.travelyellowstone.com.
2007 Changes
The big Yellowstone Park change in 2007 is the re-introduction of nine of the Old Yellow Buses, which tooled around the park from 1916 onward through about 1969 or so. The newly remodeled and re-engined buses (each with Ford chassis and White Motor Car body) are gorgeous, being long, open-air vehicles with three rows of passenger seats (total 14 passengers) behind the driver and a canvas top that can be laboriously fastened down in case there's a change in the weather. The vehicles being used now were all built in the 1930s and completely remodeled last year. Contact them for tours at tel. 866/GEYSERLAND or at website www.travelyellowstone.com.
An Expert Comments
Dr. Alfred Runte, a consulting environmental historian based in Seattle, was in Yellowstone to look over the reintroduction of the Old Yellow Buses, and gave me his thoughts on why the national parks like this are so valuable. "They give you a sense of the spirit of the past, of history. It's marvelous that you can step back, in this case 75 years (when the Yellow Buses were up and running), to an era when life was lived differently. You can easily get lost in the past, just by visiting some great parks. You can get away from everyone by walking just a few hundred yards off the roads, off the beaten paths, easy walking in many places even for older folks."
Entrance Fees
You and your vehicle enter for $25, and the permit is good for seven consecutive days in both Yellowstone and adjacent Grand Teton National Park. Persons 16 and under are admitted free. You need not pay if you have a Golden Eagle or similar passport. There were 2,870,293 visitors to the park in 2006.
Associated Links
The best links include:
- National Park System website at www.nps.gov/yell.
- A good commercial site: www.travelyellowstone.com.
- The concessionaire's site: www.xanterra.com.
- Helpful, too, is www.yellowstone-natl-park.com.
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