Locals claim buses from Xanterra and other big tour companies get away with blocking roads in Yellowstone National Park, while the company says its drivers are expected to obey the rules like everybody else.
Local wildlife photographer Deby Dixon shared a video with Cowboy State Daily that she says shows a Xanterra bus stopped in the road sometime around Dec. 18 while tourists pile out.
The van is left sitting in the right-hand lane, with its hazard lights on, while other vehicles swing into the other lane of traffic to go around it.
Dixon told Cowboy State Daily that, as she sees it, tour buses from large companies are allowed to get away with such behavior.
Meanwhile, small, local guide services and individuals “have to park up to a mile away and hike in the cold” to see roadside attractions, she said.
Xanterra: We Obey The Rules
Xanterra is the park’s primary concessioner, and spokesman Todd Walton declined to comment on Dixon’s video in particular.
He told Cowboy State Daily that he’s aware of postings on social media, many of them anonymous, that include complaints, and other videos that supposedly show Xanterra drivers blocking the road.
On a Gardiner/Mammoth, Montana, social media community message board, an anonymous poster slammed Xanterra for supposedly being “one of the last companies still not understanding that guides are not allowed to stop in the road.”
Walton said complaints could be rooted in misunderstanding or misrepresentation.
He said that a video he recently saw supposedly showing a Xanterra van blocking the road lacked proper context.
The driver was apparently waiting for a spot to open in a nearby pullout and ended up parking in the pullout, he said.
“We keep an eye on our social media and we reached out to the driver” to get the complete story, he said.
Xanterra tour bus drivers are under strict orders to follow the park’s road rules, just like any other motorist, Walton said.
‘Oh Nooo!’
Local guide Susi Huelsmeyer-Sinay told Cowboy State Daily that drivers stopping in the middle of Yellowstone roads is a huge problem, particularly in the summer.
She added that she’s not aware of the rules being unevenly enforced in favor of large tour companies, or that any group of people is more guilty than any others of blocking highways.
She’s the founder of Yellowstone Llamas, a Livingston, Montana-based company offering llama treks in Yellowstone.
Pulling a trailer full of llamas through the park can be a white-knuckle driving experience, she said.
She said she’s seen vehicles left sitting empty in the road, and on several occasions has had to slam on her brakes to avoid a crash.
“You come around a corner with six or eight llamas in the trailer, and there’s a car,” she said. "And what’s more, the people aren’t even in the car anymore.
“I’m freaking out. I’m going, ‘Oh, noooo!’”
Slamming on the brakes jostles the llamas in the trailer, Huelsmeyer-Sinay said.
“It makes me really mad. It’s unpleasant and they could get hurt really badly,” she said.
It’s gotten so bad, she avoids driving in the park whenever she can.
Instead, she frequently starts her tours at trailheads near the little-used Northeast Entrance of the park at Silver Gate.
‘Before Somebody Gets Killed’
There’s no doubt that highway hazards, including people parking in the road, is a growing problem in Yellowstone as millions of visitors are drawn to the park each year, local tour guide Cara McGary told Cowboy State Daily.
However, she was hesitant to single out any particular group or say that the rules aren’t enforced evenly.
Guides have “genuine” motives for giving their guests the best possible experience, said McGary, who runs the Gardiner, Montana-based In Our Nature Guiding Services.
“If/when there are problems with stopping or parking, I would urge (law enforcement officers) to bear that motivation in mind,” she said. "Simply explaining the issue and asking a guide to rectify their position works well, especially if a clear and consistent reason is given."
She added that there could be mitigating circumstances, “like a coyote darted in front of them, or they were trying to manage some other hazard, or that they are, in fact, off the road completely,” McGary said.
As she sees it drivers — especially non-guides — speeding in the park is what really scares her, particularly during the winter.
“I think that the winter speed limit through the roads open to general traffic in winter should be reduced to 35 mph wherever it is normally higher than that,” she said.
Even in winter, the roads are crowded, and there are frequently bison in or near the highway.
“I hope that excess speed enforcement will become more of a focus for National Park Service (officials) before somebody gets killed,” she said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
