Initially, travel to and within Yellowstone was a real adventure! There were no rail lines anywhere near the new park. A sightseeing venture for anyone but a "local" involved taking a train to some location several hundred miles away from the park, then traveling by stagecoach to a town near the park (within 100 miles!). Here guides and a camping "outfit" might be hired to complete the trip to the new park. It was an adventure that few undertook.

That changed, however, in 1883 when the Northern Pacific Railroad laid the Yellowstone Park Branch Line from Livingston, Montana, to the park's northern entrance. Now, the wealthy eastern patrons that the railroad hoped to attract to Yellowstone had a reasonable means of traveling to the park, and the trickle of visitors began to increase.

 But getting to the park was not all that was needed. Once visitors arrived they had to be fed and lodged and transported around the park to see its wonders. Fine hotels that would satisfy wealthy travelers were needed. The railroads solved this problem by providing financial loans to entrepreneurs who built the park's hotels. Beginning with the construction of the National Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs in 1883, most of Yellowstone's hotels were built with money borrowed from the railroads. Only two hotels that were financed by the railroads are still in use today: the Lake Hotel and the Old Faithful Inn.

The Northern Pacific enjoyed a monopoly on rail travel to Yellowstone from 1883 until 1907 when the Union Pacific Railroad arrived at the western border of the park. A town site was platted out in the national forest that abutted the park border, and today's West Yellowstone grew and developed around the railroad terminus. While these were the only two railroads to actually reach the park border, three other rail systems developed "jumping-off" stations not too far away. The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad brought its patrons to Cody, Wyoming, and from there transported them to Yellowstone along the famous "Cody Road." The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad laid tracks to Lander, Wyoming, and there transferred its passengers to the "Great Yellow Fleet" of Yellowstone touring cars. And, Gallatin Gateway, near Bozeman, Montana, was developed by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad as their Yellowstone jumping-off point.

 For the first half of this century, Yellowstone's concessioners depended upon the railroads for financial assistance. Not just to build hotels, but also for their upkeep and any needed improvements. And, in 1916 when Yellowstone's concessioners retired their fleet of stagecoaches and replaced them with touring cars, the money to purchase the new vehicles was provided by Yellowstone's old friends, the railroads.

 Not only did the railroads get visitors to the park and help provide for their needs once here, but they did it in a style not seen today. In the late 1800s, Yellowstone was a place chiefly for the wealthy to enjoy. A trip to Yellowstone began with several lazy days spent in the comfort of a Pullman Palace Car experiencing the American countryside at the breathtaking pace of 25 or 30 miles per hour. When visitors arrived at Gardiner, an enormous stagecoach, capable of carrying 37 passengers, was waiting to take them to the National Hotel behind six matched horses. After a day of sightseeing, hotel guests would change into formal attire for dinner and an evening of socializing on the hotel veranda or in the lounge.

The way Americans traveled changed after World War II, and the railroads finally succumbed to the automobile. Visiting the park became a more personal and less social pastime. But, thanks to the railroads, Yellowstone became a favorite destinationof Americans helping to ensure the permanence of the national park idea.