Yellowstone is a wonderful vacation spot for able-bodied adults and children over about five years of age. However, wheelchair-accessible places are still limited to a relatively small percentage of the developed area. For more information, ask for the latest version of the Visitor’s Guide to Accessible Features at any visitor center; by writing to Accessibility Coordinator, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190; calling (307) 344-2017; or downloading a PDF at: www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm.
A woman touring Yellowstone in 1912 complained to visitor L. Louise Elliott: There is such a sameness to it all . Now, I supposed I should be seeing something different and interesting constantly without all the long, dusty rides between places. I thought the park fairly teemed with graceful fawn and antelope and other animals, and truly, I see more animals right at home in our city park, you know.
Reflecting on this complaint, Elliott wrote: I understand now as I never did before why so many people are disappointed when they come here. It is because of the fact that it is called a park and they come with the expectation of seeing a man-made park, similar to those of the cities, only on a much larger and vastly grander scale; with the curiosities all conveniently grouped, and the animals collected in large numbers in enclosed corrals. They forget that it is merely a district controlled by the Government and preserved as far as possible in its wild and natural state, and that the wild animals, native to this territory, are permitted to roam at will over miles and miles of country, and that the greater part of them come down to the mainly traveled districts only when forced to do so by hunger, when the snow gets deep and the grazing poor.
