Take a Red Jammer Ride on the Going-to-the-Sun Highway
Glacier National Park's iconic and historic tour buses
Sunday, August 6th, 2023 ~ After having lunch at the Snowbird Grille, we were excited to see these gorgeous vehicles outside.
The Glacier Red Buses in Glacier National Park were built in the mid-1930s by Cleveland-based White Motor Company, Model 706. The buses are owned by the National Park Service (NPS) but run by a contracted park concessionaire Xanterra.
Back in the day, the Red Buses had manual transmissions so the gears would grind when shifted. They became known as Red Jammers and the drivers were called Jammers.
Until 1970, drivers were only college aged men. Women weren’t allowed to sit in the front passenger seat because they would “distract” the driver <insert eye roll>. It wasn’t until the early 1980s that the first female red bus driver was hired.
Ford Motor Company donated $6 million and their engineering expertise to refurbish the Glacier fleet of 33. The oak body is original but sits on an E-350 extended chassis.
The NPS estimates red buses transport about 60,000 tourists per season. There is room for 16…4 rows of 4. We loaded in the caboose, the last row of the bus. The weather was great, so the canvas tops were rolled back (more on that later).
The color comes from Glacier National Park’s Ripe Mountain Ash Berry.
Travel with us in the back of the bus on the Going-to-the-Sun Highway while the Jammer talks about Ford’s refurbishment project.
Logan Pass, at 6646 feet above sea level, is the highest point reachable by vehicle on the Going-To-The-Sun Highway. We had just 45 minutes…
but time enough to hike a quick mile and a half, make a pit stop, and buy a souvenir at the Logan Pass gift shop.
Before we knew it, it was time to board our bus back to our hotel.
But first, we had to demonstrate the fun “prairie dog view” the convertible buses provide in good weather. We only had one quick chance to stand up on the road to Logan Pass because traffic was so busy.
The Going-to-the-Sun Highway back down to St. Mary Village.
What it feels like riding through a tunnel…
and passing waterfalls in the open topped red jammers.
We had no idea our trip would include this bonus tour, but this ride made our Glacier visit my favorite day of our Canadian Rockies tour. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the tour was fabulous, but having grown up loving my father’s Model T Ford, the red buses were the icing on the scenery cake.
Another day, another amazing adventure.
After crossing the border to get back to our hotel, we were excited about going to Banff the next day. But our first scheduled stop would be the Bar U Ranch, a Canadian National Historic Site.
Love knowing more about the red jammers!