We’ve been doing this a long time – since 1954, in fact.  And during that time we are proud to say we have learned a lot.  The result is that, today, we can confidently state that we have a fleet of motorcoaches that is unmatched anywhere in the Midwest, and a staff of drivers and support personnel that is second-to-none.

Our History

1954 – Hawkeye Stages is born, with the purchase of operating authority and used coaches from Waterloo Stages.

1956 – First tour conducted, with 2 buses traveling to California at the end of December to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play Oregon in the 1957 Rose Bowl, which the Hawkeyes won.

1960s – Expansion! Purchased bus companies in Oelwein and Mason City

1964 — The company launches our highly successful Student Educational Tour division

1977 – Received Interstate Commerce Commission authority to completely plan tours. Previously tours had to be planned through a licensed broker..

1994 – Suspended operation of final regularly scheduled “run”. Hawkeye Stages had provided daily routes across the northeast half of Iowa.

2002 – Expanded into Central Iowa (Marshalltown) with purchase of operation previously known as Marshall Coaches.

2008 – More expansion! 13 coaches and the tour business know as Northland Travel purchased from Northwest Iowa Transportation. Operations expanded to Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Waterloo, allowing Hawkeye Stages and its tour companies to fully serve all of Iowa, southern Minnesota and south west Wisconsin.

Today – Still family owned, Hawkeye Stages is more than 60 years old! Operations have expanded to Newton, Iowa and we continue to look for creative ways to extend motorcoach travel to new markets, offer travel planning services and more. In effort to reduce our impact on the environment, our offices are going green by installing solar arrays and geothermal technology.

Hawkeye Stages takes great pride in their fleet of 24 state of the art motorcoaches.  When not in use they are periodically inspected, serviced and cleaned from top to bottom to ensure that they are in the highest level of operating condition.  In fact, they are maintained at levels demanded by Federal FMCSA, DOT and DOD mandates.  This periodic and preventative maintenance usually takes place at one of our five facilities statewide and completed by in-house, regularly trained personnel with just three things in mind; passenger safety, comfort and travel experience. Our fleet is comprised of some of the finest names in the motorcoach transportation industry; MCI, Prevost, VanHool and our two newest acquisitions from Temsa.  They range in passenger capacity from 36 to 56 seats.  We have gone the extra mile in several of the coaches creating “extended legroom” achieved by removing some of the seats!  This results in greater comfort for passengers traveling on some of our longer excursions! Our coach amenities include Wi-Fi, 110V electrical outlets, and state of the art audio/visual systems.  Passenger controlled overhead lighting and ventilation, as well as ample interior storage for smaller bags and items, are also present within our interiors.  We have spared no expense on passenger seating designed for greatest comfort.  Some of which have leather interiors and in an effort to promote higher levels of safety, our newest coaches are equipped with three-point safety belts. We take great pride in our fleet!  We are proud to say that it is one of the newest fleets in the country, a tradition our owners intend to maintain.  We also take great pride in presenting to you our passengers, the Fleet of Hawkeye Stages, the finest equipment on the road today! Click here to learn more about our fleet.