Grand Teton Trails -

Travel Around Grand Teton National Park

Introduction.

Grand Teton National Park is well known for its spectacular mountain range, abundant wildlife, and effectively acting as a southern gateway into Yellowstone National Park. The park receives over 3,000,000 visitors each year, and is a magnificent site, even if only for a short visit. Of course there are plenty of activities that can keep you and your traveling group busy for multiple days. Below are some tips that made our visit to this park a wonderful experience. Again, I have used the approach of suggesting a larger number of shorter hikes/stops vs. very long or overnight treks, so you can see a wider variety of different sights and areas within the Grand Teton National Park boundaries.

General logistics information.

There are multiple lodging options within the boundaries of the park, from upscale hotels to camping locations. Additionally, depending on the direction you are approaching from, there are multiple entry points, either from the south, the north, or the east. There are also multiple locations to get food within the park and a limited number of locations to get gas.

Grand Teton Trails and Activities.

• We entered the park from the east side and took the roadway known as either 191 or 89, which provides a number of very interesting stops.
• There are multiple roadside pullouts along this route, and they will all give you incredible views of the Teton Range.

• One of my suggested “required” stops is at the Snake River Overlook.  At this stop, you will get your chance to attempt to replicate the famous Ansel Adams shot of the Snake River with the Teton Range in the background.
• Regardless if you are a very experienced photographer or simply take shots from your smart phone, you should give this one a try.
• Another stop to make along this roadway is Schwabacher’s Landing on Schwabacher’s Road. Here you can get a photo of the Teton Range with some great water reflections.

• Next head south towards Moose Junction and then north on Teton Park Road. Your own schedule and amount of time available will have to determine how many of the roadside pullouts are worth your visit.

• The first item on our Grand Teton Trails list was the Taggart Lake Trailhead. This is a loop hike that is relatively easy and gives you a very nice view of the Grand Teton Range reflecting in Taggart Lake.

• As most of our first day was driving to Grand Teton National Park from South Dakota, we decided to end our exploring activities for the day and to check into Jackson Lake Lodge. This is a wonderful lodge with magnificent views of the Teton Range, and is also well known as the location where the Federal Reserve holds their annual meeting.
• Even if you are not staying at this location, it is worth a visit to see the view from the back of the lodge, where they just happen to have an outdoor sitting area for snacks and beverages/drinks (the view can't be beat).

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• Our next day started with a visit to the Jackson Lake Dam. You can get some very nice views and photos here looking over Jackson Lake with the Teton Range in the background.

• Take the drive up Signal Mountain Road to the Summit for some long range views.  You will likely see some deer and grouse along side the road as you make this drive.

• Head south on Teton Park Road towards Jenny Lake.
• You have different choices here, but we chose to take the Jenny Lake boat ride to our starting point for the Grand Teton Trails to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.
• At the time of our trip this was a challenging hike, though my understanding is there has been much improvement work done to the trail.  That stated, be aware that Inspiration Point sits at an elevation of 7,200 feet, so be ready for the work you will have to do to get there.
• We packed lunch and ate at the top of Inspiration Point where we relaxed and enjoyed the views, before starting our hike down and back to the origination point of the boat ride. You do have the option of getting the boat for the ride back to the parking area, though we chose to hike back instead.

• Back on Teton Park Road, be sure to stop at the Cathedral Group pullout. I will not include a picture here, but the name of the location should give you a good idea of the view you will have from this stop.

• Our next stop was for a hike around String Lake and partially around Leigh Lake.
• This was mostly flat hiking and provided views of the lakes, some rapids, and a variety of views of the Teton Range and Mount Moran specifically.

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• For our last day in Grand Teton National Park, we started out on the Lakeshore Trail hike in Colter Bay, which also connects with Heron Pond Trail.
• This hike takes you past one of the marinas and through some wooded areas that provide spot after spot of views to the lakes and the Teton Range. For us, walking through the wooded areas not only provided beautiful views, it also provided us some shade as this day was particularly warm.



• Our last adventure was the hike to Grand View Point.
• This item on our Grand Teton Trails list was a challenging hike and takes you to the Grand View Point summit, at an elevation of 7,823 feet.
• From this trial you get panoramic views of Two Ocean Lake, Emma Matilda Lake, Jackson Lake, the Teton Range, and Mount Moran.