The Tetons are one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been to! I absolutely loved my trip exploring this part of the country and I highly, highly recommend it!
General things to know:
Grand Teton National Park is quite small, and the town of Jackson, Wyoming sits right at the park entrance.
There are a lot of restaurants and lodging options inside the park, which is not always the case and a nice perk here.
Combine your Teton adventures with a trip to Yellowstone—the park signs are literally only 10 minutes apart! + if you are debating between the two, Tetons > Yellowstone.
Grand Teton National Park Recommendations:
Catch sunrise at Schwabacher Landing: This is a stunning sight if you’re lucky on a clear day. Expect a crowd, but it is amazing.
Oxbow Bend is another popular sunrise spot that is very pretty!
Cascade Canyon Trail & Solitude Lake Trail: This is a long trail at 14.3 miles with 2,362ft of elevation and takes about 6.5 hours to complete. Most folks do not head out to Solitude lake and just explore the Cascade Canyon area. Cascade Canyon is home to Hidden Falls, a nice large waterfall, and Inspiration Point, a nice overlook. You’ll see these spots on the trail either choice you make. Solitude Lake is beautiful and super clear. I was also lucky enough to encounter a lot of wildlife in this section of the trail with 5 different Moose and a baby bear on the trail. Even if you don’t want to hike, you should still stop by Jenny Lake to soak in the views!
You’ll start by taking a shuttle across Jenny Lake (or add to your distance by hiking around the side of the lake). For the shuttle it is $20 cash, there are no reservations, and boats run every 10-15 minutes. If you’re lucky enough to get on the first boat of the day you’ll get half off the cost! Expect a wait for the boat on your way back across in the afternoon.
Taggart & Bradley Lake Loop: This trail takes you out to two beautiful lakes and is 5.8 miles long with 767ft of elevation gain. Both have stunning reflections in the morning hours so I would definitely recommend doing this earlier rather than later. Additionally, the parking lot here fills up with folks lounging at Taggart all afternoon so the early bird certainly gets the worm here. Overall this trail took me about 2.5 hours to complete.
You can either shorten the trail by just visiting Taggart Lake, which is far more popular, or you can lengthen the trail by adding on Delta or Surprise + Amphitheater Lakes for more of a challenge—personally I was going to add on Delta Lake, but there was some nearby forest fires causing visibility to not be ideal so I did not want to risk hiking all the way up there for nothing!
Dornans: This business wears a lot of hats: grocery store, chuckwagon, gas station, cabin rentals, market and deli, adventure rentals, and a Pizza & Pasta business. I would highly recommend checking out the Pizza and Pasta spot at the Spur Bar. Head over for lunch or dinner and go up to the top deck. The views here are fantastic! They have about 10 beer taps, cocktails, wine, and you can buy bottles of wine next door at their wine shop to bring over too. This spot definitely gets busy, but it’s awesome!
Leigh Lake Trail and String Lake Trail: I chose to combine these two trails, but you could also just do one or the other, or you can also loop around the lakes! Both lakes have beautiful reflections in the morning hours, so I would recommend starting here one of your days in the park. Both trails are nice and easy with several beaches and viewpoints throughout. You don’t really even need to hike if you don’t want to, you could just lounge at a lake! Keep your eyes peeled for moose in this area.
There is plenty of parking at the Leigh Lake Trailhead, whereas the String Lake parking area is a lot smaller.
Relax at Colter Bay Beach: This area itself is poppin’ but I was the only one on the scenic beach.
Woodland, Phelps Lake, and Lake Creek Loop: This trail is inside the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve part of the park. it leads out to the beautiful Phelps Lake that has crystal clear water and even a place where you can cliff jump! The trail claims to be 3.2 miles long with 269ft of elevation gain but it felt like it was moderately uphill the whole way out to the lake. Or maybe my legs were just tired at this point haha. Overall it took me about an hour and 10 minutes to complete and is a nice, easy trail. This is a great spot to have a picnic or spend an afternoon. There is even a bathroom out by the lake for your convenience.
There is another route that takes you to Phelps Lake via the Valley Trail, but I’d really recommend this route so you are looking at the mountains.
Explore the Jenny Lake Scenic Drive: The Jenny Lake Overlook here is quite pretty.
Stop at Jackson Point Overlook: Really great views! Signal Mountain Summit is also located just above Jackson Point for a different angle of the area.
Moose Wilson Road is a non-scenic drive that is popular for wildlife viewing—personally I saw a bear here.
Jackson, Wyoming Recommendations:
Jackson Hole is infamous and serves as the gateway to the Tetons. The downtown area is super cute, but also very touristy of course.
Melvin The Dojo: Melvin Brewing’s OG location is just far enough away to be annoying, but thankfully they opened The Dojo on the town square. Their beers are tasty and the food looked amazing!
Wander the Town Square: This is a beautiful little park and taking a picture with the antler arches is required. There are a TON of restaurants and shops that surround the square.
Persephone Bakery: This spot had an INSANE line so instead I checked out their Picnic location and it was fantastic.
Snake River Brewing: A solid brewery with a nice patio and beer garden. They have a full food menu as well.
I also had planned to visit StillWest Brewing but they did not open when they were supposed to either day that I tried.
Victor, Idaho
I decided to stay at this Airbnb which is a super cute tiny house in Victor, Idaho. I chose this route because I was traveling with Mosaic and needed to have an Airbnb, not a hotel room, for the days I was doing long hikes that she was not allowed to join on, and the prices in Jackson were astronomical. After exploring the area I would also recommend trying to stay in Colter Bay or Signal Mountain, and either of those could also double for your lodging to visit Yellowstone as well since they are on the north side of the park.
Victor, ID recommendations:
Grand Teton Brewing: A cool brewery with nice views, an onsite food truck and solid beers.
Guidepost Brewing: Another solid spot with a full food menu and a nice patio space.
Refuge Taphouse: A nice beer bar with 10 taps in downtown Victor.
