Introduction

Grand Teton National Park is an absolutely gorgeous national park located in Wyoming, USA. It’s known for it’s long range of rocky mountains called ‘Teton Range‘. The park is named after the tallest mountain peak ‘Grand Teton’ which has an elevation of around 13775 feet. Other mountain peaks that come under this range are Mount Owen, Middle Teton, South Teton, Mount Moran, Thor Peak and few others. Apart from scenic mountain range, it has a myriad of beautiful lakes, rivers, valleys and wildlife.

It is a popular tourist destination offering various forms of recreation like sight-seeing, mountaineering, hiking, fishing, etc. Grand Teton National Park is open throughout the year. All roads and services are open during summer but operating hours may vary or be seasonally closed during the winters. There are a few visitor centers located within the park namely Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center, Jenny Lake Visitor Center, and Colter Bay Visitor Center if one is interested in information, souvenirs and other gift shopping.

Entrances and Pass Fees

There are 4 entrances to the park from where one can enter.

• South Entrance from North of Jackson, Wyoming
• Southwest or Granite Canyon Entrance from Teton Village at Jackson Hole
• East Entrance at Moran Junction
• Lastly, one from south of Yellowstone National Park and can be treated as North Entrance of Grand Teton.

We visited ‘Grand Teton National Park’ along with Yellowstone National Park in October 2016. It was start of the fall/autumn season when we visited and the view was mesmerizing. Undoubtedly, it was one of our best road trips ever. The beauty of park is said to be unique and different each season.

We entered the Grand Teton National Park from South of Yellowstone National Park and when doing so, we did not had to buy a separate pass or pay entrance fee to the former. We purchased the pass with 7 day permit at the East Entrance of Yellowstone and the same pass was used as we entered the Grand Teton National Park from within the former.

For more details on fees and passes, visit NPS site.

Where To Stay

Jackson and Teton Village are the two nearby places that offer several options for accommodation near to the park. During our tour, we stayed at The Inn at Jackson Hole, WY (Now probably known as Continuum). The village was very quite and peaceful, and was near to the Granite Canyon entrance. The hotel room was good and so was the service. There are also several good hotels and resorts in the Teton Village. The village also has dining options. There is a Thai restaurant named “Teton Thai” and food was good.

Jackson is a small town in the Jackson Hole valley and has equally to offer to that of Teton Village. The place also has several good hotels and resorts in addition to various food options.

The Scenic Loop

We had only a day in our itinerary to cover Grand Teton National Park and also had a long drive to Green River, Utah that evening. The best way to cover the park within such a short time is driving along the 45 mile loop that offers several scenic turnouts, mountain range overlooks, lakes, etc.

The scenic loop starts from Moose Junction -> Jenny Lake -> Jackson Lake or Coulter Bay Village -> Moran Junction -> Moose Junction.

Most of the important attractions, turn outs and overlooks are all located along this loop. Also the trail-head to several beautiful hiking trails are located along this.

Our 1-Day at Grand Teton NP

In this post, we will tell you about our experience on how we covered Grand Teton National Park in One Day!

Our hotel was located at the heart of the Teton Village from where one could see some beautiful mountain views. We took a few pictures around before checking out from hotel.

Moose-Wilson and Craig Thomas Visitor Center

As we were staying in Teton Village, we entered the park from the Granite Canyon entrance and drove on the Moose-Wilson Road towards Moose Junction. This is one of the scenic drives in the park and connects the towns of Moose and Wilson. The road moves along the forest, follows the mountain range till Moose Junction and is a home for various wildlife. The road is also narrow and sometimes can have traffic depending on the crowd. During our visit, there was some traffic and we also got to see a Moose by the side of the road.

We stopped by the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor center, checked out for information and bought a souvenir as we always do as a mark of visit. We also got to see a beautiful view of the Teton mountains from the parking area of the visitor center.

Scenic Teton Park Road

From visitor center, we took Teton Park Road towards Jenny Lake. This is another scenic drive that follows the Teton Range from Moose Junction to Jackson Lake Junction. Right as you start your drive on this road, you will get to enjoy the amazing view of the mountains. We would say that the most scenic turnouts and overlooks such as Taggart Lake Trailhead, Jenny Lake, String Lake, Leigh Lake trails are all located along this road that one cannot miss. No matter where you head on Teton Park Road, you will feel as if the Teton Range is following you.

Along this scenic drive, our first stop was at Windy Point Turnout that displayed the beautiful range of rocky mountains and aspen trees.

Taggart Lake and Trail

Taggart Lake was our next stop and a beautiful attraction one cannot miss. The lake is at a distance of 1.5 miles one way from the trail-head (a total of 3 miles round trip). From what we researched it was worth visiting. Since we had not planned for any long trails, we were falling short of time. We still decided to give it a go so we kind of literally ran and completed the trail in 50 mins!!

As you move along the trail, you first go through an unpaved way followed by some woods and rocks. There is a small narrow bridge that crosses the Taggart creek. The view of creek was so beautiful with mountain peaks in the backdrop.

After around 0.3 miles, as you move further, the next 1 to 1.2 miles are absolutely stunning as you move towards the mountain range and get to view the beauty of it all along the trail right ahead of you. After around 1 mile hike from Trailhead, the trail splits into Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake trails. Bradley Lake trail is on the right and around 1 mile from this split. Stay on the left to continue on Taggart Lake trail and walk another 0.5 miles. Once you reach the destination, you will realize that the hike was all worth it.

The view was absolutely magnificent, heavenly and worth taking the 3 mile hike. Since water at the lake was still, we could capture perfect and gorgeous reflection of the Grand Teton Mountain Range and Aspen woods. Here are some of the pictures to tempt whoever is reading.

Bradley Lake

Bradley Lake can also be reached from Taggart Lake and is around 1.5 miles along the shore of the lake. Due to time constraint, we had to skip the same. But if one has time, we would suggest doing this trail too and we bet that the view will be equally beautiful as that of Taggart Lake.

Cascade Canyon Turnout

As you move along the Teton Park Road, you will come across couple of more scenic turnouts namely Teton Glacier Turnout and Cascade Canyon Turnout. Before reaching the Cascade Canyon turnout, there is South Jenny Lake Junction. One can access the Jenny Lake visitor center and Jenny Lake Trailhead from this Junction. Jenny Lake trail can also be used to hike to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls if interested.

Jenny Lake Overlook is accessible from North Jenny Lake Junction. Before this junction, we stopped by Cascade Canyon turnout for a beautiful view of the Cascade Canyon and mountains. The Cascade Canyon is located between Grand Teton and Mount Owen on one side and Mount St. John on the other side.

We then took a left turn from Teton Park Road onto Jenny Lake Road from North Jenny Lake Junction. The Jenny Lake Road is another scenic drive which provides spectacular view of the Jenny lake and the mountain peaks in the background. The road can also be used to access String Lake, and trails to Inspiration point and Leigh Lake.

String Lake and Jenny Lake

On Jenny Lake Road, we first stopped by the String Lake and took some pictures. The view was as usual beautiful reflecting part of the mountain peaks. We did not take the trail to the main lake or Leigh Lake from here. Leigh Lake is around 2.6 miles from String Lake Trailhead.

We then moved towards the south of Jenny Lake Road to enjoy the beautiful view of the Jenny Lake and mountains around it. Mountain view from Jenny Lake Overlook is similar to the view from Cascade Canyon Turnout except that the former provides much closer display mountains peaks along with beautiful lake view. This is because the Jenny lake is located at the foot of the Cascade Canyon. As the sky was clear, the lake appeared blue with reflection of mountains.

Coulter Bay Marina and Jackson Lake

Our next stop was at Jackson Lake Dam which comes on the way to Jackson Lake. We took a break here for some time.

We then crossed the Dam and took a left from Teton Park Road onto John D Rockefeller Jr. Parkway towards the Colter Bay Village. On the way, we stopped by the Willow Flats Overlook turnout for a beautiful view of Teton Range, far view of Jackson Lake and wildlife.

The Colter Bay Visitor Center was closed for the season but view of the Jackson Lake from Coulter Bay Marina behind the visitor center was mesmerizing. You can see the Mount Moran and Grand Teton peaks in the background.

Our final destination in the north of the park was Jackson Lake Overlook. The water level was bit less when we visited. One could see a beach of small stones at one bank of the lake and mountain range on the other. We took pictures and returned back to Jackson Lake Junction.

Oxbow Bend and Snake River

Next en-route Moran Junction, we stopped at the Oxbow Bend Turnout. No doubt this is one of the most photographed spot in the entire park. The view of Snake River with reflection of Mount Moran was spectacular. The lake was surrounded by small plants displaying fall foliage colors adding further beauty to the view.

We took the highway 89 to Jackson Hole from Moran Junction. The turnouts and overlooks of highway 89 is a must do. The turnouts provide far distance and different view of the Teton Range.

Our next stop was Snake River Overlook. As the name suggests, the river has a serpentine look. Probably looks more better with an ariel view.

Next we pulled over at Teton Point Turnout. The alluring view of the Teton Mountains can be seen from here. Glacier View Turnout is over a small distance. The turnouts on highway 89 are located far from the mountains to give a clear picture of how tall they stand. Every turnout is unique and different. So if one has sufficient time, would recommend to stop by each turnout /overlook.

Our final stop of the park was at the south entrance of park before we took exit from Jackson side.

Check out our post on an adventurous road trip here ->2500+ miles 8 day itinerary to various National Parks and Attractions in CO-SD-WY-UT states

Hope you have great time in Grand Teton!!

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