We have three family-friendly recommendations for Wyoming’s Grand Tetons:
- Take the Jenny Lake boat ride and hike to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point
- Bicycle from the Jenny Lake parking lot south towards the town of Moose and back
- Boondock in the Bridger-Teton National Forrest on the east side of the valley for great views of the Tetons
ENTER THE PARK THROUGH THE JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER PARKWAY
Grand Teton National Park is just to the south of Yellowstone. In between the two national parks is the John D. Rockefeller Parkway – a designated national forest area which honors Rockefeller’s role (not particularly popular with the locals at the time) of secretly buying up and donating ranch properties in order to help the US develop a contiguous stretch of protected lands in the region. Doug and found several designated boondocking sites along an unpaved road that runs to the west into the Parkway from Flagg Ranch. We began our search for a camping spot along this fairly rugged road in the late afternoon after our long day in Yellowstone. After finding site after site already occupied and nearing the end of the road (in more ways than one! we conceded defeat and triggered our plan-B to gamble on an official campground called Jackson Lake Colter Bay Campground. Fortunately, the campgrounds in the Teton National Park are primarily first-come-first served and we were able to luck into one of the few remaining available spots that evening. The RV’s here are lined up in the campground like dominos just waiting for a push (a scene we don’t particularly care for) but a short walk puts you on the east shore of Jackson Lake, which made it all worthwhile. The many spires of the Teton range, like fingers, reach across the lake inviting you in.
We got up early to beat the crowd dumping tanks and filling up with fresh water and to make sure we could get a parking spot at Jenny Lake. Back on the Parkway, the ribbon of road winds through beautiful country but what you’ll love most is the moment you round the southern corner of the lake and the Tetons rocket into view! Jenny Lake is just a few miles ahead.
FERRY AND HIKE JENNY LAKE
Jenny Lake is very close to its parking lot (which fills up quickly) and paved paths to lake views are possible, but the best way to enjoy Jenny Lake is by hiking in the area, particularly the path to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.
Jenny Lake was named after a Shoshone Indian named Jenny Leigh who acted as a guide to the 1872 Hayden Survey. Reader boards at the lake provide more information about her, but what I remember was that in addition to being an expert guide, she was also a mother to 6 children! That kind of overachiever deserves the legacy of a lake, #girlboss! But I digress…
From the visitor center there’s a trail that goes all the way around the lake (7.3 miles) but for a small fee there’s also a ferry that will take you across the lake to a dock at the northwest end of the it. These options allow you to design either a longer or shorter hike, depending on your team.
As an example, we hiked from the visitor center (point A on the map below) around the south end of the lake, then to Hidden Falls (point B) and then up to Inspiration Point (point C). The hike around the south end of the lake is easy. The hike up to Inspiration Point is moderate hike with some climbing to reach the reach the plateau overlooking Jenny Lake. There are points along the trail that are narrow and rocky as it winds along the side of this hill. Wear good hiking shoes/boots as this could be a challenge, particularly if it’s wet. Inspiration Point is a popular place to have lunch or a snack, taking in the view and fighting off food-crazed squirrels who, unfortunately, have probably been fed frequently as they are not the least bit afraid of giant humans.
Beyond Inspiration Point, the trail continues into Cascade Canyon (point D). We only hiked about 0.5 miles into the canyon before turning back. What we hiked was flat and wide with great mount peak and valley views. There are warnings at the visitor center that bears frequent this area so make some noise, watch, and carry bear spray.
More ambitious hikers or backpackers can continue another 14 miles more than we did along the bottom of Cascade Canyon for what I hear are dramatic views of the cliffs of the Tetons towering above all the way to Lake Solitude (point E).
Rather than completing the hike around the entire lake by hiking north to the top of Jenny Lake (point G) and back to the visitor center, we caught the ferry (point F) and rode back to the visitor center / parking lot so that we could fit in a bicycle ride in the afternoon. The ferry ride from the northwest dock (point F) back towards the visitor center/parking lot (point A) costs $10 and takes less than 15 minutes one way.
BICYCLE FROM JENNY LAKE TO MOOSE
There’s a paved bike path from the Jenny Lake parking lot that runs about 15 miles all the way to the town of Jackson Hole at the south end of the Teton valley. The path is two-way, wide, and flat for the majority of the ride. We decided to explore the first 6 miles to a point just before it takes a fairly steep downhill plunge down to the town of Moose. It weaves through grasslands dotted with pines (essentially following the highway but far enough from the road to make it a very peaceful ride) and jaw-dropping views of the razor sharp and dominating Tetons. This slower-than-car pace is the best way to absorb the range and all its majesty!
BOONDOCK / CAMP NEAR JENNY LAKE
After our epic day of hiking and biking it was time to find our next camping spot for the evening. Along the eastern edge of the Teton valley and the National Park boundary and about 15 miles directly east of Jenny Lake, there is a very popular dispersed camping area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The location is situated in foothills with several bluffs that look back across the valley towards the Tetons. The road getting to these spots can be rough and muddy and was right at the limit of our trusty RV’s capabilities. There were designated camping areas along the road, many of which already had several RVs parked for the night. We pushed on along the obstacle course road and after some coaching from the forest service camp hosts and a bit of debate (between ourselves) about going further, we finally found a good spot with just one neighbor and amazing views of the Tetons a short walk from camp (which Doug and Bailey enjoyed exploring the next day).
PUSH EAST & SOUTH
If we’d had more time, we would have gone to Jackson Hole for at least the day. There’s so much to do in the area and we merely scratched the surface, but it was time to move on so we headed east and south on Hwy 287 through and along the beautiful mountains of the Wind River Range. Passing through Dubois we saw a huge heard of pronghorn as we continued on to a spontaneous side trip at a marker in the town of Fort Washakie that pointed to the cemetery where Sacajawea, Indian guide to Lewis and Clark, is buried. This mostly Native American graveyard in a fairly desolate location in the windy grassland foothills of the Wind River Range featured gravestones alive with color and personal effects which seemed to celebrate lives well lived rather than just resting places for those lost. I liked that a lot.
Our final destination after traveling diagonally across most of Wyoming was a boondocking spot in the hills of the Medicine Bow National Forest. After braving yet another stretch of muddy road that climbed into mountains still covered with snow from a recent storm, we found a spot with a great view of the valley below. It was cold, windy and soon pitch black, near not another living soul which allowed the Milkyway to take center stage in the second most spectacular night sky display I’ve ever seen. (The first was camping at the Columbia airport in the Sierra foothills of California under a meteor shower that we didn’t know was at it’s peak that night…such luck!). From our Medicine Bow camp site, it wasn’t just that we could see the band of light that makes up the Milkyway, it was that this huge swath of light had incredible depth with dark pockets floating within the other brilliantly white and dense streamers of stars overhead. Impossible to photograph, but absolutely gorgeous!
As I’d noted in prior posts (Devil’s Tower, Cody, Big Horn Lake, and Yellowstone linked here), Wyoming was full of wonder and surprise so it seemed fitting that our last night in the state should end in such a brilliant display.
