Overview

Jutting 7,000 feet from sagebrush plains, the Teton Mountains are among the youngest in the Rocky Mountain range. The southern part of the park boasts the tallest of the Tetons, the Grand Teton, as its anchor while the northern reaches of the park are Dominated by the imposing Mount Moran, named for the artist Thomas Moran who was instrumental in popularizing the West’s scenery in the 19th century.

There are 10 named glaciers (and one un-named one) in the park along with a number of snowfields. Some of these glaciers may have already stopped moving and are technically now “remnant glaciers” and therefore not active. They may completely disappear over the next few decades as our climate warms.

Grand Teton also has abundant wildlife in the park including bison, elk, moose, pronghorn antelope and mule deer. Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles can be found along the Snake River and Lake Jackson and Grizzly and black bears frequent the park’s forests. There are also a half-dozen wolf packs with home ranges in Grand Teton with a total of over 40 wolves.

Jackson Lake is the largest lake in the park, over 15 miles long and 400 feet deep and offers a wide variety of ways to enjoy it. You can paddle your canoe or kayak among its islands, take a scenic cruise or hike the shore from Colter Bay to breathtaking views of Mount Moran across the lake. You can also camp by the lake at Signal Mountain or Lizard Creek Campgrounds. Boat rentals are available at both Colter Bay and Signal Mountain, which has a dining room overlooking the lake.

The Basics

Getting There

The park is accessed by heading south from Yellowstone National Park via U.S. highway 89/191/287, which goes through the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway. DuBois, Wyoming is the gateway city to the park from the east via U.S. 26/287 and Jackson, Wyoming lies to the south. U.S. 26/89/191 leads from Jackson to the park. Jackson is the closest city to the park and offers a full range of services including restaurants, grocery stores and shopping. DuBois, while not as large as Jackson does have a full range of services as well. The nearest city to the north of Grand Teton is West Yellowstone and as the largest gateway to Yellowstone it has everything you should need as well.
The park is bordered by Caribou-Targhee National Forest on the west side and Bridger-Teton National Forest to the east, both of which offer camping and hiking opportunities.

Camping in Grand Teton

Grand Teton has six campgrounds within the park plus one in the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway. They range in size from as few as 60 campsites to a couple with over 300 sites. All have water and at least vault toilets. Many have restrooms with flush toilets, and several have shower facilities. Several have sites with water, electric or sewer hookups. All are reservation only and available at www.recreation.gov.