GRAND TETONS
I would definitely recommend more than 2 days for the Tetons unless you just want to drive around the park itself and take photos from the view points.
You can see the moose in the Gros Ventre campground in the morning and we spotted a great horned owl sitting in a tree. Moose also hang around in the river so you can spot them from the road too. Usually later in the day. Further along is the town of Kelly and a bit further is Kelly Warm Springs where we have also seen moose. Not safe for swimming.
From Kelly you can drive on to Antelope Flats and Mormon Row, there is parking there and this is the most photographed barn in the US.
Also from Kelly you can drive up the Gros Ventre Road – on the way you can visit the film set of Shane on the left and then drive up to see the Gros Ventre Slide. This road goes quite a long way and is a beautiful drive. It can be a bit rough in places but the scenery is very different from the Tetons with red cliffs etc and a few lakes. We saw a rare black marmot up there one year. There are a few lakes and you can get close to the river if you fancy fishing.
Moose is a village on the way to Jenny Lake. Lovely views here and a couple of shops, one a wine shop with expensive wine! We booked our Barker Ewing Float Trip in the gift shop there. There is also a grocery. Not cheap though. The float we did was the sunset one and it was really nice. Lots of folks were out fishing in boats during the day. Pasta and Pizza is a nice place to have food and a beer and if you can sit at the bar you get a great view of the mountains. I would avoid the Chuckwagon, it smells nice but the food is not very good at all. Or wasn’t when we last ate there.
Drive on to Jenny Lake and do the ferry out to the Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point/Cascade Canyon trails. You should go into the visitor centre there for information and a route map. We walked up Cascade Canyon but not all the way, Nice waterfalls and the walk up Cascade Canyon was lovely. This is where we saw a black bear. I wish we had had food as we would have walked further than we did. You need to go back to the starting point for the ferry. There is a trail back to the ferry point if you wanted to do that, we didn’t though.
String Lake is a nice shallow lake with great views and swimming opportunities. We took our canoe from here up to Leigh Lake. There is a hike you can do here. Leigh Lake was amazing and we saw a black bear up there when in the canoe.
Blacktail Ponds Overlook is good for wildlife and you can fish close by. Park up and walk over to the fencing less than a minute’s walk. Stand there and look out for moose. There was a mother and calf below us, we managed to spot them once but they were in the willows munching. From there look across and you will probably see more. You may need to hang around for half an hour or so. We also saw deer there too. You can walk down to the river but we didn’t. Lots of fishermen were going from here. You also see eagles and osprey flying around.
Moose and black bears also hang out along the Moose-Wilson road but it may be closed due to Grizzly activity. Parking is often restricted here too so not easy to get photos or stop to view the wildlife. There is parking at Sawmill ponds where you can frequently see moose.
Further up the road is Schwabacher’s Landing. We drove down and parked and walked along for a mile or so. Big beaver dam and lodge although we didn’t see any I believe they are there. Also saw a lot of Cedar Waxwings in a spot close to the parking lot in the trees near beaver lodge.
Laurance Rockefeller Preserve – this is really nice and there are a few lovely little hikes around here. Visitor Centre is a bit unusual and worth a look if you go there. The car park area is really pretty with lots of flowers, butterflies and birds. Hike from.here fo.Phelps Lake is nice.
You can go to Moran and to the Jackson Lake Lodge. It is a nice place to stop. Food OK but the outlook is nice. They have a small starbucks place inside and nice shop. Look out into Willow Flats from up there as you can sometimes see Moose. We saw a huge herd of elk at Willow flats close to the road opposite Jackson Dam parking area.
Also on that road is Colter Bay Village, a place you can stay in 2 different campgrounds or in the cabins which we did first visit. There is a great walk from there called out to Hermitage Point. It was fairly easy and around 9 -10 miles. There are a couple of small lakes you can go see. Again you need to be bear aware around here. It was pretty busy here. Ice cream available in the grocery store.
Signal Mountain is close to here, there is a marina where you an rent a small boat if you were confident in doing that for a few hours. There is a drive to the top of the mountain that is well worth it as you get good views (or did last time we went). Sometimes there are Grizzlies and Black Bears around Colter and Signal Mountain although we did not see any.
Jackson Lake Dam, lots of people fish here and you can watch for eagles and osprey.
There is a cable car up the mountain that you can go on from Teton Village, not cheap but great views and you can hike back down. It’s around 12 miles.
There are several other trails to do if you are keen. A few of them leave from the Lupine Meadows area and several of these are long ones.
Going towards town is the Elk Refuge which you can drive through and up towards Jackson Peak, we have not gone all the way but did a drive up to check out the campsite there. You cant get all the way to the top unless you walk the last bit.
Jackson itself is a nice town and I would definitely recommend moseying around it. Parking is limited but there is a car park close to the centre, not for RVs though. Town Centre is the area most people go to to see the antlers that are displayed there.
Great photo gallery there called Mangelsen, his photos are stunning and worth a visit.
There is a wildlife museum on the outskirts of town near the Elk Refuge, is a great gallery.
Granite Hot Springs outside Jackson is nice and the drive out is lovely. Granite Creek Road is off the US191. You can swim in the pool there and it is a few dollars I think.
Union Pass Road near Dubois is a lovely drive up into the mountains and once you get to the top you don’t need to go too far to get into some lovely meadows. Great photo ops there.
MacDougall Gap drive through the Wyoming Range is really nice too there were lots of Wildflowers up there and there is a road along the Gray River that we didn’t do but it looked nice too.
Alpine is a nice town with a good brewery called the Melvin Brewery, it is not open Monday/Tuesday but has great IPAs and a lovely view of a lake and you can often see raptors from there.
Eating Out in Jackson
Jackson – we had tapas at Bin 22 which were good, maybe a wee bit overpriced but we liked it. We were told to go to the Cowboy Bar as you sit on saddles but we didn’t manage to go and some of the Trip Advisor reviews may have put me off.
We tend to shop in Smiths or Albertsons in town, although Jackson Whole Foods has some nice stuff but it is pricey. If you are planning on buying from any grocery then get a loyalty card (or the app). Safeway, Albertsons and Vons are currently all the same so the one card works in all 3. Smiths, Fred Meyer, Kroger, City Market are all affiliated too. You will get the in store Customer savings which can be a reasonable amount.
The Virginian hotel has a great cafe. Ruben sandwich is the best ever.
Picas Mexican also good.
If you like beer (particularly IPA) there are 3 breweries in /around Jackson – Snake River Brewing has great beer and some nice food, we had soup and cheesecake.
I would highly recommend the Roadhouse Brewery in Jackson. Also the Melvin Brewery in Alpine is really great, although someone needs to drive! Great location as it sits right by a lake – you can do a loop drive from Jackson up into Victor Idaho (there is another brewery there) and then down the 31 on to the 26 to Palisades which is lovely and then on to Alpine then back to Jackson.
Lots of restaurants at varying prices.
Check online for the opening times as some of them are not open every day.
Dubois
Military museum - tickets valid for 2 days
National Bighorn Sheep Center
Ring Lake petroglyphs
Louise Lake hike
Lander
Sinks Canyon – river disappears into limestone cave then reappears down the road where there are loads of trout. Interesting wee trip.
Johnny Behind the Rocks hikes
Drive red Canyon.
Popo-Agie falls hike.
An alternative route is to go through Pinedale to see the Wind River mountains.
So much info, really appreciate it, and sure we’ll fit in some of your suggestions. Thank you
