Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton is A LOT smaller than Yellowstone so two days was plenty of time to see everything in the park.

Things to See & Do

Signal Mountain Summit Road

Signal Mountain Road is about a 5-mile, 1,000 foot elevation gain road up to the top of Signal Mountain. It gives decent views of the Tetons from up above. I thought the Jackson Point Overlook gave better views than at the top of Signal Mountain.

Signal Mountain was the first thing we did that day. We arrived about 10:00am and did not see too many cars. As we were leaving about 10:30am there were significantly more cars. The road is narrow so I would recommend doing it first thing in the morning or later at night (before dark) if possible.

Colter Bay Village

Colter Bay Village looked beautiful from pictures, so we thought it would be fun to check out. We did the Colter Bay Lakeshore Trail which was an easy 2.5 mile walk along the lakeshore. It gave really great views of the Tetons and only took us about an hour. There are also some shops and restaurants at Colter Bar Village!

Schwabacher Landing

This is a scenic spot along US-191 close to the Antelope Flats. It’s a short dirt road you can drive down off of the main road. It gives beautiful unobstructed views of the Tetons.

Antelope Flats & Mormon Row

There is a group of roads off of the main road that include Antelope Flats Road, Mormon Row Road, and Gros Ventre Road. Antelope Flats Road is a great place to see pronghorns (also known as American antelopes). Mormon Row Road is a group of houses that belonged to a group of Mormon Homesteaders!

Jenny Lake

Cascade Canyon Hike

I wanted to do a bigger hike one of the two days my family and I were in Grand Teton. I decided on Cascade Canyon as it had beautiful views. The trail is 9.1 miles long with about a 1,100 elevation gain. Alltrails says it takes about 4 hours to complete.

We took the shuttle boat over which we took South Jenny Lake Junction to get there. You will probably see cars parked on the side of the road as it is a very popular spot and therefore very busy. We took the Shuttle Boat across Jenny Lake to get to the other side. The shuttle boat is $10 one way and $18 round trip and runs about every 10-15 minutes. There is an option to hike around Jenny Lake (either about 2.5 miles one way or 5 miles the other way).

Because we were doing a long hike we decided to take the shuttle. We waited for about 25 minutes going across the lake to the trailhead and almost an hour on the way back (we tried to leave around 1:30pm which is peak time).

The first mile of the trail includes Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. We followed the same trail past Inspiration Point to Cascade Canyon. We planned on doing all 9 miles but it did not seem there were any more views past the first 2.2 miles so we decided to turn back around there – making our total distance about 4.4 miles. The views were incredible.

Hidden Falls & Inspiration Point

Both spots are on the Cascade Canyon Trail so we got to see them on our way up. Hidden Falls is 0.5 miles up and Inspiration Point is another 0.5 miles from Hidden Falls. The trail is very steep and exposed in parts (so if you’re super afraid of heights I would keep that in mind!) – the views are so worth it if you decide to make the trek!

Jackson, Wyoming

Jackson is an old Western town right outside of Grand Teton. I really enjoyed spending some time walking around! Overall, it has something for everyone including shops, ice cream & candy stores, and restaurants. I would highly recommend taking even a night to walk around and explore!

Sidewinders

Sidewinders was actually on Diners, Driver Ins, and Dives for their chicken pot pie and french onion dip. I got the chicken pot pie which was absolutely delicious – we went there a second night and I got it again! They had a great beer list and a diverse food menu!

Roadhouse Brewing Company

One of the reasons we chose to eat at Roadhouse Brewing was because it had such a great beer list. Even on a Tuesday it was very busy (we thankfully made reservations two days in advance – which I would recommend doing).

Shopping

We stopped at many different souvenir shops to look for shirts, stickers, and other souvenirs. Some shops that had the best options include Lee’s Tees, Shirt Off My Back, and Jackson Mercantile.

White Water Rafting/Floating Down the River

One thing we wanted to do but did not get do was white water rafting or floating down the river. There were plenty of different companies around Jackson for either.

My Tips

• Similar to Yellowstone, bring a cooler with waters, snacks, and lunch! Also, bring bear spray. We didn’t see any bears, but we saw a lot of bear droppings.
• There was much less traffic in Grand Teton because it was much smaller! Aside from Jenny Lake, I did not feel like any place was too crowded!
• There was a little more service in Grand Teton but very spotty and not reliable!