Visiting Grand Teton National Park? READ and WATCH This!

When:  Friday, June 11 and Saturday, June 12, 2021
Where: Grand Teton National Park

There are tons of blogs/vlogs out there about visiting Grand Teton National Park.  In this blog and video, we’ll add our thoughts to the mix. While you will definitely want to read this if you are first-time visitors to the park, we hope this provides some reminders to repeat visitors as well!

Tip #1: RVers Should Consider Staying In Idaho On the West Side of the Mountains.

To get to Grand Teton National Park, many visitors will need to traverse Teton Pass. As we explained in another blog and video, we were not comfortable driving our RV through the pass given the switchbacks and steep grade. We found the options in the west side of the mountains in Idaho to be a great alternative. The cost per night was competitive to what we would have paid for full hook-ups in the park it self. Plus, there are several cool breweries located in Teton Valley.

Tip #2: You Can See Most of the Park in 1-2 Days.

We were at the national park for two days, and we felt like that was sufficient time to see nearly all of the park’s major features. In fact, we easily drove the 42-mile loop around the park in just a half-day with multiple stops at the pull-outs.   Thus, visitors on a time crunch can easily make Grand Teton National Park a part of their journey.

Great views of the mountains are located throughout park, which is perhaps why it is so special. Simply put, there really are not bad views there. My favorite stops on our driving tour included:

• Moulton Barn/ Mormon Row in the early morning. We just had to get a photo of that famous barn!

• Drive up to Signal Mountain. This is an easy way to see some of the park from a higher vantage point.

• Oxbow bend. This is a great place for wildlife spotting, even if it might just be waterfowl.

• Snake River Overlook. Remarkably, the views here are pretty much like Ansel Adams saw it in his famous 1942 photograph.

• Schwabacher Landing. This was just a peaceful area to walk along the shoreline of the Snake River.

Tip #3: Plan a Couple of Excursions.

After driving Teton Park Road (the loop), that left another 1.5 days to explore the park in more detail. We did our research ahead of time to figure out what we wanted do to fill up that time.  

Grand Teton National Park - Bradley Lake Trail

Our first excursion was to hike the Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake Trails.   Depending your exact route, that will be about 5-6 miles and will fill up around 3 hours.   The Bradley Lake Trail was my favorite because we only saw a few people, and the views of the mountains and lake were phenomenal.  Yellow flowers blanketed the hillsides, and I had to stop on multiple occasions to literally smell the flowers. 

For our second big outing, we opted to bike along the multi-use pathway that runs parallel to the Teton Park Road for about 8 miles between the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center to the Jenny Lake Visitor’s Center.   There are lots of biking options in the area, but that one seemed to give us an “up close” view of the Tetons that others would not.  Folks without e-bikes will have to work a little as the ride includes about 446 feet of elevation gain.

Hidden Falls at Grand Teton National Park

Our final adventure involved taking a boat ride ($18/person) across Jenny Lake to hike to Hidden Falls and then to Inspiration Point along a 1.6 mile trail.  While I’m glad I can check this off my “need to do” list, I wouldn’t do it again.  Yes, the waterfall is pretty.   Yes, the view of Jenny Lake after making 400+ foot clime is nice.   BUT…we were literally with a boatload of people the entire time, and at least for me, that is a big distraction.   There are plenty of vistas and outlooks to see the beauty of the Tetons without having to deal with so many other tourists.  Thus, my advice would be to find another hike (maybe Lakeshore Trail?) and skip Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.  

If you are planning a visit, I’d encourage you to watch our video.  You’ll get a much better feel for what you will want to do when you visit. 

Tip #4: Look for Traffic Jams!

We quickly learned that a traffic jam is actually a good thing. That is because that usually means a good wildlife encounter is causing the traffic jam.   Not every traffic jam will lead to a bear, buffalo, or moose encounter, but there is an upside to slowed traffic. Just be patient, and make sure a non-driver has his/her camera ready!

Tip #5: Pack a Lunch and Bring Snacks.

There are just a handful of food options inside the park, but in our experience, all of them were just too darn busy. Perhaps we made the mistake of thinking we could actually eat during lunchtime or suppertime without waiting an hour. Therefore, our advice is to pack a lunch (or at least some snacks to tide you over) before heading out for the day.

As far as eating options go, the best ones are probably:

• Dornan’s near the Moose Entrance. Here, visitors will find the Pizza & Pasta Co and the Chuckwagon Grill. There is also a deli open for lunch.

• Jackson Lake Lodge. The Pioneer Grill and Blue Heron Lounge are options for food and cocktails, respectively. They have some interesting huckleberry concoctions on the menu. The Jackson Lake Lodge is worth a stop even if you are not hungry because of its massive windows and views of the mountains. We decided to enjoy a couple of local beers, and felt lucky to find an outdoor table given the crowds.

• Leek’s Marina and Pizzeria is located a few minutes up the road from Colter Bay and sits right on Jackson Lake. As of June 2021, the restaurant did not serve alcohol. We didn’t go there. No beer? No broads.

Tip #6: Download the National Parks App and Grand Tetons National Park Map.

Internet is spotty in the park.  While paper maps are available at the park entrances, you will want to be sure and download the National Parks Service (“NPS”) Mobile app for Grand Teton National Park so that is is available off-line.   The digital map is A LOT more detailed than the paper map, and is filled with all sorts of other interesting information, like amenities, park news, and hiking trails. The self-guided tours for the Menors Ferry area in particular provide some great context for the buildings located there.

Here’s a link to the apps on the NPS website.

Tip #7: Purchase a National Parks Pass.

A seven-day pass for Grand Teton National Park is $35. Likewise, for folks visiting Yellowstone, the weekly fee is $35/week. Thus, most people will find that America the Beautiful Parks Pass for $80 is a more cost effective option because most people visit both parks when in the area. The pass covers entrance fees at national parks and national wildlife refuges as well as standard amenity fees (day use fees) at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Discounts are available for seniors and military/veterans are free!

Is Grand Teton National Park worth visiting? Heck yes. I even wrote a song about it:

Visiting Grand Teton National Park? Consider Staying at the Teton Valley Resort in Victor Idaho

When:  Thursday, June 10 to Monday June 14, 2021 (four nights)
Cost:   $75/night plus tax ($333.00 total).  We booked 9 months in advance, and our campsite neighbors who booked a few weeks before their stay paid twice that.
Where:  Teton Valley Resort
Beer: Grand Teton Brewing

Visiting Grand Teton National Park is a “bucket list” given.  What wasn’t a given involved figuring out where to stay.   There are options in Jackson Hole, Wilson, Teton Village, and of course, the numerous options in the park itself.   We opted to stay at none of those for one main reason: 

WE DID NOT WANT TO DRIVE THE RV THROUGH TETON PASS. 

Horsing around in Victor, Idaho

Because we were coming from Salt Lake City, our planned route to the national park meant we would have to traverse The Pass – which comprises about 11 miles between the Idaho State Line and Wilson, Wyoming.   Also known as Highway 22, the road contains one lane in each direction and is filled with numerous switchbacks and grades up to 10 percent.  The road is so bad that trailers are not permitted between November 15 and April 1.   There are also several runaway truck “arrestor” or “Catchnet” systems to literally catch out-of-control vehicles with a series of cables and canisters.  That was enough for me (Lana) to veto any thought of driving the RV through The Pass.  Kudos to you if you are braver than I am, and have made it through The Pass in your RV.   

Luckily, there are a few RV options west of the mountains located in Teton Valley.   We elected to stay at the Teton Valley Resort  located in Victor, Idaho.  We liked it so much that we thought we would dedicate a short video to the campground.  At the time of our stay, there were only 33 RV sites, but it looked like the resort was undergoing significant construction so there may be more on the horizon. The campground contains a number of very cute cabins with updated modern finishes, and they are building more of those as well.    

We booked our reservations well in advance, and got a bargain at $75/night. Our neighbors at the campground booked just the week before and paid close to double that. While the cost will vary, staying there is competitive and likely better than what folks will pay in Jackson Hole. As of this blog, the NPS’s rates at Colter Bay are $94 for a back-in site.

Breweries near Grand Teton National Park

Staying in Victor also meant that we would be able to explore the beer scene on the west side of the mountains as well.  We spent a whopping $120+ at Grand Teton Brewing so that probably tells you it was our favorite brewery in the area.  The brewery was founded in 1988 in Wilson on the other side of The Pass by Charlie and Ernie Otto as the Otto Brothers’ Brewing Company. That was Wyoming’s first modern “micro” brewery.  The brothers claim to have brought the idea of “growlers” to breweries, and also take credit for changing the Wyoming laws to permit breweries to have retail locations.   In the late 1990s, the brewery moved to the Idaho location, and the name change to “Grand Teton Brewing” occurred in 2000.  We bought some of the Mountain Berry Wheat, Parks IPA, and Old Faithful Ale from their national parks series.   

Grand Teton Brewing — Great Beer!

Wildlife Brewing is also located in Victor.  I tried the 4 O'clock Session IPA while Kasie had the Go Big! Golden Ale.   But Grand Teton Brewing was by far our favorite.

Driving north about 10 miles to Driggs, Idaho, we had a phenomenal dinner at Citizen 33 Brewery.  We enjoyed the amber braised pork lettuce cups with cucumber kimchi and sweet chili soy.  That sweet and salty mixture of flavors was some of best we tasted on our entire trip!   We sipped on the Idaho ObSESSION IPA and the Purple Draaank lager.  Good beer names.  Good beer too.

In sum, the west side of the Tetons has a lot to offer.  There’s a good mix of locals and tourists, and plenty of stuff to do.  Depending on traffic conditions, the national park entrance is just an hour or so away.  I hear the drive to the park on the Pass is beautiful too…I just wished I would have had my eyes open too see it 😊.