How Have I Never Heard of This Park Before?!
Literally just standing on the side of the road. Did you know Wyoming was this beautiful?!
Just a quick 8 hours up the road from Rocky Mountain National Park you’ll find Grand Teton National Park, and if you’re anything like I was before this trip, you’re probably thinking:
Grand Teton is the hidden gem of the national parks world, and the fact that more people don’t know about it is both a crime and a huge part of the reason it’s so awesome.
One word: MOUNTAINS.
View of the Tetons from our campsite in Bridger-Teton National Forest
The Tetons (French for “titans”) are inescapable in the best possible way. They tower over the landscape, making every view look like a screensaver, even from the national forest across the street, which brings me to my second point:
Lots of campgrounds!
Even during COVID! We were able to easily get a campsite for all three nights of our stay for about $34/night. If you want to go even cheaper, dispersed camping in Bridger-Teton National Forest across the street is FREE.
Dispersed camping was a new discovery on this trip. In most national forests, you can put up a tent anywhere that isn’t a developed campground and stay there for free. Sometimes, there will be designated dispersed camping areas where you have a tent pad and a parking space, etc. but you can also just throw up a tent anywhere you find a flat spot. Always check the specific park’s regulations, but this saved us a TON of money on this trip. We stayed at a dispersed campsite in the national forest for the first night in our car, then moved to a campground inside the park and did tent camping the rest of our stay. Staying at a developed campground did give us some nice amenities (bathrooms with flushing toilets and running water, drinking water source, bear box, closer proximity to trails, etc.), but we easily could have stayed in the national forest for free the entire time.
Our car camping set up from the first night. Christmas lights make everything better.
MUCH less crowded
Because Grand Teton is a lesser known park and is overshadowed by Yellowstone, which is only 2 hours away, there were far fewer crowds on the trails and at the visitor centers. There were still plenty of people, but it didn’t have the same frustrating, swarmed, Disney World-feel that some of the other parks gave us.
Cool history!
Some days, you’re exhausted and you just don’t feel like doing a 10 mile hike. The Mormon Row area of Grand Teton has a rich history and is the perfect place to spend a slow afternoon resting up for the next day’s hike.
T.A. Moulton Barn on Mormon Row
Phenomenal hiking trails!
Jenny Lake to Cascade Canyon
One of the reasons the park feels less crowded than others is that many of the trails are not as accessible directly from your car. Much of Grand Teton cannot be accessed unless you’re willing to do a multi-day through hike. We weren’t prepared to do that on this trip (you have to book your backcountry campsites well in advance), but Cascade Canyon is the gateway to many of these hikes and a great introduction to Grand Teton backcountry. The Jenny Lake Loop takes you around the lake and to the trailhead for Cascade Canyon and many other hikes. There is also a boat that can shuttle you across the lake to save you a couple miles. We skipped the boat on the way out and added 2.5 miles to our hike. In retrospect, I would highly recommend taking the boat. That extra 2.5 miles at the beginning meant we hit the exposed part of the canyon at the hottest part of the afternoon, so we ended up turning back before we made it to the end of the canyon and we took the boat back. In summary, don’t be a hero: take the boat.
I give it 7/10 overly-ambitious hikers.
Bradley/Taggart Lake Loop
This was our recovery day. We had hiked about 10 miles total the previous day and were anticipating another long hike on the following day, so we wanted a bit of a rest. This is a pretty easy 6 mile loop around two of the medium-sized lakes in the Tetons. This was a nice trail, but it had a lot to compete with and overall it was just a little meh.
I give it 5/10 mediocre recovery hikes.
Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes
Strap on your goggles and hang on tight to the sled because it’s all downhill from here. This was THE BEST hike I’ve ever been on. Six miles straight up, with 3,000 ft elevation gain, followed by 6 miles straight down. We did several hikes like this, where you are just climbing non-stop for the first half to get to the viewpoint, but what really set this hike apart for me were the views along the way. You hike through an area called Lupine Meadows where you are looking down along hillsides filled with wildflowers set against a mountain backdrop. After the meadows, you arrive at Surprise Lake, and theoretically there is a trail that continues on to Amphitheater Lake, although I’m not sure that we ever found it. There was still a fair bit of snow at that elevation, so we basically just followed the stream uphill from Surprise Lake until we found Amphitheater. This worked pretty well, other than having to climb over a couple of fallen trees and crossing a few snow fields. This trail felt remote, secluded, and the views were all the more worth it because we knew we had worked for it! The challenge also made us feel justified in sitting on one of the lakeside rocks for an hour like lizards.
I give this trail 9/10 audible beauty-stricken gasps.
Grand Teton National Park was an overwhelmingly pleasant surprise for us, and we are already planning our return. To see more of our adventures, check out the vlog!
