Grand Teton National Park & John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway

Players:  Jenny & Jake
Date of Visit:  A few times during Summer 2005, but camped overnight in July

Website:  www.nps.gov/grte
Location:  Wyoming
Entrance Fee:  $25 per car, good for both Yellowstone & Grand Teton for 7 days
Type of Trip:  Overnight trip from Yellowstone
Park Passport Stamps Available:  4 for Grand Teton, plus 1 for the Rockefeller Memorial Parkway

Trip Report: During the summer of 2005, when I was living and working in Yellowstone, we made several trips down to the Tetons and Jackson, Wyoming.  To me, the Tetons epitomize what mountains should be...rising nearly 7000 feet from the Valley below, with a sparkling blue lake at their base.  It's hard to look at those craggy mountain tops without wanting to hike right up the side :)  Like it's neighbor to the north (Yellowstone), Grand Teton offers plenty of hiking, camping, fishing, wildlife watching, and so on.  It is also one of the premier climbing destinations in the Rockies.  Due to its slightly lower elevation, many of the trails and visitor facilities on the valley floor are accessible a little earlier in the spring than some of the places in Yellowstone.  Trails at higher elevations, however, may not be snow-free until mid-July.  Grand Teton is also a much smaller park than Yellowstone, allowing you to get a really good feel for the park in just a few days.

Tetons & Lake Jackson

Leaving Yellowstone from the South Entrance, you first come to the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.  This 8 mile stretch of highway commemorates the generosity of Rockefeller, who helped to shape not only Grand Teton National Park, but also Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Acadia National Park.  Grand Teton National Park administers the Parkway.  The Flagg Ranch section of the park is just off this road.


We did three main things in Grand Teton:  canoeing on Jackson Lake from the Signal Mountain Lodge area, driving up Signal Mountain to the overlook, and hiking around Jenny Lake and up Cascade Canyon.  We camped in two places in Grand Teton:  Signal Mountain Campground right on the shores of Jackson Lake, and the Gros Ventre campground, which is the closest campground to the town of Jackson.


Canoeing on Jackson Lake was fun.  You can rent canoes by the hour from the concessionaire at Signal Mountain Lodge.  It currently costs $18/hr to rent the canoes.  They also have kayaks and motorboats for rent.  It was extremely windy the day we went, and Jackson Lake is really really cold (like, hypothermic cold) and I was afraid we would tip.  Plus, the wind kept pushing us back out onto the lake as we were trying to come back into the dock.  But we got some great pictures.

Teton Range at Night

 
The drive up Signal Mountain is absolutely gorgeous.  We did it right as the sun was setting, and had magnificent views of the valley (known as Jackson Hole).  The road winds up Signal Mountain, and you have to take it slow.  You can also hike to the top of the mountain if you want.


The final thing we did, and the thing I inexplicably don't have any pictures of, was hike up Cascade Canyon.  This is one of the park's most popular trails, and as we were hiking on the 4th of July weekend, felt a bit like a highway at some points. Most people take the boat across Jenny Lake and then do the short hike to Inspiration Point; we opted to save the money and walk around Jenny Lake (pretty and we saw a ton of fish) and then hike further up Cascade Canyon on the other side.  This is a spectacular hike, and well worth the popularity.  It climbs very steeply for the first 2 miles or so, and then levels out the farther up the canyon you get (you also get away from more and more people the further up the canyon you get).  It's a long dayhike, and we saw several people heading up into the high country for backpacking trips; even in July, they were carrying ice gear.  The views of Grand Teton are A-MAZ-ING.  We ran out of daylight and I was suffering from a severe sinus headache, so we didn't get to go as far up the canyon as I would have liked....another thing to put on my list for a return trip!

Cascade Canyon

Campground Reviews

Campgrounds Stayed: Gros Ventre & Signal Mountain

Campground Run by:  Park Concessionaires (Signal Mountain Lodge & Grand Teton Lodge Company)

Available to Reserve?:  No

Cost per night:  $20/night at Gros Ventre, $20.50/night at Signal Mountain

Other notes:  There are flush toilets and water in both campgrounds, but no showers.

Review: We spent two nights at Gros Ventre and one night at Signal Mountain.  Gros Ventre is a massive campground that rarely fills, and we were using it mainly as a place to sleep to partake in the Jackson, WY 4th of July festivities.  It is the campground in the Tetons closest to Jackson.  The sites are huge but not very private. There are lots of trees around, however, and since this campground rarely fills, it's pretty quiet.  This is a good bet if you show up in late afternoon and need a spot to camp.

Signal Mountain Campground does fill up, and we were lucky enough to snag a site as someone else was leaving.  Our site was TINY!  We were lucky we were tenting.  But it was close to the bathrooms and this campground has a very community-type feel to it.  It's also within walking distance of the Signal Mountain Lodge, restaurant and marina.  I would stay at both of these campgrounds again.

The most popular campground in the park is at Jenny Lake.  It's a tent-only campground with views of the Tetons; consequently, it fills before 9 am most days.  There used to be a number you could call to see what time the campground filled that day, but I cannot find that phone number anywhere.  Someday, I plan to camp at Jenny Lake!