20 Best Things to Do in Grand Teton National Park
One of the best things about Grand Teton National Park is that there is something for anyone of all abilities. I’ve believed for many years that one of the best things to do in the park is simply sit in the meadow and look up at the glaciated peaks!
However, just as leisurely as trip can be, you can easily have one of the most adventurous vacations by climbing some of the bigger peaks!
In this post, I’ve included some of my favorite hikes, advice, and at the end, I talk about the some of the best things to do near the park that won’t see nearly the same amount of crowds.
My Print - Delta Lake
Hiking Checklist - Yellowstone-Tetons
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in the Yellowstone-Teton area.
20 Best Things to Do in Grand Teton National Park
Whichever adventure you decide to choose, always hike in Grand Teton National Park with bear spray.
Take the hiking list above seriously because these are some of the most important things you will need for any adventure.
1. Hidden Falls Trail
Distance from Jenny Lake Visitor Center: 4.9 miles / 7.9 km
Distance from String Lake: 4.6 miles / 7.4 km
Hidden Falls is the most popular day hike in Grand Teton National Park because of its easy accessibility both by trail or the Jenny Lake boat shuttle, which you can learn more about at the end of my separate post.
Read My Separate Post: Hidden Falls Trail
My Print - Hidden Falls
2. Inspiration Point Trail
Distance: 5.7 miles / 9.2 km
Going right along with the hike to Hidden Falls above, the Inspiration Point Trail and Hidden Falls are most commonly combined into one longer adventure.
To learn more about this beautiful trail above Jenny Lake, check out my separate post below.
Read My Separate Post: Inspiration Point Trail
3. Jenny Lake Loop Trail
Distance: 7.1 miles / 11.4 km
Going along with both Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, the Jenny Lake Loop Trail is the complete hike around Jenny Lake that encompasses both of the shorter hikes above on the same trail.
If you’re up for something a little bit longer than most visitors hike when going to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, I couldn’t recommend the full loop hike any higher. The trail is a great way to experience all sides of Jenny Lake without the crowds!
Read My Separate Post: Jenny Lake Loop Trail
4. Moose Ponds Loop Trail
Distance: 2.0 miles / 3.2 km
The Moose Ponds Loop Trail is arguably the best hike you can do on your own to maximize your chances at seeing wildlife in Grand Teton.
If you want to adventure and try to see wildlife such as bears, moose, elk, and more I could recommend the Moose Ponds Loop any higher!
However, nothing on your own is as guaranteed as touring Grand Teton National Park with a local guide. That’s why I recommend considering the Moose Ponds Loop as well as booking a local guide out of Jackson, which you can read more about below.
Read My Separate Post: Moose Ponds Loop Trail
5. Grand Teton Wildlife Tour
There’s nothing like experiencing a wildlife tour with a local guide from Jackson!
These wildlife tour guides know where to look, when to look, and all sorts of inside information about the bears, elk, moose, and so much more that you just wouldn’t be able to experience on your own!
Book your guide below, as these are very popular tours during the busy summer season!
6. Phelps Lake Jumping Rock Trail
Distance: 5.0 - 5.9 miles / 8.1 - 9.5 km
This Phelps Lake cliff jumping rock is one of the best hikes in Grand Teton on a hot summer day! The reason why the distance above can vary is because it depends on which trailhead you begin from, which I go more into detail in my separate post.
Overall, the Phelps Lake Trail is a very casual adventure that gives you great views of the Tetons looking up Death Canyon, and the jump itself is no more than 20 ft. (6.1 m) from the top of the rock.
Read My Separate Post: Phelps Lake Jumping Rock Trail
7. Private Fishing Guide
From personal experience fishing with a private guide in the Yellowstone-Teton area, I can tell you I had great luck catching rainbow trout on one of these tours!
I highly recommend booking a local guide, so that you can best enjoy your time fishing, while they take care of all the logistics and planning.
8. Lake of the Crags Trail
Distance from Jenny Lake Visitor Center: 10.6 miles / 17.1 km
The Lake of the Crags Trail is by far the most strenuous hike on this list because of how steep the trail is.
However, because the Lake of the Crags Trail is such a challenging hike, few visitors venture this far up an unmarked trail, making Lake of the Crags one of the best and most secluded lakes in Grand Teton National Park!
Read My Separate Post: Lake of the Crags Trail
My Print - Lake of the Crags
9. Delta Lake Trail
Distance: 7.4 miles / 11.9 km
The Delta Lake Trail in Grand Teton National Park is the most popular day hikes on an unestablished trail by the National Park Service.
The trail to Delta Lake is what the Park Service calls a “social trail”, meaning that it’s a path made entirely by foot traffic and not the agency. Therefore, don’t expect to see any signs marking the Delta Lake Trail, as making it to the lake will require some route finding to get there, which you can read more about in my separate post!
Read My Separate Post: Delta Lake Trail
10. Surprise & Amphitheater Lakes Trail
Distance: 10.1 miles / 16.3 km
Amphitheater Lake is much prettier than this photo shows, as this photo was actually taken just prior to a thunderstorm rolling in!
The beautiful emerald green waters of Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes are easily one of the best, challenging day hikes in Grand Teton National Park!
Read My Separate Post: Surprise & Amphitheater Lakes Trail
11. Schwabacher Landing
Schwabacher Landing is one of the most photographed spots in Grand Teton National Park.
The location right along the Snake River was made popular by the by the stunning landscape photos that you can capture, as first light hits the top of the Tetons at sunrise.
If you go at sunrise, expect the area to be crowded with photographers, which is why I recommend arriving well before sunrise if you want to secure a specific angle.
Google Maps Directions: Schwabacher Landing
My Print - Schwabacher Landing
12. Grand Teton River Trips
One of the best things about being in the beautiful Teton Range is the scenic float and whitewater trips that you can do with a local guide on the Snake River!
All three of these options are located right out Jackson, making them a great option for a fun half-day adventure.
13. Moulton Barn (Mormon Row)
Going right along with Schwabacher Landing, the Moulton Barn and Mormon Row are some of the best places to capture stunning photos on the Teton plateau.
Again, sunrise seems to be more popular than sunset, but I captured this on a pretty cloudy sunset and was a bit happier to not see the same crowds as Schwabacher Landing at sunrise.
Google Maps Directions: Moulton Barn
14. String Lake Loop Trail
Distance: 3.8 miles / 6.1 km
In my opinion, the String Lake Loop Trail is one of the best kid-friendly hikes within Grand Teton National Park.
On top of this, if bears are of concern when planning your trip, I would also consider the String Lake Loop to be one of the least likely places to see bears on any trail, which I explain more about in my separate post.
Read My Separate Post: String Lake Loop Trail
15. Paddle Boarding String Lake
Paddle Boarding on String Lake is one of the best ways to spend a hot summer day in Grand Teton National Park!
Overall, String Lake is extremely shallow, meaning that paddle boarding on the lake is generally much safer compared to much larger, colder, and deeper lakes within the park.
16. Jenny Lake Lodge & Cabins
The Jenny Lake Lodge and Cabins is easily the best place to stay in Grand Teton National Park!
The accessibility of the lodge to Jenny Lake, a number of hiking trails, and all of the best things to do on this list make the Jenny Lake Lodge one of best things to do within the park!
You can click the link below to book your stay, which is one of the best ways to have a quieter night compared to how busy town of Jackson.
17. Phelps Lake Loop Trail
Distance: 7.2 miles / 11.6 km
Of all the loop trails talked about on this post, I saved the best for last!
The Phelps Lake Loop Trail at the mouth of Death Canyon is easily the most scenic loop trail in Grand Teton National Park. On top of this, there’s the cliff jumping rock mentioned earlier, as well as a beautiful beach on the upper side of the lake.
If you’re looking for a place in Grand Teton without the same amount of visitors as other areas of the park, I couldn’t recommend the Phelps Lake Loop Trail any more!
Read My Separate Post: Phelps Lake Loop Trail
18. Phelps Lake Overlook Trail
Distance: 2.0 miles / 3.2 km
Whether you’re looking for a short trail to hike with the kids or an easy rainy day adventure, the Phelps Lake Overlook Trail is the perfect choice for an easy hike in Grand Teton!
Additionally, I love the Phelps Lake Overlook, just like the Phelps Lake Loop above because this area of the park is far less crowded compared to other more popular areas.
Read My Separate Post: Phelps Lake Overlook Trail
19. Moose Wilson Road Overlook
As the name might imply, the Moose Wilson Overlook is a popular place to spot moose and other wildlife at any time of the day, especially in the early morning!
If you want to have the best chances at seeing moose, I suggest checking out the overlook first thing in the morning before heading out on any other adventures. With wildlife, nothing is a guarantee, but you’ll have a good idea if they’re present or not based on the crowds at the overlook.
Google Maps Directions: Moose Wilson Road Overlook
20. Grand Teton National Park Guided Tour
Sometimes planning a trip to a new National Park isn’t for everyone.
That’s why I recommend booking one of the local guides out of Jackson if you want to see the best of Grand Teton without the planning. In my experience, the local guides will teach you more than you could have ever learned about the park on your own!
5 Things to Know Before Arriving in Grand Teton National Park
1. Where is the Best Free Camping Near Grand Teton?
The best free camping near Jackson and Grand Teton National Park is at the base of Shadow Mountain, not the top. Contrary to what beautiful social media photos will show you, the bottom of Shadow Mountain is a much better place to camp for a number of reasons.
The first is because of the bugs, and I don’t just mean mosquitoes. When we arrived midday to set up our campsite near the top of Shadow Mountain, we were not only being swarmed by mosquitoes, but also horseflies the size of silver dollars. For some reason, the biting insects are 10x worse at the top of Shadow Mountain than the bottom.
The second reason I prefer the bottom is because if you camp near the top of Shadow Mountain, you can tack on at least an extra 25 minutes in the car each way just to get up and down the bumpy gravel road on Shadow Mountain. Yes, most 2WD cars should be able to make the trip up the road, but it’s not an easy drive to keep repeating if you’re running back and forth between the park or Jackson.
The last reason why I prefer the base is because finding one of those spots with a great view of the Tetons, like in some social media photos, is not easy. Most of the campsites on Shadow Mountain are in the trees with no views of the Tetons, and only very few actually face west toward the mountains.
Overall, it’s highly unlikely to simply drive up and find a spot available facing the Tetons during the peak summer season. Meaning that your best bet at securing one of these ideal sites during peak season is to find a group that’s packing up and leaving, which leads to my biggest piece of advice for camping at Shadow Mountain below.
2. How to Find Free Camping at Shadow Mountain?
DO NOT start searching for a campsite for the night in the late evening. Since spots are so limited, there is a strategy for camping at Shadow Mountain, and know that every spot will fill be taken every night during the peak summer season.
That being said, every day at around 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., you can expect people from the previous night to be packing up to leave. During this window, you should plan on finding a campsite and then going into the park to do whatever you wanted for the rest of the day. Even with this strategy, we still had very limited options to choose from, both on Shadow Mountain and at the base.
When you do find a site, set up your tents or leave camping chairs/ whatever else you can think of to show other campers that your site is occupied. All sites are labeled with a number, and there is not supposed to be any camping outside of these designated sites.
At the base of Shadow Mountain, some sites will look like a gray area because it can be hard to tell one apart from another, but a good way to know if something is actually a site is to see if there is a fire ring and a site number on a placard.
3. Hiking from the Jenny Lake Visitor Center
If you’re planning on coming to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center for any reason during peak summer season, arrive before 10 a.m. to find parking.
If you don’t arrive early enough, the lot will fill up, and you may have to park up to a half mile away.
This is because the Jenny Lake Visitor Center is the most popular destination in Grand Teton National Park for a few reasons.
The first is that the Jenny Lake Trailhead is a one of the most popular starting points for many trails, such as Hidden Falls. However, perhaps the biggest reason is because the visitor center is where the Jenny Lake boat shuttle leaves if you are looking to cut out some distance on your hike.
4. Where to Get Water in Grand Teton National Park?
The Jenny Lake Visitor Center is one of the best places to fill up water for free inside of Grand Teton. This can be water for hiking or even larger containers for your vehicle.
5. Taking the Jenny Lake Boat Shuttle Across the Lake
There are no advanced reservations for taking the boat shuttle across Jenny Lake. Tickets are simply purchased on a first come, first served basis when you get to the front of the line for the shuttle.
This is another reason to arrive at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center early in the morning because the line for the boat shuttle can stretch far away from the actual boarding area, which would seem that doing the actual hike around Jenny Lake could be faster than waiting in the line when the ferry is at its busiest midday.
5 Best Things to Do Near Grand Teton National Park
1. Yellowstone National Park
Obviously, Yellowstone National Park is one of the best things to do near Grand Teton.
That being said, there’s so much that I can’t fit into just a few sentences, which is I encourage you to check out my long running list of things to within the park!
Read My Separate Post: Yellowstone National Park
2. Pine Coffee Supply
I could go on and on about Pinedale in itself, which is exactly why the next four things to do on this list are all right in Pinedale.
That being said, Pine Coffee Supply is the best coffee shop in Wyoming! Their coffee comes from an owner with a great life story about traveling the world before he eventually started his own coffee shop right in Pinedale.
I’ve always loved stopping here on the road because their internet is fast, and it will never be as overwhelmingly busy as a coffee shop in Jackson.
Yelp: Pine Coffee Supply
3. Wind River Brewing Company
Wind River Brewing is a long-time classic for some great locally-brewed beers, outdoor games, and great classic American food!
It’s one of my favorites after hiking the next one on this list!
4. Sacred Rim Trail
Distance: 3.7 miles / 6.0 km
I would go as far to say that the Sacred Rim Trail is the best day hike in the Wind River Range!
It’s easily the best day hike near Pinedale, and it makes for an amazing sunset adventure, which you can read about in my separate post below.
Read My Separate Post: Sacred Rim Trail
My Print - Sacred Rim
5. Gannett Peak: The Highest Peak in Wyoming
Gannett Peak is not for the faint of heart, and generally speaking, Gannett Peak is a multi-day backpacking/ mountaineering adventure into one of the most remote parts of the Wind River Range!
However, I thought I would include this one in here incase anyone was curious about what it takes to climb the hardest state high point in the lower 48!
Read My Separate Post: Gannett Peak via Titcomb Basin
Skip Granite Hot Springs
If you think of an ideal mountain hot spring as being a ring of rocks along a river bank surrounded by mountains, then you will be surely disappointed by visiting Granite Hot Springs. That’s exactly what we were expecting until we arrived at this privatized pool that the hot water pours into.
The owner wants you to pay to visit, and if this doesn’t say enough, it’s not worth the wear on your car down the long bumpy road to get there. On the entire drive, we were surrounded by National Forest expecting a beautiful natural pool until we saw what it really was.
