Hiking the Surprise & Amphitheater Lakes Trail via Lupine Meadows in Grand Teton National Park
Distance: 10.1 miles / 16.3 km
Elevation Gain: ~3,000 ft. / 914 m.
The hike up to the Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes is one of the more challenging day hikes in Grand Teton National Park.
From the parking lot, the Lupine Meadows Trail gains about 3,000 ft. (914 m) of elevation in roughly 5 miles (8.0 km), meaning there is essentially no break from the constant uphill.
This is why I believe that the Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes Trail is not a hike for all people of all abilities.
Delta Lake Trailhead Parking
On account of the Delta Lake Trail beginning from the same Lupine Meadows Trailhead, Delta Lake’s popularity has inevitably made the Lupine Meadows Trailhead one of the most popular trailheads within Grand Teton.
Therefore, I recommend arriving early or parking near the trailhead can be extremely difficult during the busy summer season.
Google Maps Directions: Lupine Meadows Trailhead
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.
Hiking the Lupine Meadows Trail to Surprise & Amphitheater Lakes
The Lupine Meadows Trail starts off on a relatively flat path for the first 0.5 miles (0.8 km) before it starts gaining elevation thereafter.
Remember to always hike with bear spray.
Our group and others saw multiple bears on just this one short day hike, which at one point separated us as a group when a bear on the switchbacks came between us.
I say this to say: take the hiking checklist above seriously!
Then, after the first half mile, the Lupine Meadows Trail will noticeably start gaining elevation, which will continue for the entire distance up to Amphitheater Lake.
At about 1.2 miles (1.9 km), the Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes Trail will start following a ridge before reaching the switchbacks on the Lupine Meadows Trail to come.
Valley Trail Junction
The Valley Trail is first junction that the Lupine Meadows Trail will come to, but to get to Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes, go right to start the switchbacks up the trail.
In my experience, I have never seen another hiker on the Lupine Meadows Trail that was there for the purpose of hiking the Valley Trail.
After the Valley Trail Junction, the Lupine Meadows Trail will climb a series of nineteen switchbacks before reaching a flatter portion of the trail just prior to Surprise Lake.
It was around this area of the switchbacks that we came across a brown bear roaming through the bushes.
This is not to say that you are likely to see them here, as I have seen them elsewhere on the Lupine Meadows Trail before.
Garnet Canyon Junction
Unlike the Valley Trail, Garnet Canyon is one of the more popular junctions on the Lupine Meadows Trail because of the climbs that you can get to, like the Middle and Grand Teton.
Continue straight on the Lupine Meadows Trail, and don’t treat the Garnet Canyon Junction like a switchback.
Delta Lake Junction
After six switchbacks up the trail from the Valley Junction, the Lupine Meadows Trail will pass by the Delta Lake Junction.
If you want to see more about what the rest of the hike looks like up to Delta Lake, I encourage you to check out my separate post below.
Read My Separate Post: Delta Lake Trail
In my experience, the traffic on the Lupine Meadows Trail dropped off significantly after the Delta Lake turnoff.
It’s fairly obvious that most hikers are on the trail for Delta Lake and not any other trail, like Garnet Canyon or Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes.
From what I noticed, the switchbacks up Lupine Meadows start off long but get shorter and shorter toward the top, which helps make all 19 switchbacks go by faster.
Eventually, the switchbacks stop, and the trail levels off for the remainder of the hike up to Surprise Lake.
I think it’s worth noting that the biting flies and mosquitoes were worse on this section than any other section of the hike, which is why I encourage you to hike with this cheap bug net.
You never know how bad they’ll be during your visit!
Surprise Lake
In my opinion, Surprise Lake was pretty, but it wasn’t nearly as nice as Amphitheater Lake just above.
This may have had something to do with the biting insects, which seemed to go away entirely by the time I hiked up to Amphitheater Lake.
From Surprise Lake, Amphitheater Lake is only 0.2 miles (0.3 km) up and around Surprise Lake on the right side.
Amphitheater Lake
I’ve swam in both Amphitheater and Delta Lake, and Amphitheater Lake was noticeably warmer compared to Delta, which sits right beneath the Teton Glacier.
That’s not to say that Amphitheater Lake is warm, but I encourage getting in for a quick swim because it makes you feel much cleaner and refreshed for the hike back down the switchbacks.
Additionally, Amphitheater Lake is not where the trail ends for the most adventurous type of person, as you can climb a bit further from the lake to get up to Disappointment Peak.
If you look up the left side of Amphitheater Lake, you will see the trail that continues up and around to get to Disappointment Peak.
