Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

State: Wyoming

Area: 485 sq. mi.

Established: 1929

Grand Teton National Park, established in 1929 and enlarged in 1950 by the inclusion of Jackson Hole, lies in north-western Wyoming a few miles south of Yellowstone National Park, with which it is linked by the John D. Rockefeller Jr Memorial Parkway. It consists of Jackson Hole, a mountain valley 50 mi. long and up to 14 mi. wide lying at a height of almost 6500 ft, and the jagged Teton Range, whose highest peaks rise to around 13,000 ft (Grand Teton, 13,770 ft; Middle Teton, 12,804 ft; South Teton, 12,514 ft; Mount Owen, 12,927 ft). The range was named Grand Teton by French fur trappers (grands tetons, big breasts). The landscape of the National Park is of extraordinary beauty. Jackson Hole is surrounded by lakes, some of them of considerable size, and traversed by the beautiful Snake River. Popular leisure activities here are hiking, fishing and canoeing, and for experienced climbers there are a variety of challenging routes. Information The Grand Teton National Park is open throughout the year. The best time for a visit is between June and September. In winter all the facilities except the Moose Visitor Center are closed, but there is ample scope for winter sports (downhill and langlauf skiing, skating; trips in dog sleds, horse or motor sleighs; ice fishing). As well as in Moose there are further Visitor Centers in Colter Bay and on the banks of Jenny Lake. There are hotels in Colter Bay, and camping facilities at five sizeable and many smaller sites, the latter catering for a maximum of six people and one car.

Fauna This well watered mountain valley is the home of elk, wapiti and mule deer; on the lakes and rivers there are beavers, trumpeter swans, white pelicans, wild ducks, wild geese and ospreys; and a herd of bison is usually to be seen grazing to the east of the Oxbow Bend on the Snake River (near the Buffalo Entrance at Moran). Black bears are now rare. On the south side of the National Park is the National Elk Refuge, where the largest herd of wapiti in the United States regularly winters. In the winter tourist season horse-drawn sleighs from Jackson offer trips out to observe the wild life.

Two scenic roads offer magnificent views of the mountains: the Rockefeller Parkway, which runs north-south, following the east side of Jackson Lake and the Snake River, and the Teton Park Road, which runs south-east from Jackson Lake and along Cottonwood Creek.

The National Park has more than 200 mi. of hiking trails and footpaths running through the forests, to the various lakes and into the mountains. Among the easiest are the path from the east side of Jenny Lake to Inspiration Point (21Ú2 mi.) and the Colter Bay Nature Trail (2 mi.). A whole-day hike is from Jackson Lake Lodge to Emma Matilda Lake and Two Ocean Lake.

A longer trail, taking several days but offering magnificent views, starts from the upper cableway station at Teton Village (outside the park to the south) and runs north along the west side of the Grand Teton range, returning to the valley by way of Death Canyon, Cascade Canyon or Paintbrush Canyon.