The Snake River

Elk with antlers.Elk herd.The Jackson Hole elk herd is free ranging and migratory. About half of its 15,000 elk winter on the National Elk Refuge. By midsummer, many graze on bunchgrass in high meadows near the Continental Divide, more than 110 kilometers (70 miles) to the north. Moving north in spring, the elk feed on succulent new growth of grasses and forbs in the sagebrush flats. Cow elk, pregnant since last fall, separate from the main herds to linger on calving grounds. Newborn elk hide in sagebrush or aspen cover while the cows feed. Elk tend to feed in the open in morning and evening, retreating to forest shade during the day. All summer they gain weight in preparation for winter. Full grown cows often exceed 230 kilograms (500 pounds). Bulls may stand 1.5 meters (5 feet) at the shoulder and weigh 405 kilograms (900 pounds). After their antlers drop off in March, bulls begin growing a new annual set. Antlers, furry nubbins in May, become velvet covered branches by July.By late August the velvet, which supplied blood and nutrients for rapid antler growth, hangs in tattered shreds as bull elk rub their antlers against flexible saplings. In September, mature bulls polish the velvet from their antlers and join the cows on their summer ranges. Then the dominant bull elk gather harems of 6 to 20 cows. These bulls establish and maintain dominance by displaying massive branched antlers, impressive bugling, chasing off less aggressive bulls, and occasional combat with other males. Fall migratory herds sometimes number 200 or more. Migration begins when the snow reaches a critical depth. It is a special experience to witness this exodus of elk streaming down the valley. Many elk return to winter on the National Elk Refuge and in the Gros Ventre drainage. Supplemental feeding is provided on the refuge to maintain the Jackson Hole herd because some two-thirds of its traditional winter range has been lost to development. The remaining habitat, and the elk hunt permitted by the law that added Jackson Hole to the national park, is cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and other Federal and State agencies to perpetuate and protect the majestic elk of this great herd.

Elk with antlers.

Elk herd.

The Jackson Hole elk herd is free ranging and migratory. About half of its 15,000 elk winter on the National Elk Refuge. By midsummer, many graze on bunchgrass in high meadows near the Continental Divide, more than 110 kilometers (70 miles) to the north. Moving north in spring, the elk feed on succulent new growth of grasses and forbs in the sagebrush flats. Cow elk, pregnant since last fall, separate from the main herds to linger on calving grounds. Newborn elk hide in sagebrush or aspen cover while the cows feed. Elk tend to feed in the open in morning and evening, retreating to forest shade during the day. All summer they gain weight in preparation for winter. Full grown cows often exceed 230 kilograms (500 pounds). Bulls may stand 1.5 meters (5 feet) at the shoulder and weigh 405 kilograms (900 pounds). After their antlers drop off in March, bulls begin growing a new annual set. Antlers, furry nubbins in May, become velvet covered branches by July.By late August the velvet, which supplied blood and nutrients for rapid antler growth, hangs in tattered shreds as bull elk rub their antlers against flexible saplings. In September, mature bulls polish the velvet from their antlers and join the cows on their summer ranges. Then the dominant bull elk gather harems of 6 to 20 cows. These bulls establish and maintain dominance by displaying massive branched antlers, impressive bugling, chasing off less aggressive bulls, and occasional combat with other males. Fall migratory herds sometimes number 200 or more. Migration begins when the snow reaches a critical depth. It is a special experience to witness this exodus of elk streaming down the valley. Many elk return to winter on the National Elk Refuge and in the Gros Ventre drainage. Supplemental feeding is provided on the refuge to maintain the Jackson Hole herd because some two-thirds of its traditional winter range has been lost to development. The remaining habitat, and the elk hunt permitted by the law that added Jackson Hole to the national park, is cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and other Federal and State agencies to perpetuate and protect the majestic elk of this great herd.

Homesteader’s Cabin.Washing dishes.Shoshone, Crow, Blackfeet, Gros Ventre, and other Native Americans hunted and picked berries in the valley in summer, but winter was unbearable. During the early 1800s, solitary mountain men trapped valley beaver, sometimes wintering through intense and deep snow. After the fur trade collapsed in 1840, occasional trappers and prospectors ventured into Jackson Hole. Well-known pioneers built temporary cabins. Jackson Hole was settled late in the frontier era, when limited technology, supply routes, and food storage made winter bearable. The first permanent settlers, John Holland and John Carnes, homesteaded north of the town of Jackson in 1884. Significant settlement came after 1900 as schools, post offices, and churches were built. Jackson, Wilson, Moran, and Kelly became the dominant communities. Getting supplies and mail into Jackson Hole was always difficult. Most supplies came from Idaho over rugged TetonPass. Pack horses and supply wagons then faced the Snake River, often dangerous or impossible to cross. Menor’s Ferry, built at Moose in 1894 by William D. Menor, was a major crossing until replaced by a bridge in 1927. Ferries, and later bridges, at Wilson also improved valley transportation. Most valley homesteaders became cattle ranchers, grazing their herds on the public range and cultivating enough hay for winter feed. But the harsh climate and porous soils made ranching risky. When some ranchers recognized the value of scenery and wildlife, they began operating dude ranches and hunting lodges. In 1903, Ben Sheffield catered to wealthy hunters from his headquarters at Moran. In 1907, Louis Joy operated the first dude ranch in Jackson Hole, the JY. The age of tourism had begun.

Homesteader’s Cabin.

Washing dishes.

Shoshone, Crow, Blackfeet, Gros Ventre, and other Native Americans hunted and picked berries in the valley in summer, but winter was unbearable. During the early 1800s, solitary mountain men trapped valley beaver, sometimes wintering through intense and deep snow. After the fur trade collapsed in 1840, occasional trappers and prospectors ventured into Jackson Hole. Well-known pioneers built temporary cabins. Jackson Hole was settled late in the frontier era, when limited technology, supply routes, and food storage made winter bearable. The first permanent settlers, John Holland and John Carnes, homesteaded north of the town of Jackson in 1884. Significant settlement came after 1900 as schools, post offices, and churches were built. Jackson, Wilson, Moran, and Kelly became the dominant communities. Getting supplies and mail into Jackson Hole was always difficult. Most supplies came from Idaho over rugged TetonPass. Pack horses and supply wagons then faced the Snake River, often dangerous or impossible to cross. Menor’s Ferry, built at Moose in 1894 by William D. Menor, was a major crossing until replaced by a bridge in 1927. Ferries, and later bridges, at Wilson also improved valley transportation. Most valley homesteaders became cattle ranchers, grazing their herds on the public range and cultivating enough hay for winter feed. But the harsh climate and porous soils made ranching risky. When some ranchers recognized the value of scenery and wildlife, they began operating dude ranches and hunting lodges. In 1903, Ben Sheffield catered to wealthy hunters from his headquarters at Moran. In 1907, Louis Joy operated the first dude ranch in Jackson Hole, the JY. The age of tourism had begun.

A rodeo at the Elbo Ranch, which was located near Cottonwood Creek.

The Snake River cuts through moraines and exposes a vast rubble of glacial cobbles. An evening float trip offers an opportunity to view wildlife, a part of the river’s biotic richness.

Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole have no corner on the Snake River, boasting as they do a mere 40 miles or so of the sinuous Snake’s more than 1,000 miles of progress from the Continental Divide near Yellowstone National Park to its confluence with the mighty Columbia River near Pasco, Washington.

Judging from its almost leisurely mid-summer passage as a braided river through the park you would not guess what chaos lies downstream. The river had at least two names before the Snake was affixed. A group of French-speaking trappers who crossed the river in September 1811 encountered such difficulty they decided to give it the name Mad River. Sometime later this trapping party had to cross it again downstream near its confluence with the Hoback River and renamed itLa Maudite Rivière Enragée—Accursed Mad River. Those names properly hint at what lies downstream as the Snake flows in every direction but east in a great sickle-shaped curve, its watershed embracing the largest chunk of wilderness in the United States outside Alaska. The Snake’s beautiful Shoshone Falls in Idaho is a full 43 feet higher than Niagara Falls. And the Snake’s Hells Canyon, also in Idaho, is North America’s deepest and narrowest major gorge, averaging a deeper gash across the land than the Grand Canyon itself. Hells Canyon plunges 7,900 feet at its deepest point. What is more, it averages 5,500 feet deep over its course.

In a valley this high (the elevation of Jackson Hole at the lower end measures 6,000 feet) the Snake should have cut, with its steep gradients, permanent channels. Instead, it still wanders in myriad channels across the glacial debris filling the fault basin. Here the Snake looks more like a prairie river rambling with the restlessness of youth. Its banks are a checkerboard of successional stages, as plant communities rise and fall with disturbances created by flooding, channel shifting, or fire. This benefits the moose and beaver by assuring continual supplies of willow and cottonwood that would otherwise soon be succeeded by blue spruce.

The Snake, discovered by Lewis and Clark in 1805 but not fully explored until its headwaters were pinpointed in 1970, is no longer a completely wild river even in the park. Jackson Lake Dam, built before the park was established, controls the waterflow below the lake, moderating natural surges that used to follow rapid spring snowmelt or violent summer thunderstorms. Since the river no longer scours the valley regularly, these stabilized conditions favor the development of larger tracts of blue spruce.

Compared to the lakes, the Snake harbors a wealth of aquatic life. A river is richer partly because its linear structure provides more shoreline. The plant complex that the river makes possible continually enriches the water with leaves and other debris. This energy subsidy, along with the countless terrestrial insects caught by the river, is passed up the food chain. Eventually the additional energy is translated into the fish that help support the herons, mergansers, eagles, ospreys, otters, and other terrestrial predators that use the aquatic food pyramid.

The plant and animal composition of the riverine world varies with the rate of water flow. In slow water areas, such as the Oxbow Bend, where the river has cut off and abandoned a former looping meander, bottom-rooted aquatic plants attract herbivorous animals—moose, mallards, golden-eyes, and cinnamon teals—to graze these underwater gardens. Such quiet stretches also attract carnivores to exploit the greater variety of prey. Great blue herons stand motionless along the shoreline, waiting to spear passing fish or the mice, frogs, and snakes at water’s edge. Mink and coyote patrol the shoreline.

Insects are important river denizens, as the fly fishing angler’s art attests. The nymphs of mayflies and stoneflies and the larvae of caddisflies eat algae and other plant detritus, in the process becoming attractive fare for the cutthroat trout and Rocky Mountain Whitefish. The caddisfly larvae have adapted to fast water by constructing protective body cases from sand grains, pebbles, plant stems, and other stream bed materials. The faster the current, the heavier the case, which enables the larvae to settle rapidly into a new cranny, should they be swept away.

The sturgeon used to populate the Snake in what are now park waters, but the erection of more than 20 hydroelectric and irrigation dams downstream so changed the river that these very large fish are now hard pressed to survive above the Columbia River confluence.

Shaped like a short-handled dipper, the Snake River progresses westward through the nation’s largest chunk of wilderness outside Alaska. The Snake’s drainage also figured in historic exploring expeditions and scientific, military, and railroad route surveys during the 19th century. Some important expedition and survey routes are shown on this map.High-resolution Map

“Beaver Flats”

“John Colter Visits the Crows 1807”

Jackson Hole witnessed the exploration, settlement, and exploitation that characterized the opening of the West. Early events centered around the fur trade and survey expeditions. John Colter generally gets credit as the first white man to visit the valley, purportedly crossing it in the 1807-1808 winter. Colter trekked west with Lewis and Clark and got permission to leave them on their return east. Other trappers whose names pop up before Jackson Hole’s fur trade died out in the 1840s are Jedediah Smith, David Jackson, William Sublette, Kit Carson, and Jim Bridger. All were inveterate explorers and adventurers. Sublette probably named the valley, after his trading partner, Jackson. The fur trade died out when beaver hats—the prime pelt market—went out of fashion in Europe. By then, beaver had been severely reduced over much of North America, anyway, and a process for making felt from far cheaper rabbit pelts had been developed. The first surveyexpedition ventured into Jackson Hole in 1860, guided by Jim Bridger. In command was Capt. William F. Raynolds, topographical engineer. The War Department conducted these early surveys to find out about the Indians, farming and mining possibilities, and potential transcontinental routes. Raynolds turned thumbs down on a rail route here. In 1861 and 1862 gold seekers prospected the valley but found nothing. An Interior Department mission, the 1872 Hayden Survey led by Professor Ferdinand V. Hayden, explored the Tetons and Jackson Hole, guided by Beaver Dick Leigh. Many Jackson Hole features are named for Hayden Survey members. These include Jenny, Bradley, Taggart, and Leigh Lakes. An expedition led by Lt. Gustavus Doane nearly perished here in the 1876-77 winter and would have starved but for the fishing skills of one private. The color illustrations are by Jackson Hole artist John Clymer.

Indians in Camp.

No Indians made permanent, year-round homes in Jackson Hole. Winters were too severe. Before white settlement, a small, recluse Shoshone group camped in the area for as many months as possible because of repeated raids from northerly tribes who had British-supplied guns. Other Shoshone knew this small band as Sheep Eaters, because they depended on the bighorn sheep for food. They lived scattered in family groups, not as a tribe. When it seemed safe, they would fish, hunt, and gather plants, seeds, and berries. They used dogs as beasts of burden.Codsiogo, a Shoshone warrior.They made bows of elk antlers and sheep horns reinforced with elk and deer sinews. Early trappers seldom encountered the Sheep Eaters although they sometimes saw smoke from their fires. The Sheep Eaters stayed near the mountains until joining other Shoshone under Chief Washakie on reservations in Idaho and Wyoming about 1879. Some artifacts andother evidence of their life are still found today in the Tetons. Archeological studies show that various Indian groups migrated through here on a seasonal basis. The Shoshone peoples arose in the semidesert Basin of the upper Southwest. As food became scarce they migrated east of the Rockies, into the plains and mountain parks of Wyoming and Montana, probably in the 1500s or mid-1600s. In part they were escaping slave-trading Ute Indians. By 1730, however, records begin to show the Shoshone as the most important plains tribe. They were walkers until about 1740, when they got Spanish horses from the Comanches to the south. Mounted, they would raid as far as the Saskatchewan River to the north and the Black Hills to the east. During the whites’ overland migrations, the Eastern Shoshone, under Chief Washakie, avoided confrontations. But Chief Washakie knew his people’s nomadic way of life was over.

Codsiogo, a Shoshone warrior.

They made bows of elk antlers and sheep horns reinforced with elk and deer sinews. Early trappers seldom encountered the Sheep Eaters although they sometimes saw smoke from their fires. The Sheep Eaters stayed near the mountains until joining other Shoshone under Chief Washakie on reservations in Idaho and Wyoming about 1879. Some artifacts andother evidence of their life are still found today in the Tetons. Archeological studies show that various Indian groups migrated through here on a seasonal basis. The Shoshone peoples arose in the semidesert Basin of the upper Southwest. As food became scarce they migrated east of the Rockies, into the plains and mountain parks of Wyoming and Montana, probably in the 1500s or mid-1600s. In part they were escaping slave-trading Ute Indians. By 1730, however, records begin to show the Shoshone as the most important plains tribe. They were walkers until about 1740, when they got Spanish horses from the Comanches to the south. Mounted, they would raid as far as the Saskatchewan River to the north and the Black Hills to the east. During the whites’ overland migrations, the Eastern Shoshone, under Chief Washakie, avoided confrontations. But Chief Washakie knew his people’s nomadic way of life was over.

A Sheepeater Indian family.

An osprey landing on its nest.

Trout in shallow water.

The 17 species of fish in Grand Teton National Park include brown, brook, rainbow, and lake (Mackinaw) trout. These introduced species are found in a number of lakes and streams. Perhaps the most impressive fish is the Snake River cutthroat trout, the native trout so dependent on the park’s natural aquatic system. The deep red or orange-red marks under its jaws give the impression of a slashed throat, hence cutthroat. The Snake River cutthroat is a distinct subspecies of the cutthroat trout identified by the hundreds of tiny dark spots on both sides of its body. In spring, particularly May and June, the Snake River cutthroat will travel upstream into tributary waters to spawn. The female digs a nest (called a redd) in the gravel and the male and female lie side by side while simultaneously contributing the sperm and eggs. The fertilized eggs settle to the bottom and hatch into fry within 40 days. The young fish usually remain in the tributary streamuntil fall but will sometimes wait a full year before migrating to the river. Juveniles, called fingerlings, and sub-adults feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrate larvae such as caddisflies, mayflies, and stoneflies. The older fish become more predaceous and feed on a variety of smaller species of fish living in the river. The cutthroat trout reach sexual maturity at three to four years of age. Few cutthroats live longer than five years. The post-spawning mortality rate is 50 percent. The Snake River cutthroat trout indeed delights the angler, but more important is its role in the wildlife community. The cutthroat consumes aquatic insects, invertebrates, and small fish, helping to keep these populations in check naturally. This trout is also consumed, providing food for bears, eagles, ospreys, and otters. If the fish population declines, so will the animals that depend on it for food. As fishing pressure continues to grow, park managers may have to protect this natural population of Snake River cutthroat to maintain the national park’s wildlife community.

Mule deer, named for their large ears, occur in surprisingly small numbers in the park. Competition with the large elk herd and deep winter snows may be limiting factors.

When the Shoshone Indians sat down with government officials at Fort Bridger in 1863 to conclude a treaty that would define their lands, the parcel that the parties arrived at totaled 30,000 square miles. A very small part of that was Jackson Hole, but this was such rich hunting ground in summer and fall that even the Shoshone dared not lay sole claim to it. Blackfeet, Bannock, Crow, Gros Ventre, and probably other tribes were drawn here to hunt. What would you have seen on a hunting trip in those days? Bison, pronghorns, and at least three times as many elk as exist here now, but far fewer deer. Near wall-to-wall beaver along the waterways, but nary a moose. And bighorn sheep peering down at you from nearly every crag and butte.

When settlement in the late 1800s at the south end of the valley eliminated about two-thirds of their winter range, as many as 500 elk sometimes ended up on the streets of Jackson on frigid nights. Winter starvation and poaching pressures took many elk.

The fur trade decimated beaver populations. But what of moose, deer, and bighorn? Moose and mule deer probably benefited from white settlement. Moose increased because of the suppression of fire, which permitted the increase of sub-alpine fir, a winter food source. Moose graze but little grass, mostly browsing coarser plants. Likewise mule deer. Livestock overgrazing hindered elk but favored moose and mule deer. The latter evidently usurped bighorn wintering range, reducing the sheep population. Wolves were extirpated and grizzly bears nearly so. That favored—within range support limits—every four-footed vegetarian not beset with other insurmountable problems.

Grizzly bears roam only the northern part of the park. Predation on large mammals must be carried out by seldom seen black bears, rare mountain lions, and coyotes, who largely feed on rodents. Red foxes (rare here), lynxes, and bobcats are crafty and formidable, but at best threaten only the young of large mammals. Formidable predators of a smaller scale are the many members of the weasel family, including two weasels, the badger, pine marten, wolverine and fisher (very rare here), and mink. The prey of these creatures includes many of the more familiar small mammals, such as shrews, hares, chipmunks and golden-mantled ground squirrels, Uinta ground squirrels, red and flying squirrels, mice, pocket gophers, woodrats, voles, and muskrats, and also small birds, bird eggs, reptiles, and amphibians. Porcupines and beavers are both large rodents and both feed on bark, but their defenses differ. Beavers escape to their snug lodge protected by the surrounding water, while porcupines are protected by quills. But porcupines sometimes fall prey to fishers and maybe smaller cats and other critters able to get at their unprotected faces and bellies.

The vigorous, brief blooms of alpine plants edge a high mountain meadow, with only the tips of peaks as a backdrop.

Bird watchers are content here just to see the rare trumpeter swan—on the Elk Refuge, or at Christian and Hedrick Ponds. Other large birds include bald eagles, ospreys, sandhill cranes, Canada geese, and great blue herons. The water ouzel (dipper) walks underwater in fast current, a marvel to behold. Bold and brassy are the crafty magpies, who won’t hesitate to let you know if you annoy them. More than 100 species of birds have been identified in the park.

Four major natural communities provide a way of understanding the park’s wildlife patterns. The water communities include lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. The sage and grassland community is the most extensive and most often overlooked. The forest community appears randomly distributed, but soil moisture properties, the direction it faces, elevation, and weather patterns influence where trees grow. Blue spruce and cottonwood thrive along valley streams. Aspen, Douglas-fir, and lodgepole pine inhabit the valley and lower slopes. Sub-alpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and limber pine stand on mountainsides and in canyons. The edges where communities meet are richest in wildlife. The alpine community crowning the highcountry shares the least characteristics and organisms with the other three communities.

Water communities call to mind perhaps the trout and beaver (see pages48and following), and lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers interrupt or dot the other three communities. In winter moose inhabit the river flats to browse the cottonwoods and willows.

The pronghorn and sage grouse characterize the wide open sage and grassland community, whose purpose otherwise seems simply to provide the Teton Range a foreground. This world is alive with small birds feeding on masses of insects and spiders. Thesesongbirds, along with gophers, mice, and snakes, provide the diet for weasels, hawks, and ravens. The sage grouse depends largely on the evergreen sagebrush for food. The pronghorns depend on it part-time, being unable to subsist on grasses alone. This is North America’s fastest mammal, able to run at more than 45 miles per hour. For added security it boasts oversize lungs and windpipe, and the largest eyes by body weight of any mammal. Faster yet is the prairie falcon that hunts these flats, streaking out of the sky at speeds up to 200 miles per hour.

An aspen grove of only 27 trunks may shelter more than 12 pairs of birds—house wrens, mountain bluebirds, swallows, and woodpeckers. It may also shelter an understory of young spruce and fir that could one day replace it. Deer and elk wander out of the forest to browse the aspen, which can produce more than 2.5 tons dry weight of vegetation per acre. Ironically, aspen have suffered somewhat in the park for lack of forest fires. It turns out that fire suppression suppresses aspens, which recover burned areas quickly. In respect of natural processes, the park now practices wildfire management instead of complete suppression, except where human life and private property might be threatened.

The alpine world (see pages36-37) stands as magic for some. Its lilliputian scale fascinates. A tiny rabbit, the pika (or cony), gathers grasses there all summer in miniature haystacks you may discover. The yellow-bellied marmot, on the other hand, stores fat, its body being adapted to pass the winter in hibernation. Surprising numbers of insects are found there. And spiders wander the snowfields to feed on cold-sluggish insects blown up from warmer elevations.

Diminutive alpine creatures aren’t seen from a car, but much of the park’s wildlife bounty reveals itself to casual observers. The national park tries to offer the wild community a haven where natural processes can work, but this is no simple task. The park includes only portions of some creatures’ annual ranges. And underlying the ideal balance of natural processes are complex relationships we only gradually unravel.

BobcatWeaselYellow-bellied marmotsPikaMooseDeer mouseCoyoteElk calfBadgerBlack bearSnowshoe HarePronghorn (antelope)Mule DeerUinta ground squirrelBeaverPorcupine

Bobcat

Weasel

Yellow-bellied marmots

Pika

Moose

Deer mouse

Coyote

Elk calf

Badger

Black bear

Snowshoe Hare

Pronghorn (antelope)

Mule Deer

Uinta ground squirrel

Beaver

Porcupine

YellowthroatKilldeerScreech owlBlue grousePrairie falconGreat gray owlSandhill craneSage grouseBald eagleMountain bluebirdGreentail towheeSteller’s jayGoshawkCanada gooseWestern tanagerCommon snipe

Yellowthroat

Killdeer

Screech owl

Blue grouse

Prairie falcon

Great gray owl

Sandhill crane

Sage grouse

Bald eagle

Mountain bluebird

Greentail towhee

Steller’s jay

Goshawk

Canada goose

Western tanager

Common snipe

ColumbineSugarbowlLeopard lilyMountain or False dandelionGeraniumYellow violetPhloxLow larkspurCalypso orchidGreen gentianIndian paintbrushYarrowLewis flaxHarebellMule earsScarlet gilia

Columbine

Sugarbowl

Leopard lily

Mountain or False dandelion

Geranium

Yellow violet

Phlox

Low larkspur

Calypso orchid

Green gentian

Indian paintbrush

Yarrow

Lewis flax

Harebell

Mule ears

Scarlet gilia

Anglers on the Snake face a dilemma. With each backcast, tantalizing pools and riffles vie for attention.

Grand Teton National Park sits in northwest Wyoming just below Yellowstone National Park. By road Grand Teton is reached from the north via Yellowstone on Routes 89, 191, and 287. From the east, Routes 26 and 287 connect the park with Dubois, Wyoming, via Togwotee Pass. From the south the park is reached through Jackson, Wyoming, via Routes 26, 89, and 191. Routes 191 and 189 link Jackson with Interstate 80 to the south. From the west, Route 22 over Teton Pass links Jackson with Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Interstate 15 west of Idaho Falls.

Lofty peaks.

From valley floor to lofty peaks, artists face a similar dilemma: what not to paint.

The Jackson-Rock Springs Stage, (307) 733-3133, provides daily summer connections to Greyhound Bus Lines in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The address is 72 S. Glenwood, Jackson, WY 83001. From early June through mid-September the Grand Teton Lodge Company runs regular bus service between Jackson Lake Lodge and Jackson twice daily. The company also meets all incoming flights at the airport (seemap) and runs a service to Signal Mountain Lodge, Colter Bay, and Jackson Lake Lodge. The company runs shuttlebuses daily between Jackson Lake Lodge and Colter Bay. Holiday Tours and Gray Line of Jackson Hole offer one-day tours of Yellowstone National Park from Jackson. Individuals may book overnight or longer passage to Old Faithful on Grayline of Jackson Hole tours, but no in-park transportation is available in Yellowstone.

Some useful distances: Denver to Grand Teton, 500 miles; Salt Lake City to Grand Teton, 288 miles; and Idaho Falls to Grand Teton, 105 miles.

Please note that public transportation to and around the park is not always regularly scheduled or frequently available. If you intend to rely on busservice for travel inside the park, plan carefully and be prepared for long waits between bus arrivals and departures in parts of the park. Hitchhiking is illegal in Wyoming.

Local taxi service is limited, but it is available. The Jackson Hole Transportation Company, (307) 733-3135, provides ground transportation for Teton Village and Jackson to and from the airport, and service to and from Flagg Ranch on the Rockefeller Parkway.

Scheduled airlines serve the Jackson Hole Airport, 7 miles north of Jackson on Highway 26, 89, and 191. Denver, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Idaho Falls, Idaho, all offer connecting flights to Jackson. Flights arrive and depart several times daily in summer; less frequently in the off season. Check with your travel agent for flight schedules as well as ski package rates for winter travel to the Jackson Hole area.

Avis (307) 733-3422, Budget (307) 733-2206, Hertz (307) 733-2272, and National (307) 733-4132 offer car rentals. All but Budget, which provides airport pick-up and delivery, are located at the Jackson airport.

All major park roads are two-lane and paved. Summer months coincide with road repairs and re-surfacing. It is possible to have short delays (up to one hour) while maintenance crews repair old and build new road surfaces.

Many bicyclists ride along the narrow Teton Park Road between Moose and Colter Bay (see map). Traffic is very heavy from mid-June to Labor Day and both cyclists and motorists should be alert to possible hazards.

Grand Teton National Park, P.O.Drawer 170, Moose, WY 83012. (307)733-2880.

Grand Teton National Park, P.O.

Drawer 170, Moose, WY 83012. (307)

733-2880.

Wyoming Travel CommissionCheyenne, WY 82002(307) 777-7777.

Wyoming Travel Commission

Cheyenne, WY 82002

(307) 777-7777.

Jackson Hole Area Chamber of CommerceBox E, Jackson, WY 83001(307) 733-3316.

Jackson Hole Area Chamber of Commerce

Box E, Jackson, WY 83001

(307) 733-3316.

Grand Teton Natural History AssociationPO. Drawer 170, Moose, WY83012(307) 733-2880.

Grand Teton Natural History Association

PO. Drawer 170, Moose, WY83012

(307) 733-2880.

Grand Teton National ParkHigh-resolution Map

To best use your time, make your first stop the Moose Visitor Center (south end) or the Colter Bay Visitor Center (north end). Ask the ranger at the desk about park activities and services. And ask for tips about what you can see and do in the time you have. You may even decide to lengthen your stay in the Tetons.

Moose Visitor Centerincludes information services, a publications sales outlet, and a backcountry and boating permits office. This building also houses the park headquarters and all administrative offices. Summer hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; from Labor Day to mid-May 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The visitor center is on the Teton Park Road just west of Moose Junction. Check the map in advance. With such impressive scenery you can easily miss this junction.

Colter Bay Visitor Centerincludes the Indian Arts Museum, free film showings, a publications sales outlet, and a backcountry and boating permits office for the park’s north end. Summer hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; from Labor Day to the end of September, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed from October to mid-May. Check the map in advance and watch for the sign that will direct you to the Colter Bay area and its Colter Bay Visitor Center, 6 miles north of Jackson Lake Junction and 17 miles south of Yellowstone National Park. The Indian Arts Museum there houses the extensive David T. Vernon Collection of Native American Arts. Be sure to inquire about museum tours and Indian arts and crafts activities.

Colter Bay Visitor Center serves park visitors in summer.

Moose Visitor Center is open all year.

At either visitor center pick up a copy of the free park newspaper,Teewinot. Turn to the calendar-style activities schedule and look it over at the desk so you can get the ranger’s advice on the best activities for you and your party.Teewinotalso lists concession-operated accommodations, services, and facilities. These offer many valuable ways to experience the park. TheTeewinotis also available at park entrance stations, campgrounds, and concession facilities.

The Indian Arts Museum at Colter Bay houses a large Plains Indian collection. Ranger-guided activities throughout the park provide information about its natural and human history. The Grand Teton Natural History Association sells maps and other publications to enhance your understanding of the park.

Indian crafts

As you drive through the park on the main roads, take your time and stop at the wayside turnouts along the roads. At many turnouts wayside exhibits identify the scene before you and briefly interpret the natural and human history of Jackson Hole and the Teton Range. These turnouts are usually located at excellent scenic viewpoints and provide safe parking areas for viewing and photographing the mountain scene.

From mid-June through Labor Day, park rangers lead activities several times daily throughout the park. These offer ideal ways to see and understand the many natural, historical, cultural, and recreational resources the park offers. These activities are listed inTeewinot, the park newspaper, and are posted at each visitor center and campground. TheTeewinotlisting describes the event and tells you where and when to meet. There are short hikes, short hikes with boat transportation, all-day hikes, wildlife hikes, demonstrations, and campfire programs. Rangers present interpretive programs each night on a variety of subjects throughout the summer at the Gros Ventre, Signal Mountains, and Colter Bay Amphitheaters. All ranger-led activities are free except those requiring modest fees for supplies or transportation.

Informative booklets are available at visitor centers or the trailheads to guide you on short-to-modest hikes along established trails that explore the history or nature of the Tetons and Jackson Hole. These walks are great for families and provide exercise for building up to longer hikes. Self-guiding trails include: Menor’s Ferry Historic Trail, Cascade Canyon Trail, Cunningham Cabin Trail, Taggart Lake Trail, Lunch Tree Hill Trail, and Colter Bay Trail.

Ranger-led hikes provide good introductions to the park.

History comes alive on Menor’s Ferry on the Snake River at Moose.

Campers consult a field guide to identify a duck.

The National Park Service operates five campgrounds in the park on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not accepted. A nightly fee is charged. South to north (see map) the campgrounds are: Gros Ventre, Jenny Lake, Signal Mountain, Colter Bay, and Lizard Creek. All except Jenny Lake (tents only) accommodate tents, trailers, and recreational vehicles. There are no utility hookups. All campgrounds have modern comfort stations. Maximum stay is 7 days at Jenny Lake, 14 days elsewhere. In July and August the campgrounds fill to capacity daily. Jenny Lake fills by 8 a.m.; Signal Mountain and Colter Bay fill between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Lizard Creek fills between 4 and 6 p.m.: and Gros Ventre by early evening. There are trailer dumping stations at Gros Ventre, Signal Mountain, and Colter Bay. Colter Bay has showers, laundry, and propane service.

Additional camping areas are found in nearby national forests and elsewhere outside the park. Camping is not permitted along roadsides or in overlooks or parking areas. Doubling-up in campsites is prohibited. There are no overflow facilities in the park. (Backcountry campers, please see Backcountry Basics.)

There are 10 group camping sites at Colter Bay and five at Gros Ventre. Sites accommodate between 12 and 40 people. The nightly use fee is $1.00 per person. These are available to youth, religious, educational, and other organized groups. Reservations are required. Make them as soon as possible after January 1, by writing the chief ranger at the park address.

Concessioners operate trailer villages with full hookups, showers, and laundry at Colter Bay and Flagg Ranch (in the Rockefeller Parkway). Reservations are advised. For Colter Bay write the Grand Teton Lodge Company address (listed under Accommodations). Write to Flagg Ranch at Moran, WY 83013.

The many concessioners within the park offer cabins, lodge facilities, and rooms. Accommodations concessions in the park and the advance reservations telephone number (area code 307) and address are: Colter Bay Cabins, Jackson Lake Lodge, and Jenny Lake Lodge, 543-2855, write to the Grand Teton Lodge Company, Box 240, Moran, WY 83013; Flagg Ranch, 543-2861 or 733-8761, Box 187, Moran, WY 83013; Moose Enterprises, Inc. (prefer monthly rental), (307) 733-3863, Box 331, Moose, WY 83012; Signal Mountain Lodge, 543-2831 or 733-5470, Box 50, Moran, WY 83013: and Triangle X Ranch (weekly, American plan) 733-2183, Box 120T, Moose, WY 83012. Most of these also provide meals to non-guests. Groceries are sold at Colter Bay, Flagg Ranch, Kelly, Jenny Lake, Moose, and Signal Mountain. For information on commercial enterprises outside the park, write to the chamber of commerce address or the Wyoming Travel Commission address.

Post offices are located at Colter Bay (summer only), Moran, Moose, and Kelly.

Some of the park’s most intriguing aspects reveal themselves only to hikers.

You may think time is fixed but it’s not. Its many speeds here include car time, float time, horseback time, and hiking time. Car time is, well, just car time. Hiking time is Grand Teton time, Jackson Hole time, your time. On great days it’s timeless time. There are more than 225 miles of hiking trails in the park.

The shortest trails are the self-guiding trails 0.5 to 2 miles long. See the list under Ranger-led Activities. The valley trails that run along the base of the Teton Range and take you to the large lakes in front of the mountains are also shorter and less arduous than the mountain trails. The valley trails will pique your interest and help you decide if you wish to hike further into the mountains. You can take a half-day to all-day hike into the canyons between Teton peaks. The walking will be more difficult, requiring some up- and downhill effort, but the rewards—mountain views, wildflowers, and wildlife—are worth it. You can take multiple-day trips over highcountry passes and into the alpine zone. A free backcountry permit is required for all overnight camping.

In the visitor centers you can buy theTeton Trailsguide booklet. It offers shaded relief trail maps, lengths and hiking estimates, scenery identification drawings, and photographs on which you can trace your route. Rangers can direct you to interesting hikes and help you assess the level of difficulty. If you plan to travel off trail you must register at Jenny Lake Ranger Station, or at the Moose Visitor Center from October through May. Overnight travel requires a free backcountry use permit (seeBackcountry Basics).

Wear comfortable and sturdy footgear no matter how far you hope to travel. Even on shorter hikes, be sure to carry raingear. Afternoon thundershowers are common throughout the hiking season and can occur suddenly. The day may be sunny and warm, but a quick drenching rain can spell big trouble for hikers without raingear. Life-threatening hypothermia occurs most often in the 30 to 40°F temperature range, especially if clothing is wet and there is some wind. Be prepared. Don’t take chances. You will also need to carry water on your hike. At high altitudes the sun is hot and the humidity is low; you get thirsty quickly. Microorganisms in stream water can cause intestinal problems 10-14 days after you drink, so use your canteen. (See Water Warning underBackcountry Basics.) Be sure to carry lunch and some high-energy snacks to munch on while you walk. Add sunglasses, sunscreen, a hat, and camera, and you will be prepared to enjoy your day on the trail.

Please read Bear Warning underBackcountry Basics. Pets are not permitted on trails or in the backcountry. Most valley trails are open by early June. Highcountry trails may remain closed by snow until mid-July. Please note that horse parties have the right-of-way on trails. Step well off the trail and remain quiet while horses pass.

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