Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (1,300 km2), the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park, to which it is connected by the National Park Service–managed John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Along with surrounding national forests, these three protected areas constitute the almost 18-million-acre (73,000-square-kilometer) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the world's largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems.
Jackson is a town in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 10,760 at the 2020 census, up from 9,577 in 2010. It is the largest town in Teton County and its county seat. Jackson is the principal town of the Jackson, WY-ID Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Teton County in Wyoming and Teton County in Idaho. The town, often familiarly or mistakenly called Jackson Hole, derives its name from the valley in which it is located. Jackson is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the ski resorts Jackson Hole Mountain, Snow King Mountain, and Grand Targhee, as well as Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
Jackson Hole is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County. The term "hole" was used by early trappers, or mountain men, as a term for a large mountain valley. These low-lying valleys, surrounded by mountains and containing rivers and streams, are good habitat for beavers and other fur-bearing animals. Jackson Hole is 55 miles (89 km) long by 6-to-13 miles (10-to-21 km) wide and is a graben valley with an average elevation of 6,800 ft, its lowest point being near the southern park boundary at 6,350 ft.
Jackson Lake is in Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. This natural lake was enlarged by the construction of the Jackson Lake Dam, which was originally built in 1911, enlarged in 1916 and rebuilt by 1989. As part of the Minidoka Project the top 33 ft (10 m) of the lake is used by farmers in Idaho for irrigation purposes under water rights legislation that was enacted prior to the establishment of Grand Teton National Park. The lake is the remnant of large glacial gouging from the neighboring Teton Range to the west and the Yellowstone Plateau to the north. The lake is primarily fed by the Snake River, which flows in from the north, and empties at Jackson Lake Dam. Jackson Lake is one of the largest high altitude lakes in the United States, at an elevation of 6,772 ft (2,064 m) above sea level. The lake is up to 15 mi (24 km) long, 7 mi (11 km) wide and 438 ft (134 m) deep. The water of the lake averages below 60 °F (16 °C), even during the summer.
Jackson Lake Lodge is located near Moran in Grand Teton National Park, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The lodge has 385 rooms, a restaurant, conference rooms, and offers numerous recreational opportunities. The lodge is owned by the National Park Service, and operated under contract by the Grand Teton Lodge Company. The Grand Teton Lodge Company also manages the Jenny Lake Lodge, as well as cabins, restaurants and other services at Colter Bay Village. The lodge is located east of Jackson Lake adjacent to prime moose habitat below the Jackson Lake Dam.
Mission 66 was a United States National Park Service ten-year program that was intended to dramatically expand Park Service visitor services by 1966, in time for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Park Service.
Moran is an unincorporated village in south central Teton County, Wyoming, United States: as the community has had two different names, the Board on Geographic Names officially ruled in favor of "Moran" in 1970. It lies in Grand Teton National Park, 29 miles northeast of the city of Jackson, the county seat of Teton County, just northwest by side road of the intersection of U.S. Routes 26, 89, 191 and 287. Its elevation is 6,749 feet (2,057 m) and includes one of the principal entrance-fee collection stations for the Park. Moran also has the post office serving ZIP code of 83013, and a public elementary school; and no other services or businesses.
The Laurance S. Rockefeller (LSR) Preserve is a 1,106 acres (448 ha) refuge within Grand Teton National Park on the southern end of Phelps Lake, Wyoming. The site was originally known as the JY Ranch, a dude ranch. Starting in 1927, John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased much of the land in Jackson Hole for the creation of Jackson Hole National Monument and the expansion of Grand Teton National Park. But he retained the 3,100-acre (1,300 ha) JY Ranch as a family retreat. Over the years the family gave most of the ranch to the national park. Laurance S. Rockefeller donated the final parcel in 2001. The donation came with special preservation and maintenance restrictions, with the vision that the preserve remain a place where visitors can experience a spiritual and emotional connection to the beauty of the lake and the Teton Range.
The Moran Bay Patrol Cabin was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps about 1932. The log structure was located in the northern backcountry of Grand Teton National Park, and was built to a standard design for such structures, in the National Park Service Rustic style, but for the U.S. Forest Service, which administered much of the area prior to the expansion of the park in 1943. The Upper Granite Canyon Patrol Cabin is similar.
The AMK Ranch is a former personal retreat on the eastern shore of Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Also known as the Merymare, Lonetree and Mae-Lou Ranch, it was a former homestead, expanded beginning in the 1920s by William Louis Johnson, then further developed in the 1930s by Alfred Berol (Berolzheimer). Johnson built a lodge, barn and boathouse in 1927, while Berol added a larger lodge, new boathouse, and cabins, all in the rustic style.
The Manges Cabin in Grand Teton National Park, also known as the Old Elbo Ranch Homestead Cabin, Mangus Cabin and the Taggart Creek Barn, was built in 1911 by James Manges. Manges was the second settler on the west side of the Snake River after Bill Menor, setting up a homestead near Taggart Creek. James Manges arrived in Jackson Hole in 1910, where he cut wood for Charles or William Wort. Manges' cabin is stated to have been the first two-story structure in the northern part of the valley. A root cellar was excavated beneath. The log and frame structure features wide eaves to keep the winter snow away from the walls. It was heated in winter by a single stove, with one room on each level.
The Jenny Lake Ranger Station Historic District comprises an area that was the main point of visitor contact in Grand Teton National Park from the 1930s to 1960. Located near Jenny Lake, the buildings are a mixture of purpose-built structures and existing buildings that were adapted for use by the National Park Service. The ranger station was built as a cabin by Lee Mangus north of Moose, Wyoming about 1925 and was moved and rebuilt around 1930 for Park Service use. A store was built by a concessioner, and comfort stations were built to Park Service standard plans. All buildings were planned to the prevailing National Park Service Rustic style, although the ranger station and the photo shop were built from parts of buildings located elsewhere in the park.
The historical buildings and structures of Grand Teton National Park include a variety of buildings and built remains that pre-date the establishment of Grand Teton National Park, together with facilities built by the National Park Service to serve park visitors. Many of these places and structures have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The pre-Park Service structures include homestead cabins from the earliest settlement of Jackson Hole, working ranches that once covered the valley floor, and dude ranches or guest ranches that catered to the tourist trade that grew up in the 1920s and 1930s, before the park was expanded to encompass nearly all of Jackson Hole. Many of these were incorporated into the park to serve as Park Service personnel housing, or were razed to restore the landscape to a natural appearance. Others continued to function as inholdings under a life estate in which their former owners could continue to use and occupy the property until their death. Other buildings, built in the mountains after the initial establishment of the park in 1929, or in the valley after the park was expanded in 1950, were built by the Park Service to serve park visitors, frequently employing the National Park Service Rustic style of design.
Flagg Ranch is a privately operated resort located in the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway corridor between Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. The location was initially occupied in the 1890s by the Snake River Military Station, part of a network of U.S. Army outposts for patrol and management of Yellowstone National Park in its early years under military administration. The outpost operated under Army control until 1906, when the land to the south of the Yellowstone boundary were turned over to the U.S. Forest Service, becoming Teton National Forest in 1908. The station became a stopping point for travelers between Jackson, Wyoming and Yellowstone, easily identifiable by the flags that flew over it.
Jenny Lake Lodge is a luxury resort concession in Grand Teton National Park. Located close to the base of the Teton Range at Jenny Lake, the resort as operated since the 1920s, when Tony Grace established the Danny Ranch, a dude ranch, on the site, with two rental cabins. The ranch was purchased by the Snake River Land Company, which made improvements starting around 1933, under the auspices of its operating company, the Teton Investment Company. The ranch's lodge burned in 1935, but a new lodge was built, accompanied by enough cabins to accommodate 65 guests.
The Berry Creek Trail is a 12-mile (19 km) long hiking trail in the far northern region of Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The trail begins at the National Park Service patrol cabin north of Wilcox Point on Jackson Lake and extends to Jackass Pass at the border between the park and Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Located in the remote northern backcountry of Grand Teton National Park, the trail is not connected to maintained trails in the southern part of the park and must be accessed from the Glade Creek trailhead in the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. From Glade Creek, it is a 7.5 mi (12.1 km) hike to the Berry Creek Trail and then another 6.7 mi (10.8 km) to Jackass Pass. The Berry Creek Trail provides the easiest access to Survey Peak. The trail requires numerous stream crossings which can be dangerous during spring melt.
The Hermitage Point Trail is a hiking trail in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The trailhead is at the Colter Bay Village parking area and provides a loop totalling 9.7 miles (15.6 km) to Hermitage Point and back along the shores of Jackson Lake. The trail passes by several wetland areas as well as Heron Pond and Swan Lake. There are no camping areas on the trail.
The Heron Pond Swan Lake Trail is a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) long hiking trail in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. From the Hermitage Point trailhead, a number of trails include short loop hikes around Heron Pond and Swan Lake and a longer hike of 5.5 miles (8.9 km) one-way connects Colter Bay Village with Jackson Lake Lodge. The trails are over easy terrain and provide excellent wildlife viewing opportunities.
The Colter Bay Lakeside Trail is a 2-mile (3.2 km) roundtrip hiking trail in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. From the Colter Bay Marina trailhead, two short loop hikes from Colter Bay Village are connected by a causeway. The trail follows the shoreline of Jackson Lake with the Teton Range off to the west across the lake.
The following articles relate to the history, geography, geology, flora, fauna, structures and recreation in Grand Teton National Park.
