Exploring Grand Teton- Front country

I had quite a full summer of exploration in the Tetons. Rather than detail everything separately in a different post I’ll do the highlights for the front country here. These are locations and hikes that are easier to access and are near “developed” areas. Say you’re going to visit the Tetons, what would you do? This will be some of the most popular attractions and some that I personally enjoyed being able to do with more time there.

Taggart/Bradley Lake

I ran up to Taggart at least 4 times while I was living in the Tetons. It’s a nice 4 mile hike, uphill the first 1.5 but then it flattens out. I made it up to Bradley once and the view of Taggart Lake from that part of the trail was beautiful. The loop seemed fun and was on my list but I never had time unfortunately. Would recommend as an easy way to spend a couple hours on a pretty trail. Good hike for acclimating to the elevation.

Jenny Lake

My favorite way to enjoy Jenny Lake was by biking (I bought a bike from Headwall in town, a used goods store). I biked on the 22 something mile pathway from my housing to Jenny lake. That pathway goes from Jackson to Jenny and is 22 miles but I was only about 5 miles away from the lake. Once at Jenny I would jump in the cold water, swim around a bit and then dry off in the sun and bike home. Great way to spend the afternoon and avoid the chaos of trying to park at Jenny lake before 9am or after 5pm.

String Lake

I wish I had spent more time at String! I did the hike from String around Leigh Lake, almost to Bearpaw one day. It was about a 7 or 8 mile hike out and back to Bearpaw but Leigh Lake is absolutely beautiful, especially around the side. String lake is great for swimming. It’s the warmest of the lakes because it’s so shallow but it’s also beautiful. It’s busy, lots of kayakers, families, and paddle boarders, so later in the summer it’s harder to get parking in mid afternoon. Lots of picnic areas too and they have bear boxes so you can actually secure your stuff and go for a swim.

Mormon Row

I spent majority of my summer collecting data at Mormon Row. That’s the whole reason I was in the Tetons anyway! Mormon Row is a great stop for families or people who don’t want to spend as much time hiking, or if you don’t get to Jenny or String in time to get a spot. It’s most beautiful at sunrise or sunset, which is actually what I was observing (how busy it was during different hours of the day) but it’s busy for a reason. Also has a really interesting history.

Jackson Lake Lodge

2 words. HUCKLEBERRY MILKSHAKES. If you are in the Jackson Lake area, stop by the lodge and go to the Pioneer cafe and order a huckleberry milkshake, you will not be disappointed. I spent a decent amount of time in the Jackson Lake area. In terms of hiking trails there’s less in this area of the park than in the south side but I did make it on the trails there. My roommate and I did the Emma Matilda/Grandview/Two Oceans hike really early in the season after camping at Flagg Ranch in a camper cabin. This area is where there are generally more grizzly sightings and the Two Oceans trail was a little scary. It was just the 2 of us and we saw both a fresh wolf print and a bear print, and there was no one else on that trail and the sight lines weren’t great. I would recommend Emma Matilda over Two Oceans for the views also. The view of Emma Matilda and Mt Moran from the ridge are awesome. I actually got that same view from a horseback ride with my aunt that left from Jackson Lake Lodge. It was a nice 2 hour ride around that area.

Colter Bay

I was actually supposed to live up in the Colter Bay Area but those plans changed. I spent one evening at Swim Beach for the sunset. Swim Beach is great for families, groups, if you aren’t feeling up for hiking and just want to relax and swim. You can paddleboard or kayak too. There are campsites across Jackson Lake that you can paddle to but I never made it out there- probably because I don’t own a boat or raft. I also did the Hermitage Point trail with my aunt. 10 miles out and back, it only took us 3.5 hours because it was flat but you could definitely take more time. We also ran into 2 black bears and I think the likelihood of bear encounters in the Colter Bay and Jackson Lake areas are high- there’s just less people on those trails and they are very wooded. The Hermitage trail was nice though. The colter bay marina was dried up because Jackson Lake is low this year and the day we hiked it was hazy from wildfire smoke but you could still see the mountains so it wasn’t that bad.

Snake River

Of course you can access the Snake from a ton of different points in the park. Some notable photography spots- Schwabacker's Landing and Oxbow Bend. I did a kayak float trip from Jackson Dam to Pacific Creek- there's boat launch areas in these places and it's super easy. There are leeches near Oxbow Bend so make sure to clean, drain and dry your boat! Also can't recommend enough the Dave Hansen Whitewater tours that go on the Snake through Hoback. Super relaxing and some fun rapids- we saw 4 bald eagles too.