Mountain West Trip:Grand Tetons & Jackson Hole

Today I’m continuing on with another post about our Mountain West Trip. If you remember we left off on our Part 2 from Yellowstone. That night we stayed at the Head Waters Lodge at Flagstaff. This was a cabin like room with all the amenities you need except TV and internet. We did have a little bit of a walk from our car to our cabin, but there are sidewalks and luggage carts to help you lug all your stuff to your cabin. After a very hard sleep, we woke up and loaded the car back up and walked over to Sheffield’s at Headwaters Lodge and had a nice big breakfast at their buffet. Then we headed out towards the Tetons!

So as you can see from the map below since were headed in from Headwaters we entered in the North Entrance of the park.
Click map to see larger view. You can click again to zoom in even more. (Original Map Courtesy of )

From the map above you see we drove down Highway 89. The photos I’m sharing are some of my favorites from the day. This by far is no comprehensive list of all the turnouts or overlook, but it allows you see just how magnificent the Tetons are! What I loved about stopping at all the different turnouts/overlooks along Highway 89 is the unique and different perspectives you get of the Teton Mountain Range. These stops have been carefully arranged to give you different views and angles of this gorgeous place.

Just before entering the park we opened the GyPSy Guide App so we could get narration as we drove through We did the Yellowstone/Teton Combo for $10 since the next day we’d be driving through the Tetons. This is an audio tour app that you download on your phone and bluetooth through your car radio so everyone can hear it. This app is worth every penny! The only issue we had was because of the way our rental car radio worked. We had to reconnect after almost every time we turned the car off.

As the Tetons came into sight, I was so upset with the cloud cover. It did make for some pretty dramatic pics and you’ll see at the day went on the clouds lifted almost completely. 44°0’26.784″ N 110°41’20.934″ W

Rob had to go to the bathroom already so we stopped at Leek’s Marina & Pizzeria. I got out and took some pictures while we were there. (43°55’36.336″ N 110°38’18.114″ W)

Then we continued on and just kept snapping pics, because I mean. Holy Cow! 43°54’16.632″ N 110°37’12.84″ W

Jackson Lake Lodge was another major stop along our drive. I enjoyed learning about the history of the lodge from the GyPSy App. (Jackson Lake Lodge history)

The panoramic view from inside Jackson Lake Lodge is so breathtaking!

After exiting the back of the lodge you can see the full view. Definitely photo time!

Lunch Tree Hill Loop Trail can be entered just side of the lodge, which is about 1/2 mile loop. We chose not to hike the trail, because honestly Rob and I were still pretty tired from the day before.

Views from Jackson Lake Overlook

Mount Moran Turnout, which obviously is a great place to stop to get gorgeous pics of this mountain. Mount Moran climbs 6,00 feet (1,800 m) in the northern section of the Teton Range above Jackson Lake.

This is Mount Moran! Picture taken from 43°48’32.862″ N 110°37’22.914″ W.

This was a shot while driving. Either than or we pulled over. 43°48’4.662″ N 110°40’44.7″ W

Mountain View Turnout

My advise to people when visiting national parks is to not only take in the ‘big picture,’ the mountains views, etc. but to also look down. If you’re into photography take pictures of the little things. Bug, flowers, small animals. There’s beauty in the little things.

Cathedral Group Turnout is must stop because here is the viewpoint where you can best view the Cathedral Group. This is tallest mountains of the Teton Range. The highest peak of this group is the Grand Teton, which peaks at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above Jackson Hole valley. I believe the pic below is THE Grand Teton. Can you believe people have skied/snowboarded down that?

Jenny Lake Views 43°46’44.352″ N 110°43’14.256″ W The views around Jenny Lake are some of the best. There’s a trail around Jenny Lake (map). However, we decided to keep driving instead.

Jenny Lake Overlook 43°46’1.392″ N 110°43’2.088″ W

Windy Point Turnout gives you a southern angle of the aforementioned Grand Teton.

Chapel of the Transfiguration built in 1925 to serve guests and employees of the dude ranches that stretched north of Jackson along the base of the Teton Range. The large window behind the alter (pictured below) showcases of the Cathedral Group of peaks.

From there we followed signs to Mormon Row, which is a historical district that’s a popular tourist and photographer attraction. The beautiful barns with the panoramic Teton views cannot be missed.

Besides taking way too many pictures of barns while there, I also enjoyed watching the Uinta ground squirrels, which I was calling Prairie Dogs.

Schwabachers Landing is a location on the Snake River that is almost exactly east of Grand Teton. The terrain flattens out and give easy access to the river. We took short hike to see if we saw any animals with no luck. 43°42’26.646″ N 110°40’18.294″ W

After leaving there we decided to head on over to Jackson Hole, where we were staying that evening. Once we got to Jackson Hole we drove by the ski resorts.

Then we continued on into downtown where we were staying in the Ranch Inn.

That evening we walked around Jackson Hole. There’s lots of cute store and many intriguing restaurants. This Yippy I O Candy Company was a really cool place. It specializes in huckleberry products, which we got several things (jam, candy, and even huckleberry flavored chocolate). All very good!

We had a hard time figuring out where to eat. We were surprised to see a Moe’s BBQ there. That’s on of our favorite places to eat in our downtown. We finally ended up at The Merry Piglets Mexican Grill, which prides itself on being Jackson’s longest running Mexican restaurant.

If you’d like to see more pics from our day click>>>Grand Teton Pics

See full list of posts from this trip>>>Mountain West Trip

Look Tuesday (fingers crossed!) for my next Mountain West Trip post where we continue on to Utah.

Camera Info:
Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera
Canon EF 24–105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens
Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II
iPhone 7