Grand Teton was the last park of our 2023 trip, right before Claire was born. It gets overshadowed a bit by Yellowstone (they share a border), but in my opinion it’s just as beautiful and even more enjoyable. No sulfurous smells and plenty of incredible scenery.
We looked at the options for park lodging, debated about staying in Jackson Hole – a touristy area just outside the park – and ended up choosing a cute cabin at Colter Bay Village. Colter Bay is part of a collection owned by the Grand Teton Lodge Company, and GTLC is kind of a one-stop shop of lodging, dining, and activities. The cabins at Colter Bay are about a hundred years old! They were salvaged by John D. Rockefeller when he developed this area. We loved the idea of literally experiencing history until Greg found a mouse in our bed.
Yes, Greg definitely thought about climbing The Grand Teton. This trip was right at the peak of his interest in rock climbing – no pun intended. Right before our trip, he ended up chatting with a good family friend who had summited Grand Teton multiple times. It sounds amazing. It also sounds strenuous and time consuming and not something you do with five kids + a pregnant wife. Another time!
From the northern end of Yellowstone National Park, up near the Montana border, we wound our way down Grand Loop Road, past Mount Washburn, through Canyon Village, along the Yellowstone River, past Mud Volcano, down the west side of Yellowstone Lake, out the south entrance station and on to the Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, and then finally down the east side of Jackson Lake to Colter Bay Village. Our first evening there, we went to the Ranch House for local trout and huckleberry ice cream. We were back in our cozy cabin just in time for a torrential rain storm.
The next morning, Jackson Lake Lodge nervously canceled our horseback riding reservation out of concerns about the mud, but a few phone calls later we were on our way to Swift Creek Outfitters, where Greg, Sophia, and Zoe had a delightful ride through the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
We hiked the Lakeshore Trail at Colter Bay, a figure-eight shaped pensinsula stretching out into Jackson Lake. It’s a perfect place for kids to stretch their legs! Lunch was a quick stop at Oxbow Bend on our way toward Jackson Hole.
“What’s the best way for five young children to really experience the Tetons?” we asked ourselves at some point. A last-minute answer to this question was the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram, a jaw-dropping way to ascend 4,000 feet in about 10 minutes and stroll around the top of Rendezvous Peak for stunning views of the Tetons. It was fantastic! Right at the top, there’s a tiny ski shack called Corbet’s Cabin that serves world-famous waffles and hot chocolate. We heard about this place on a documentary called Top Ten National Park Adventures and it was pretty cool to actually be there. As you can imagine it was absolutely freezing. We wandered around the peak, had a small taste of the Rendezvous Mountain hiking trail, ventured out on the Grand Teton skywalk (a narrow platform suspended in midair above a terrifying valley), and rode the Sweetwater gondola for more mountain views.
I really wanted to eat dinner at the Mangy Moose, just because of the name, but we ended up at Handfire Pizza instead (an excellent choice) sipping National Park Series “Old Faithful” root beer. We had to stop near the Jackson Lake Overlook on our way back because sunset over the Tetons is so incredible.
The next morning, we saw an elk! We were one of those cars holding up traffic as a majestic animal emerges from the forest and “poses” for photos. There’s also a particular stretch of road right over by Jackson Lake Dam that is a classic Grand Teton scene, so we stopped accordingly and took pictures.
We took the Jenny Lake shuttle and hiked to Hidden Falls. The shuttle is a fun open air boat that goes across a lovely glacial lake and takes you from the Jenny Lake Visitor Center to the Cascade Canyon trailhead. The weather was perfectly crisp and sunny and the trail was excellent, which made up for hiking with a few grumpy kids. After reaching Hidden Falls, we returned along Cascade Creek and spent a while climbing around the boulders there before our return shuttle.
We “pointed our toes,” as they say in Robin Hood, toward Rapid City (to catch our flight home the next morning) and ended up on a long stretch of open road where herds of mountain deer kept jumping out in front of us. Miraculously we made it to Gillette, Wyoming, without murdering any deer. We pulled into Arbuckle Lodge at the same time as 500 high school golfers, and I think it’s safe to say none of us got much sleep that night.
Our flight was moved an hour earlier at the last minute so we sped into Rapid City to return our rental car and check our bags before it was too late. We got to our gate and boarded the plane right on time, silently congratulating ourselves on another successful national park trip, but after sitting on the runway for an hour, our captain made the surprising announcement that the plane was too heavy. “We need 13 people to stay behind,” he said easily, as if it was nothing to simply hang out in South Dakota for a few extra days. “Everyone’s getting off while we sort this out.” Dazed and confused, we got off the plane and settled down in the boarding area, hoping other travelers had more flexible schedules than us. It took a while for everyone to realize the airline crew wasn’t kidding. This delay led to the purchase of extra snacks for the kids, which cost a small fortune. In the end, we did make it back to Charlotte, praise God, minus 13 passengers.
This was an epic trip, one of our longest and most extensive (at 5 national parks). We started with Wind Cave, then Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt, then the road trip through Montana and into Wyoming for Yellowstone, and then finally Grand Teton. It’s hard to pick a favorite but easy to pick a least favorite (Wind Cave, no offense). This was our first taste of the Wild West and we loved it.
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Note: 83 days after this trip we welcomed Claire Elizabeth to our family. Claire missed our first 28 national parks but she’ll be with us for the next 35! I love this photo below because it reminds me that the same God who created these giant mountains formed each tiny part of our baby girl.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
Psalm 139:13-15