Summer Road Trip Part II of III: Grand Teton National Park (Park #2)

Last week, I wrote about the first stop on our trip, Dinosaur National Monument (read about that park here). Today, I will be talking about our adventure in Grand Teton National Park--and an adventure it was.

When researching Grand Teton NP I learned that they have several campgrounds in the park (listed here), none of which offer reservations. According to the National Parks site and other reviews I read, this is not a huge deal as you can usually find a spot without much trouble into the afternoon. For those of you that know me, I'm a bit of a type A personality. Planning is my happy place. So please know that scheduling a section of our trip for which we had no confirmed reservation took a lot of deep breathing and reassuring self-talk.

Given that lead in, this is part where I tell you we rolled in, found a great spot, and all was good, right? Grand Teton exploration begin! No can do. We were traveling over the 4th of July holiday. So was everyone else in the free world. We arrived in the park in the afternoon and found out all campgrounds were full. Had been full, in fact, since 8:15am that morning. At this point, all of my my worst nightmares about vacation planning gone awry became a reality and I became a really helpful, productive, fun person to travel with. I'm sorry Ryan. I now recognize the error in my ways. What happened next was 2 hours or so of driving around, looking for spots outside of the park. I'll spare you the nitty-gritty details. Suffice it to say, after stopping at Colter Bay Ranch House for some food (and children's menus that turned into hats), we located two options for camping and saw a moose!

We planned to be in Grand Teton National Park for two nights. Spending them in a campground outside of the park was not ideal but, for our first night, we made it work. The Ranger at the entrance station was nice enough to share a list of campgrounds outside, but near the park with us.

The Ranger told us that camping off the road in Bridger-Teton National Forest, which borders the National Park, is totally legit. However, given that we had not brought our porta-potty, and this was our first night camping in bear country, we wanted to try to find a campsite We started with Pacific Creek. This campground was down a dirt road (which was well graded) and had a spot (Success!). However, the spot was right by a creek and the mosquitos swarmed you the second you stepped outside of the car (Fail). We kept moving.

Our next stop was Turpin Meadows. This campground is down mainly paved roads (it may have been all paved... at this point in the night retaining details was not my strong suit). Turpin Meadows is popular for people with horses as there is a trailhead located next to the campground. This ended up being awesome because, although the campground was full, you are allowed to camp at the trailhead for a $12 overnight fee. We found a spot in the grassy meadow, did some major shifting of gear to get all food items into the cab of our truck, and tucked in for the night. Although we took off early the next day to find a spot in the park, if you want to camp away from the park and still have a few campground facilities, Turpin Meadows was a great spot. The campground has pit toilets, fire pits, and picnic tables at each site and the drive to the park's Moran entrance gate is about 20 minutes. Also, the road to get in boasts great views of a picturesque valley where we saw horses grazing and, in the morning, a herd of elk.

After getting up early and driving into the park a little before 8am, we were able to secure a spot at Signal Mountain Campground. Signal Mountain ended up being a great spot. We were in site 61, which provided privacy, close proximity to a restroom, and a full-service campground. We stayed in a non-electric site, which was $33, but the campground did have 24 sites with electricity for $50 a night and one with full hook-ups for something around $65 a night. Signal Mountain also has a lodge, restaurants, a store, gas station, showers, and laundry facilities. We had reservations for the following night but, once situated, regretted not adding a few more days to our Grand Teton stay.

Once we were set-up and everyone had had breakfast, we set out to explore the park. Our first stop was the Moose Visitor Center for Junior Ranger packets. The visitor center had some cool displays and we would have loved to explore a bit more, however, Henry was having none of it and we had to head out. As you can see from the one picture I was able to take, the views from the visitor's center do not suck.

As part of the Junior Ranger badge, kids have to attend a Ranger led program. We ended up attending a talk at Menor's Ferry and it was a fun area to visit (more on the Menor Ferry Historic District here). Although it wasn't running during our visit, if you go when the water isn't too high the National Park Service shuttles visitors back and forth across the river on an old ferry very much like the one there during Bill Menor's heyday. Although we couldn't ride the ferry, we where able to walk the short, paved, section along the river that takes you past several buildings. The General Store, connected to Bill Menor's cabin, sells old fashioned candies, sarsaparilla, and other goodies. The kids were big fans of this stop and we bought a few treats before heading out.

There is also a transportation barn, which contains old wagons, sleds, and other forms of transportation, and the Maud Noble Cabin. Maud Noble bought the ferry business from Bill Menor and her cabin is the site of the meeting that ultimately led to Grand Teton becoming a National Park. The formation of the park is a fascinating story which involves John D. Rockefeller secretly buying land around the Tetons and donating it to the federal government. The National Park Service has set up the cabin as a museum that chronicles the history behind Grand Teton National Park. Visiting the cabin displays or attending the Ranger led program is a great way to learn about the formation of the park and the bumps along the way.

At this point, we had plans to visit a few more areas of the park but Henry had other ideas. As we later learned, he was coming down with the cold that Ryan had had previously and he wasn't up to much activity. We headed back to camp and he hung out with his Dad while the girls and I utilized the shower and laundry facilities at Signal Mountain--both of which were very nice. The showers are set up on a token system. It was $5.00 for seven minutes and each shower is in its own room with a sink, bench, mirror, and outlet. We didn't have to wait at all and the facility was super clean.

Like all the campgrounds we visited, we had great neighbors! At this camp, we met a family from Minnesota with two little girls. We ended up roasting marshmallows together after dinner. The Dad was from France and the Mom from Germany. The girls were blown away that the kids (five and two) spoke three languages. They were a little miffed that we had only taught them English. Sorry kids.

Before heading out the next day we hiked up Lunch Tree Hill. This was the location that the Rockefeller family and Horace Albright, the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park at the time, had lunch and discussed the plan to help preserve the Grand Teton area--hence the name. The trail is a short (half a mile round trip), paved, up and back trail located behind the Jackson Lake Lodge. The views from the top are gorgeous and it is a very doable walk for kids. Side note, if you want to stay in a lodge facility while visiting, the Jackson Lake Lodge is a beautiful place. The views are killer and they have outdoor dining that overlooks the entire Teton range.

And just like that, our stay at Grand Teton NP had come to an end. Following Grand Teton, we stayed at Bill Cody Ranch outside of Cody, Wyoming for two nights and enjoyed some Dude Ranch activities. Bill Cody was a good stop for a brief camping break with a rustic, ranch vibe, and the kids loved the horses. Also, there was a 4th of July parade and funnel cake in town, so that was pretty awesome.

In all honesty, we were not able to see all that we wanted in Grand Teton. Not even close. We planned poorly in terms of days allotted and all agreed that we will need to come back. This fact, coupled with a cold that hit Ryan, Henry, and Ella, as well as the camping debacle that started the visit added some stress to the trip. However, we loved the park and look forward to visiting the Teton area again! Here is what we learned during our visit:

Bring bikes! This park has a number of paved bike trails that are all relatively flat and traverse some of the main park hot spots.
Boating--there are a number of lakes within the park. We were not able to visit the Jenny Lake area (which is very popular) but there is a ferry shuttle that will take you across to Inspiration Point. Rental boats are also available if you want to spend a day cruising one of the Teton lakes.
Due to illnesses, we were not able to hike. There were so many great options. I would have loved to do the Hidden Falls trail (which is also accessible via the Jenny Lake Ferry). If traveling with small people, this link on the top ten easy hikes within the park is very helpful.
Grand Teton NP is mainly a driving park. Most people drive private cars around as there is no park shuttle service. Although that may change soon as, according to one of the park Rangers, Grand Teton National Park continues to increase in popularity. In 2016 they reached 4 million visitors and this year they are likely to exceed 5 million.
If you are arriving on a busy day, reserve a room for your first night and drive the campsites when you arrive. If you see someone set to leave the next day, their exit date will be written on the reservation slip clipped by their campsite number, (nicely) ask them if you can leave a few chairs or other items with them. When they leave they can set your chairs up in the site. As long as you arrive shortly after they depart (the campground asks that fees are paid within 30 minutes of occupying the site) you can pay your fees and the site will be yours. We learned from a few people that this is how most people do it so it makes finding a good site, last minute, extra difficult if you don't know the drill.
If you arrive at the campground in the morning, campground hosts pull all departing site reservation slips by about 8am. However, campers have until 11am to vacate their site. If you drive through and a site does not have a reservation slip, those people are leaving that day. Most people didn't know this and were looping through the site over and over even though a number of sites were vacating that day.

That's a wrap on Grand Teton National Park! Let me leave you with this fun fact. The mountains were named by a number of groups throughout history. However, the name given by French fur trappers "Les Trois Tetons," is the one that stuck. This translates to, "The Three Breasts." All I can say is, those fur trappers must have been some lonely dudes because, when I look at those craggy peaks jutting out of the valley floor, the last thing on my mind is a trio of breasts. Also, there are three main peaks. Three. So, like I said, lonely dudes. See you in a week for a Yellowstone post!