Grand Tetons/ Jackson Hole
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Off-Road Ranger I
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Influencer I
Hey there, just saw this thread. I'm around and can definitely point you towards some spots and possibly even show you around.
I sent this to @Ryan Matthes a while back but all of these are great drives/camping areas:
A couple of roads that I'd suggest are the Gros Ventre (pronounced Grow Vont) near Kelly, WY on the east side of GTNP. This is a 30 mile long dirt track that follows a river w/excellent fishing, passes several lakes, has some really neat geology (red hills, lavender hills, grey hills), multiple spur roads/trails, and periodic views of the Tetons. There are several developed FS CGs as well as tons of dispersed camping with several sites large enough for groups.
Shadow Mountain, just north of the Gros Ventre Rd, is a 10 mile loop that has some excellent dispersed camping sites w/incredible views of the Tetons.
Pacific Creek/Swift Creek Rd is just inside the Moran entrance of GTNP but pulls out of the park into USFS. That one is about 8 miles long. There are a couple of pretty hike to lakes a little ways down the road and a FS CG as well as dispersed all along that road.
Brooks Lake Road is a 10 Mile dirt road on USFS land to the northeast of GTNP on the way to Duboise, WY. It loops in from the Hwy and has camping on a beautiful lake at the bottom of the Pinnacle Buttes. This area has a lot of bears though and will often close camping to soft sided tents. It's also a little ways from the parks but may still be a good day trip.
One other option would be the Grassy Lake Rd in John D Rockefeller Jr Parkway just between YNP and GTNP. It's a fairly rough 33 mile long dirt track that cuts between the two parks from Wyoming into Idaho. Dispersed camping on a reservoir and several other places along the road. Most of this route is deep in the forest so after leaving GTNP you won't have any views of the mountains until you come out on the other side. This could be driven as an out and back from the park or as part of a much larger loop completely encircling the Tetons. On that loop you drive past some hike to hot springs on the east end of the road and would pass close to 2 different large waterfalls (Cave Falls & Mesa Falls) on the Idaho end of the road, before coming into Teton Valley where I live. There are quite a few FS roads along the WY/ID border north of Grassy Lake Rd too.
Teton Valley also has a several FS roads heading up the west side of the Tetons that are fun to drive and have great views.
There's a ton of stuff on the other side of Teton Valley in the Big Hole mountains like Packsaddle Lake Rd and also south of Jackson on the Greys River Rd and all around the Palisades Reservoir near Alpine, WY too.
Still hoping to put together a Northern Rockies meetup around here if anyone else is interested!
Thanks so much for the recommendations! I'll do some research on those and see what would work best. We are coming in from the east so those will be great!
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Off-Road Ranger I
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@Dana Ramos You the man! This caused a 20 minute rabbit-hole, desk-wheeling adventure just now!
I worked in Teton NP at the gas station on the highway one summer, this brought back some great memories.
Thanks for that, and i would fully support a meet in that area if at all possible, even travel from South Kalifornia to go!
Dan.
I worked in Teton NP at the gas station on the highway one summer, this brought back some great memories.
Thanks for that, and i would fully support a meet in that area if at all possible, even travel from South Kalifornia to go!
Dan.
Influencer I
Influencer I
Was that the Colter Bay gas station then? I spent my first summer here living and working in the park and have some really great memories from that time.
If people are interested in a meetup, let me know. Late September/early October is a great time to be here. Fall colors, cool temps, no crowds, etc. I'd be stoked to meet some other members and show everyone around my backyard.
Off-Road Ranger I
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Yep, there were two stations in Coulter bay, I was at the one at the highway. Seems like a couple years later they turned it into a convenience store, but it used to be a full service Chevron station.
Man I would try real hard to make a fall trip up there. I may be running out of vacation time though!
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Influencer I
Right on. I'm going to start a post to gauge interest in a get together here. Will let you know how that goes.
Enthusiast I
Thanks for the great tips @Dana Ramos , I'll be in WY mid Sept cruising and looking for spot for nice dispersed camping. And hopefully getting lost. Shadow Mountain really interests me, so I'll probably take your advice, and who knows might join your Northern Rockies meetup group if you get one going during that time. Never been in your State before, so looking forward to explore....and getting lost.
Influencer I
Just did Shadow Mountain road last weekend, no an impromptu side trip while up in Jackson. Extremely beautiful area, but unfortunately we were in a rain cloud the whole time so we didn't get to see any views. I imagine this trail gets snowed out pretty early in the season?
Influencer I
It's not very high elevation over the valley but yeah the valley sits at 6500' and we started getting snow here about 3 weeks ago. It won't be much longer before it's done for the season.
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Off-Road Ranger I
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@Dana Ramos I know you can never predict the weather, especially there, but when do you think is a good time to plan a Spring trip to hit that area? Is end of May too soon?
I've spent too long in a southern climate, I need a reality check in planning a trip up there. I know Spring is beautiful but sometimes late. I need some Teton time!
Dan.
Influencer I
May is probably too early most years. This photo was taken May 9 this year at less than a mile/1000' up one of the forest roads near my house:
June is usually a safe bet to start getting out on some dirt though. Let me know when you're coming though!
Mid June will even be too snowy at high elevations but is really the best time to visit the National Parks in the area, fewer crowds and more wild life. We try to go fathers day weekend each year, but its still quite cold at night.
If you guys do a meet next year I would absolutely try my best to make it from California. I proposed to my wife at Yellowstone a couple years ago and we’ve been itching to come back to the area and see the Tetons ever since!
We would be down too for a northern trip just depends if it overlaps with a couple other trips we have.
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