Thinking about a trip to Grand Teton National Park and need help with your itinerary? Grand Teton National Park is Yellowstone’s less famous southern neighbor, but it is no less impressive.

Due to limited time off work, we visited Grand Teton NP on a separate trip from Yellowstone, but you can easily visit both on your trip if time allows. Check out my Yellowstone itinerary here.

Grand Teton National Park is the only National Park with an airport inside the park boundaries – this being Jackson Hole, WY. Jackson Hole is the most convenient airport to fly into, but airfare and car rentals can be pricey. We opted to save some money by flying into Salt Lake City, but the tradeoff is the 5 hour drive from SLC to Jackson. As with all travel, there are ways to do things on the cheap, but they are often less convenient or less obvious.

One way to keep costs low on National Park trips is to camp! You absolutely must plan ahead and do your research. National Park websites are much better now at indicating which campgrounds accept reservations (they tend to get booked WAY in advance, especially for peak season) and which campgrounds are first come, first served. We arrived at Jenny Lake campground at 6 a.m. to secure a site, but now all Grand Teton campsites are reservable on Recreation.gov!

Day 1

We started the day off in Jackson, getting breakfast at the fantastic Persephone Bakery and picking up some camping equipment and bear spray.

Then we headed to the northern part of the park, soaking in the ever-changing mountain views along the drive. Check out the Signal Mountain Overlook, a shorter hike such as String Lake Loop, or rent a kayak at Coulter Bay.

Grab a drink or dinner at the Jackson Lake Lodge – the views from the lodge are incredible, and there’s a good chance of seeing elk or moose in the willow flats below.

One of the great view points of the park is also known for animal sightings – Oxbow Bend. Animals are most active at dawn and dusk, so head there for sunset and watch the sun set behind the majestic mountains.

Day 2

Start the day off before sunrise to see if you can find some animals! Drive down Moose-Wilson road, in the southwest corner of the park, and look for bears, osprey and moose. Or drive to Antelope Flats, where you’ll see bison and pronghorn, and can also see the famous barns on Mormon Row that make their way into every Grand Teton photo.

Hike Jenny Lake and find a spot to have a picnic, relax, and soak in the views.

Then take a scenic float down the Snake River. Our guide at Solitude Float Trips was excellent. The other highlight for me was seeing my first moose! Because it was late August, the male moose had their full racks of antlers, which I learn they grow a new rack every year, and it weighs up to 60lbs!

Day 3

There are so many hiking opportunities in this park, I really struggled with picking a trail for a long day hike. I’m sure any would have been incredible, but we ended up hiking Cascade Canyon to Lake Solitude and oh my goodnessss was it mind blowing.

Definitely one of my top 5 hikes ever, and I don’t think it has a chance of being replaced. It is long, and we were dead at the end, but so worth it. The scenery is varied, and I still can’t believe how many animals we saw, including sharing the path with a moose! She kept looking back to see if the line of humans giving her lots of space were still there!

We took the Jenny Lake shuttle round trip to save some mileage on our feet, which helped a ton. A shower, a beer and a big meal were in order before hitting a wall and probably falling asleep by 8pm.

Day 4

On our last day, we splurged and signed up for a sunrise wildlife safari with the Teton Science School. After struggling to spot wildlife on our own, our guide not only found many animals, but he also gave us some tips for what to look for (like rustling shrubs) and it was so useful to learn about the animals while we’re observing (or looking for) them.

We took in some more views of the Tetons before making our way back to Jackson and eventually the airport.