Grand Teton's road system conveniently carries you by most of the park's famous scenery. Avoid possible traffic congestion (and see more wildlife) by making your road trips in the early morning or late afternoon.

Most visitors enter the park just a few miles north of the town of Jackson on U.S. 26-89-191. Your first views of the Teton peaks appear to the west shortly after you pass the Jackson National Fish Hatchery.

Once you enter the park (about three miles south of Gros Ventre Junction), U.S. 26-89-191 becomes Jackson Hole Highway, which has many turn-outs along its shoulders. Please use them to safely observe or photograph the scenery.

The 43-mile Scenic Loop Drive can be accessed from three points: Moose Junction to the south, Moran Junction to the east and Jackson Lake Junction to the north.

The following highlights are described as if you were traveling in a counterclockwise direction along the loop, starting at the Moose Visitor Center, driving northeast on Jackson Hole Highway to Moran Junction, passing through Jackson Lake Junction and returning south via Teton Park Road to Moose.

Moose Village is 12 miles north of Jackson. Check at the visitor center for directions to Menors Ferry and the Chapel of the Transfiguration. Bill Menor built the first commercial ferry service across the Snake River just before the 20th century, allowing travelers—on foot and horseback—safe passage across its dangerous currents. You can ride a replica of the ferry during peak season (check at a visitor center for schedules). Nearby is Maud Noble Cabin where, in 1923, a group of citizens met with Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Horace Albright and laid the foundation for the creation of Grand Teton National Park. The historic Chapel of the Transfiguration, built in 1925, frames one of the nicest views of the Tetons. Episcopalian services are held there during summer.

Blacktail Ponds Overlook, an excellent place for spotting osprey, moose and other park wildlife, is just 1.3 miles north of Moose Junction.

You may see several private residences on your right (east) as you travel north. These are the homes of inholders; permanent residents who established property rights before the national park was created. The National Park Service has purchased many of these properties while others remain under private ownership within park boundaries.

Don't miss the Snake River Overlook, just one of the numerous turnouts along the northeast route between Moran and Moose junctions. Many consider this the best spot to see the panorama of the Tetons. The willow thickets that flank the river were home to the beaver that attracted the first fur trappers to the region. West of Moran Junction, beyond the park's Moran Entrance Station, the road travels through wetlands along the Snake River. Stop at Oxbow Bend Turnout where Mount Moran acts as a stunning backdrop to glimpses of the river otters, bald eagles, American white pelicans and moose that frequent this stretch of slow-moving water.

Visit Jackson Lake Lodge, located northwest of Jackson Lake Junction, with its huge picture windows overlooking the lake, the marsh known as Willow Flats and the Teton skyline rising in the distance. Take a tour boat from Colter Bay Marina to Elk Island on Jackson Lake. Breakfast and dinner scenic boat tours are available.

Drive down Teton Park Road, past the lake with views of the mountains, to Signal Mountain Lodge and Campground. South of the lodge, watch for the turnoff to Signal Mountain Summit Road, which takes you five miles to a vista 800 feet above the valley floor. There you can see the entire Jackson Hole valley and Teton Range. Trailers and large motor homes are prohibited on the narrow summit road.

South of Signal Mountain Summit Road lies Jenny Lake Scenic Drive, which leads you past the stunning Cathedral Group Turnout, where Grand Teton and its flanking peaks, Teewinot and Mount Owen, form an almost Gothic cluster. This is the only route to Jenny Lake Lodge. Beyond it, the road becomes one-way. Be sure not to miss the Jenny Lake Overlook since you can't back up if you overshoot it. Views into Cascade Canyon may tempt you to stop at South Jenny Lake and take a shuttle boat ride across the water to the scenic trails beyond. You can witness the beauty of Hidden Falls a half-mile from the boat dock.

After leaving the Jenny Lake area, head south back to Moose Village. East of Jenny Lake, Timbered Island is an oasis of trees in the sagebrush flats and home to elk, deer and pronghorn. Teton Glacier Turnout offers great mountain views.

OTHER DESTINATIONS

Colter Bay, north of Jackson Lake Junction, is the location of the park's Indian Arts Museum. Colter Bay Marina is also the jumping-off point for many water activities. From Colter Bay Marina, continue north along the lakeshore 11 miles to the park border where the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway links Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park.

The Moose-Wilson Road runs southwest from Moose past the Death Canyon and Granite Canyon trailheads. Shortly after, it crosses the park's southern boundary and passes Teton Village, where an aerial tram takes summer visitors and winter skiers up the mountainside for a fee. Inside the park, the road is closed to large trucks, trailers and recreational vehicles. In winter, it closes to all vehicles.

At Gros Ventre Junction on the park's southern boundary, a side road heads northeast to Gros Ventre Campground, the Kelly community and the Gros Ventre Slide area, outside the park's eastern border. This route travels through sagebrush and cottonwoods as it heads toward the Gros Ventre Mountains, seemingly a different world from the craggy Tetons to the west. About a mile north of Kelly, turn right on the Bridger-Teton National Forest access road. This road takes you out of Grand Teton National Park 4.5 miles to Lower Slide Lake, the site of a massive landslide in 1925 that dammed the Gros Ventre River, creating the lake. Two years later, the natural dam collapsed, causing a flood that killed six people downstream in Kelly.

North of the national forest junction, you connect with Antelope Flats Road, a good spot for viewing bison, pronghorn, and other wildlife. Heading west along this road, back to Jackson Hole Highway, you pass many of the early settlements of Jackson Hole at Mormon Row.