One Incredible Week in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
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Me and my boyfriend spent a week hiking, exploring, and camping in Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks in July 2020.
Even after over 3 months on a travel nurse assignment in Colorado constantly hiking, the Tetons blew me away! I’ve really never seen mountains like them. They are huge, jagged peaks just shooting up towards the sky, snow capped and beautiful beyond words. These mountains look like they came straight out of a Bob Ross painting. I swear I could sit at one spot and stare at them all day!
In this post I will go through what we did in both National Parks including hiking, wildlife viewing, sightseeing, where we camped, and include pictures of the absolute beauty of these parks to hopefully inspire you to take your own road trip to Wyoming!
Planning a trip to more National Parks? Check out my post on One Epic Day in Great Sand Dunes National Park!
Plan before you go!
I linked maps of Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks so you can get yourself familiarized with the layout of the park and where the trails you want to hike are at! They will give you a map at the entrance but I always think it’s a good idea to have one saved to your phone. Also head to AllTrails to check current hiking and trail conditions.
Table of Contents
- Wildlife & Hiking Rules
- Camping
- What to do in Grand Teton National Park
- What to do in Yellowstone National Park
Wildlife & Hiking Rules
Be wildlife aware at all times!
This is not to scare or deter anyone from visiting these parks, but please do be cautious of large animals such as bear, moose, and buffalo that you may encounter coming through these parks.
You are in their home! And I can’t stress that enough. Keep your food secure in a bear locker if you are camping, or locked and out of sight in the trunk of your car. Do not get too close to wildlife! We see stories all too often of people getting hurt from these wild animals because they want a picture of them and get way too close. Most animals want to be left alone and will not bother you unless you get too close or spook them.
Taken from yellowstonepark.com: “Stay at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards away from other large mammals like bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose and coyotes.”
To avoid an encounter make lots of noise while hiking, hike in large groups if you can, and carry bear spray with you (and know how to use it) in case you do have a dangerous encounter.
Leave no trace
Leave these beautiful parks better than how you found them! Stay on trails, do not move rocks or plants, do not pick wildflowers, and pack out your trash.
Camping
We camped at Colter Bay Campground for 6 nights in our cozy Smittybilt Rooftop Tent. The campground is in a great location, but is very large and could be loud at times. If you like more quiet, desolate camping this may not be the campground for you. The campground is close by to Colter Bay which has a beautiful beach area that we went to two days to relax and enjoy the views! Check out more options for campgrounds here.
It is also within walking distance to a store in the park that has groceries, laundry, showers, and a picnic area with WiFi. It was perfect for us and we would 100% camp here again. However, for a campsite it is a bit pricey just because you’re in a popular national park at 36$ a night. You do get potable water and flush toilets though!
This is a first come, first serve campground. We got in line around 7:30AM with probably 30 cars in front of us. Although we still got a spot, that shows how in demand this campground is- get here early to ensure you have a spot!
If you want to know more about camping, I have a post about how we car camp off grid!
What to do in Grand Teton National Park
We spent 6 days in Grand Teton, doing three hikes, sightseeing throughout the park, and some days relaxing on the beach at Colter Bay.
Tip: Buy a National Parks Pass if you plan to visit at least one or two other National Parks within a year! An annual pass is good for one year and you will really get your money’s worth.
Phelps Lake Hike & Jumping Rock
This is a great hike to a beautiful lake: Phelps Lake. Start at the Death Canyon Trailhead to make your hike shorter! This way is only 4 miles roundtrip & 450 feet of elevation gain.
While you’re here, if you would like to do some cliff jumping, go to Jumping Rock at the edge of the lake. When you get to the edge of the lake down from the trail, go to the left, follow the edge of the lake, and this is how you will come upon Jumping Rock.
I’m afraid of heights and was honestly scared to do this jump- it’s really not that high- but worked up the courage to do it! It is so worth it; very cold and shocking but I would do it again!
Wildlife warning: We saw a grizzly bear before starting our hike at Death Canyon trailhead, he was minding his business just grazing but I’ve heard of a few bear sightings near this trail, so have bear spray handy and make lots of noise!
Delta Lake Hike
Delta Lake is a stunning, pale green lake at the base of the Grand Teton. It is a challenging hike at 9 miles roundtrip & 2400 feet elevation gain. This is supposed to be somewhat of a hidden gem, but it was pretty crowded when we did the hike in July.
The trail begins at the Amphitheatre Lakes trailhead; there is no ‘official trail’ for Delta Lake. You will follow this trail until the sixth switchback, just a little after 3 miles in, and you will reach the turn off to go to Delta Lake to the right. I guess it’s pretty easy to miss if you’re really not looking, but odds are you will have other hikers around you looking out for it or coming back from the lake and you’ll see it clearly. The last 1.5 miles are grueling, constantly uphill, and over some boulder fields- but keep going! You’re about to see the most breathtakingly beautiful lake!
Cascade Canyon Hike
This hike into Cascade Canyon will take you straight through the Tetons, enveloped in lush green trees & grass, vibrant wildflowers, and waterfalls around every corner.
The hike starts from Jenny Lake, and you can take off significant mileage if you take the ferry across. Psssttt! If you catch the first ferry at 7am your 18$ per person ferry cost is cut to just 5$! Plus you will escape the crowds early in the morning; we went on a Saturday and coming back in the early afternoon was swamped with people.
Jenny Lake itself is beautiful and worth it’s own stop, and riding the ferry across the lake is a great experience.
You can hike into Cascade Canyon as much or as little as you want. We went the full 9.5 miles roundtrip that AllTrails directs you to. It will take you to a junction where there are much longer trails for backpacking trails where we turned around. The nice part about this trail is that you get all of your elevation gain (1100 feet), done in the very beginning and the rest of the hike is a level walk through the canyon which is really peaceful.
Wildlife like bear and moose is prevalent in the area especially around Jenny Lake. We saw two moose in the canyon.
Sightseeing & Photo Stops
You don’t have to go on a hike to see the beauty of the Tetons! Just driving around the park is captivating with many photo ops and sightseeing stops. You’ll be in awe of these beautiful, towering peaks!
Pull up a chair at one of the photo stops and enjoy lunch with a view, or watch the sunset one night! Here are a few of my favorites:
Colter Bay Beach
Colter Bay has a great beach area. It’s not the sandy beach you may be thinking about, this one has rocks and pebbles on it. But we spent two days here relaxing, reading, and taking in the beautiful scenery. Pack a lunch and some cold drinks and set out some chairs for the day! It does get crowded so I recommend going early to have the beach to yourself in the morning.
What to do in Yellowstone National Park
If you ask a dozen people how much time you should spend in Yellowstone I’m sure you would get all different answers. Some people I talked to or read from online said you should give this park at least two days, some even go here for a week. The park is huge, it has 4 entrances and is 3,500 square miles- so there is alot to explore!
We took a day trip here from where we were camping in Grand Teton and felt like one day was enough for us. I’ll be honest, I’m more of a mountain gal so I wanted more of my time to be in Grand Teton. Some people like Yellowstone more for wildlife and photography.
Although we didn’t wander far off the beaten path, I felt like Yellowstone was very crowded. Most of the sites in the park are those you get out of your car and walk up to. That’s great because most people can see these sites. But it translates to being very crowded, and we felt it was hard to escape the crowds. I guess you will have to visit the parks yourself to get your own opinion!
Below I have a map of the park that I outlined in red where we drove coming in from the South entrance from Grand Teton. We wanted to go up to Lamar Valley but when we were there the road was closed due to construction for the shortcut, so it would’ve taken us 3+ hours to drive there and back and it was already later in the afternoon. If you get the chance, Lamar Valley is supposed to be the best for wildlife viewing!
As you can see in the map as well there are plenty of stops on the way at different geysers, basins, and lakes other than what is listed below so there is a lot to explore in this park!
Old Faithful
Old Faithful, maybe the most popular and famous part of the park! Note that the geyser erupts about every hour and a half. It’s pretty incredible when it does erupt, with a height of 100-180 feet! The eruptions last 1.5-5 minutes. I would really recommend getting here early. We watched Old Faithful around 9am and it was like sitting shoulder to shoulder with people which is not great during COVID times- bring your mask!
There’s also a bunch of little geysers and basins right behind Old Faithful that you can walk through and see and are worth checking out!
Grand Prismatic Spring
When we walked up to Grand Prismatic Spring I really felt like we were on a different planet! It’s also the largest hot spring in the U.S. You can’t go for a swim in this one though 😉
There’s a lot of other hot springs that surround it as well and they’re all equally as cool!
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was formed after thousands of years of hydrothermal activity causing rocks to erode to widen and deepen the canyon. The canyon is beautiful shades of orange, brown, red, and green with a large waterfall. Seeing mountains and canyons is like looking through time. The hundreds of thousands of years they have been here and continue to be shaped and sculpted- so neat! There are multiple viewpoints around the canyon and you can also do the little hike down to the Lower Fall for a better view, its 0.5 miles & 250 feet elevation gain.
West Thumb Geyser Basin
This is a really neat stop and features multiple colorful hot springs!
Wildlife Sightings
And that concludes one week through Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks. Let me know in the comments below if you have visited these parks before or plan to!
I hope you enjoyed my content and found it helpful for your next trip to Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks. Please like this post, subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Instagram for more travel inspiration. Thanks for reading! 🙂