We began the day early and it paid off again! Be prepared, today was a BIG hiking day, but I can give tips to make it shorter if you choose. We made it to the entrance of Grand Teton National Park about 7:00 and went straight to Jenny Lake, the most popular spot of the park. People were already filing in the parking lot, ready to hit the trails! There were portapotties in the parking lot but if you walk closer to the visitors center, there are much nicer bathrooms.

Once we got the kids strapped in the carriers and packed our bag, we took the short walk down to the lake to catch the ferry. The ferry starts at 7:00 am and 4 ferry boats run constantly, so the wait is never very long. It’s $10 one way or $18 round trip for adults, & $8 one way or $16 round trip for children 2-12. The man was super nice though and didn’t charge us for our three year old. We chose to do only one way so that we could do the 2.5 mile hike back. It was a beautiful trail, so I’d definitely recommend it, but if you are just aiming to see the highlights and want to reduce the miles, you can always buy a round trip ticket and take the ferry back.

Once you get across the lake on the ferry, you can access two of the best attractions of the park, Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. These are both heavily traveled trails due to their popularity. It’s a 1.8 mile loop back to the ferry and would take an 1-1.5 hours to soak it all in.

You first start with the trail to Hidden Falls. It’s an easy trail that leads you to the base of gorgeous waterfalls! They definitely rival any that we saw at Yellowstone. The mist of the water leaves the shaded base cool and a great place to take a break and get the kids out.

We then continued the trail up to Inspiration Point. This part of the trail gets very steep but don’t let that discourage you. It leads you up to the top of the mountain for some breathtaking views. We stopped at the top for a bottle & snack break, taking it all in. Our three year old also made a friend and they enjoyed chasing chipmunks together, keeping far away from the mountain’s edge. We then loaded back up for the journey down.

At this point, you end back at the ferry. The choice is yours whether you take the ferry back or continue the 2.5 miles trail along the walkway back to Jenny Lake. I thought this trail was beautiful and would definitely recommend it. On our way, we spotted some people stopped ahead of us. It didn’t take long to realize that they had spotted a bear. I felt a little more assured when I saw they had bear spray (I’d definitely recommend renting some even though my husband insisted we didn’t need it). The bear was less than 25 yards away and was ripping up a log, trying to find food. He was definitely not interested in us and could care less that we were there. It made for some excitement and added to the adventure of our day.

We had also researched and heard about the Moose Pond Trail and the likelihood of spotting moose. It’s a 3.2 mile loop that you both enter and exit it while on the Jenny Lake Trail. About a quarter mile down the trail, you will hit Moose Pond. Unfortunately, there were no moose but we spoke to a park ranger who confirmed that is the best place to find them! But I’ll be honest that the rest of the hike was miserable and we saw no other life forms, including humans, while on it! It was a tiny trail through overgrown flowers, making the bees terrible. My heightened awareness of bears had my anxiety sky high as well. That being said, if you really want to try to catch a moose, I’d suggest only taking the trail as far as Moose Pond and back instead of doing the whole loop. However, if I had to do it again, I’d skip the Moose Pond Trail all together and just stay on the prettier, more populated Jenny Lake Trail.

(Photo: Moose Pond)

By the end of our 6 miles, I was ready to reach Jenny Lake and so were our little ones! It was about as much as any of us wanted. By then, it was a little past noon and the Jenny Lake visitors center was open and hopping! We finally made it back to clean restrooms and grabbed some amazing slushes at the snack shop.

(Photo: Jenny Lake)

We then hopped back in the car to find the closest picnic tables to eat our picnic lunch! We were all thirsty, hungry, and ready to eat.

After a quick lunch stop, we all agreed that we were done hiking for the day, and went to find two of the most popular overlooks at the park.

Scheabacher Landing- Here, you will find a beautiful view of the Tetons from the Snake River. When you get to the end of the path, walk to to the river’s edge, squat down & you can get a beautiful picture of the mountains reflecting in the water. My husband was annoyed that we had a windy day, putting ripples in the reflection, but nonetheless, the picture turned out beautiful.

Snake River Overlook- A beautiful view of the Tetons that you’ll for sure want to capture a family photo from! Supposedly the most beautiful place to view the sunrise or sunset but with sleeping littles, we didn’t get to see firsthand.

This completed our day at Grand Teton National Park! We were so pleased with our experience there and would’ve loved another day to hike to Phelp’s Lake and enjoy there! The Tetons were a a highlight of our trip for sure!

Grand Teton National Park

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