Grand Teton National Park (Camping, Hikes, Pictures)

September 27, 2019

The next morning, we had a short but beautiful drive to Jackson, WY before heading north the final miles into Grand Teton National Park. I didn’t know what to expect and sometimes that makes the best adventures. We ended up seeing the most amazing wildlife in Grand Teton. We saw tons of bison, a few moose, elk, a beaver, a fox, and a black bear! The hiking was awesome too. Get our Grand Teton recommendations on where to RV camp and things to do. Check out our photos and get excited about your next adventure. Don’t have time to read this now?

Grand Teton National Park Camping

Gros Ventre Campground

We were going to try Gros Ventre Campground which is first come first serve so we wanted to get there right at checkout time around 11 am to secure a spot. They have over 300 camping sites, but only twenty have electric so we decided to dry camp now that we had new batteries to save some $$ ($55 a night for electric, $30 w/o). We had no problems getting a spot for three nights (in September) and after getting settled we headed into the park which we have to say has been the most fun national park yet.

Colter Bay Campground

After three days, we moved to the north side of Grand Teton National Park to the Colter Bay Campground for three more nights. It was about 20 miles from the south entrance to Yellowstone so we actually spent the last couple of days venturing into south Yellowstone after doing four days in Grand Teton, but we’ll cover that in the next update. On to the pictures!

Grand Teton National Park

We did several ranger talk/hikes including a wildlife spotting caravan with ten other cars and mostly our own hiking to various lakes and even found some off-road trails to explore. We saw tons of bison, a few moose, elk, a beaver, a fox, and a black bear!

We loved being at Grand Teton in September. It was mating season for the elk, the bears were focused on eating to prepare for hibernation (the black bear we saw never even looked up from eating berries), the park was busy but not overwhelming and we got to participate in the Ranger-led wildlife caravan.

Recommended Activities\Hikes

Ranger-led Wildlife Caravan
- This was our favorite activity at Grand Teton. We drove our own vehicle led by a Ranger to five stops on a wildlife spotting caravan. We saw a mother moose and her calf, a male elk and his harem, beaver lodges, and another male elk, his harem, and then a younger male who eventually ran off.
- This program was only offered during September and there was a max of 10 vehicles, but ride-sharing is encouraged. We had another couple ride with us and it was fun to get to know them. Driving from stop to stop felt like you were on an adventure!
- From Colter Bay Visitor Center, hike out to Heron Pond and Swan Lake. This was the hike where we saw a black bear and a fox. It was awesome!
- Hike to Leigh Lake. It is stunning!