The old railroad town of Evanston, Wyoming, was supposed to be a quick stopover and our first night in a real bed after a week of camping at Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We ended up sticking around the next morning a bit longer than we had anticipated, enjoying how the town preserves its heritage.
Unless you’re a huge retail buff, there’s no reason to stop in Kemmerer, Wyoming. After finishing up at Fossil Butte National Monument, I drove through this tiny town to check out a small but interesting piece of American history.
If you’re expecting to walk among fossils of fish, plants, and animals still stuck in rocks, you’ll be disappointed by Fossil Butte National Monument. If you’re keen on learning about “America’s Aquarium” and how fossils are formed and preserved, it’s a worthwhile stop for a few hours.
In the 1890s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent settlers from Salt Lake City to establish new communities. A group of families settled in the Antelope Flats area of Jackson Hole in what is now Grand Teton National Park. This community was named Grovont (Gros Ventre) but is now known as Mormon Row.
The tiny town of Moose, Wyoming, now sits within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park and is the location of the park headquarters. Just to the north of the town is the ½ mile long Menor’s Ferry Trail which takes you through the Menor’s Ferry Historic District.
Jackson is a special place. With its proximity to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, skiing, and wildlife, it gets a lot of visitors. When I stopped by, I was expecting a small town full of lodging and tourist traps, but there was much more to it. My three hours in the town only gave me a small taste of what it has to offer.
US Highway 89 in Wyoming runs through Grand Teton National Park. There are several turnouts along the road and a few points of interest to stop at. We stopped at a few of these spots during our trip down the road from Colter Bay Campground to Jackson. Each turnout gives a unique angle of the mountains but I had bad luck with the weather and could barely see them.
On our drive from Colter Bay Campground to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, we went down a stretch of Teton Park Road. There are a few turnouts and points of interest that we stopped at along the way.
Jenny Lake is one of the most scenic and popular areas of Grant Teton National Park. It was also its first developed area. After setting up camp at Colter Bay, we packed lunches, drove to Jenny Lake, and set off on a late afternoon hike.
Majestic mountains. Pristine glacial lakes. 230 miles of trails. A couple days in Grand Teton National Park is the perfect complement to any trip to Yellowstone. In fact, it would be a crime to go to Yellowstone and NOT stop in Grand Teton.