Jackson Hole, Wyoming Travel Guide:
We spent 5 days in Wyoming, based out of Jackson Hole. We covered load; two national parks, food, whiskey, nature hikes, a spot of shopping and loads of animal sightings! So I’ve split this entry into 5 days, bit like a dairy entry. If you ever plan to traveling to Jackson Hole, The Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, then this episode is for you!
DAY 1: Jackson Hole:
- LAX > Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The flight is truly about an hour and half, they tell your its 2 hours because you have to get a little bus from LAX to the regional terminal if you book via American Airlines, it didn’t take up too much time at all, just something to be aware or.
- Hot tip: try to get seats on the right side of the plane for your flight in! The views are pretty darn breathtaking!
- Straight off the plane to the Great Teton Visitor Centre to get our bearings and local tips
- From there we went to lunch at this famous spot called Dornan’s which has epic views of the Grand Teton mountains. It’s known for its pizza and beer, we got both! Lots of GF options too. This is a great first stop from the airport.
- Then we went to Mormon Row which is a cluster of houses all with the mountains around them, super pretty. We were told to look out for moose in this spot but didn’t see any (not yet anyway)
- Then we checked in to our cabin in town, its called The Rustic Inn, super sweet vibes on a creek, we loved it!
- We walked around town, the shopping is brill, so def leave room in your suitcase when you pack for this trip. Lees Tee’s has the best value Tees, hats and merch.
- It had been snowing so it was pretty cold (but also stunning), just a 10 min walk from our accommodation.
- We stayed at the Rustic Inn which is located right at the entrance of town, you can literally walk into the heat of town within 10 mins, so easy!
- We walked back into town for dinner at the iconic Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse, we had a whiskey upstairs then went downstairs for a lovely steak, potatoes and Brussels sprouts.
DAY: 2 Yellowstone National Park:
- This is a big day, so if you can start early (we didn’t start super early, but we also didn’t get back til after dark)
- When driving from Jackson Hole enter at the South Entrance of Yellowstone, there’s loads of signs so its really easy to follow getting there.
- Here’s our tour guide, I got most of these tip from researching online how to do Yellowstone in one day. You can defiantly take longer, 3 days would have been perfect. But we just had the day and it was unreal. Yellowstone is the largest and oldest National Park in America
- We started with Old Faithful, its an erupting geyser and has loads of thermal pools around it, feels like you’re on another planet! It only irrupts every 90 mins or so, so when you arrive find out when it’s going to go off so you can time your hikes and gift shop visit around it (this gift shop is a goodie and because its end of season, it had some good deals.
- Then we drove thru the mud pools and more thermal pools until we got the the grand prismatic spring pool, this one was stunning. Pro tip, the air is hot and everything smells like sulphur, or as Matt said, it smelt like a giant fart. So just be aware that it kind of feels like you’re walking through a party sauna, lol.
- You’ll see loads of bison just chilling by the road and cars are often stopped to let them cross or just watch them, so keep your eyes out for wildlife.
- There’s also heaps of lookouts and trails so feel free to spot along the way.
- When we went to Lamar Valley which is a great bison spot, it’s different terrain to other parts of Yellowstone so you can out for ages at the animals just grazing in the valley.
- We also saw a super rare grey wolf, I was rapt. There’s only currently 4 in the Wyoming area right now.
- We then high tailed it to Yellow Stone Grand Canyon which was unreal, there’s lower and upper hikes here so you can see different vantage points of the canyon and waterfalls. Loved it, would def recommend.
- We drove down through Hayden Valley, where we saw more Bison’s they looks so gentle and chill, and down seem to care about humans too much at all.
- Then we made out way to West Thumb which is linked to Yellowstone Lake and hot springs.
- We stopped at both to get piccys across the lake, so pretty and the sun was just starting to go down
- We saw a giant grey owl too, it was about the size of medium dog, massive! It’s wingspan is 6 feet!
- Then we drove back to the Grand Tetons and to Jackson and saw both Elk and deer on the drive home. The wildlife is pretty active early in the morning and at dusk, so if you’re driving at these times def keep your eyes peeled.
- We had dinner at a local brewery called The Snake River Brewery, I got bison chilli which was unreal and matt got a beer and a burger.
- 10/10 day!
DAY 3: Grand Tetons National Park:
- Today was the day I convinced matt to get up for sunrise, I had the alarm set and as grumpy as he was, he did it!
- We went to Schwabacher landing for sunrise, it was a little cloudy so we didn’t get to see the cool reflection of the sun on the mountains and water.
- But what we did see were moose, 3 of them, a mum and a bub and another moose just having a snack. They’re bigger than you’d think.
- Then we came back to the hotel for brekkie and to warm up
- Today was a big day of hiking, we did Jenny Lake which was lovely, saw lots of deer just chilling too, lots of hikes all around here. Also lots of bear warning signs.
- Then we went to Taggart Lake which was a pretty solid hike in forest terrain. The views were stun, I would say this is an intermediate hike, we loved it, Matt was a little over it at some points (he’s not a mad hiker)
- We headed into town for lunch at DOG and had such a great burrito, up there with one of my faves of all time! Made super fresh with jalapeños.
- We had another browse of the shops in Jackson Hole and I got my very first proper Western Cowboy hat! It’s Stetson and I love it! Now I just need to promise myself that I’ll wear it loads, even back in LA!!
- We then has a whiskey tasting at Wyoming Whiskey which was so fun and delish, bought a bottle to take home, if you like whiskey then make sure you visit.
- Dinner was at a steakhouse called Local and everything was local which was really cool, cool chilled restaurant/bar vibes
- Then we had a whiskey at the million dollar cowboy bar next door and went for a night time stroll around town.
- We had a final nightcap at The Tetons hand fire pizza spot, they were winding up but had a cute little bar in the middle of the pizza shot, it looked like this place was an old theatre. We didn’t get the Pizza but its what they’re famous for.
- Then home to bed!
DAY 4: Grand Tetons National Park:
- We went to Oxbow Bend lookout today and saw a Beaver just swimming down Jackson Lake
- We then went to Jackson Lake tavern but it was shut for the season (we’re visiting during the shoulder season so the odd thing is shut, but id say about 80% of things are open).
- This meant we went on to Colter Bay, which was a huge gift because we have this whole bay all to ourselves, its this stunning rocky bay with the mountains in the background, stunning!
- Then we headed back into tow and visited Presfonies; I love a pumpkin spiced latte and pumpkin maple loaf, they were both 10/10. Boss got a coffee and croissant
- Then we did one lucky last spot of shopping in Jackson Hole, I’m so glad we did because we found matt this unreal cowboy belt and I got my hat branded, matt got his belt branded too!
- Big thank you to Chip for helping us out with the personalised branding at The Beaver Creek Hats and Leather store.
- I got a few last pressies for Lee’s Tees, the best merch and pressies spot, great value and its huge so there’s loads to see!
- Best dinner: Gun Barrel Steak and Game House we started with artichoke dip, then has the bison ribs with garlic mash. I also got the local Wyoming Whiskey one lucky last time, and Bosso got a local beer. It was delish!
DAY 5: Jackson Hole:
- We headed back to Schwabacher’s Landing to try to see the sunrise again, the first time it was covered in clouds, still beautiful but and meant to be because we saw 3 moose on the way back.
- So today we wanted to see if we could catch the sunrise there, the road down was closed (when it rains the roads get really wet and this road in particular had potholes, so we parked at the top and headed in on foot, and boy oh boy it was worth it! The way the sun reflects the mountains means that you can see the refection of the mountains in the snake river, so incredible.
- It was 1 degree in Celsius thats 40 degrees in Fahrenheit this morning so it defiantly feels like a snow town at this time of the year. And its only going get loads colder, the whole town will be snow covered before long!
- Then we headed back to our cabin for coffee, brekkie and to pack up before heading to the airport. When we were walking from our cabin to brekkie, we saw 3 deer just chilling on the property, very sweet.
- Wasn’t ready to go home, but we cramped so much in our 4.5 days here and it was non-stop!
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Animals (bison, moose, elk, deer, beaver, great grey owl, and a rare grey wolf)
- Food: Gun barrel steak and game house
- Whiskey spot: The Million Dollar Cowboy
- Both national parks
- Flight in (so stunning, try to book seats on the right side of the plane)
- Celebrating our 40th birthdays and 7 year anniversary
- Getting my first ever Stetson Western Cowboy Hat
- Cannot wait to go back!
Yell out if you have any questions, hope you love this chat with Bosso about one of our favorite adventures to date!
Big love from Jackson Hole, Wyoming!
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