Wyoming’s wildest town square has 10,000 elk, two national parks, and one very unusual airport

Wyoming’s wildest town square

You can stand in the middle of Jackson, Wyoming, and look up at the Teton Range cutting across the sky in one direction and the Gros Ventre Mountains rising in the other.

The town sits right in the valley between them, and it serves as a base camp for both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. The airport here is the only commercial airport inside a national park’s boundaries.

That should tell you something about what surrounds this place, and it only gets wilder from the town square.

250 miles of trail wind through the Tetons

Grand Teton National Park covers 310,000 acres of jagged, snowcapped peaks, glacial lakes, thick forests and a long stretch of the Snake River.

Congress established it on Feb. 26, 1929, and it ranked as the eighth most visited national park in 2025. You can hike more than 250 miles of trails at every skill level.

The roughly 7.5-mile loop around Jenny Lake puts you right at the base of the range, with water so clear you can see straight to the bottom.

The roughly three-mile Taggart Lake Trail ends at a quiet alpine lake lined with wildflowers in summer.

Ride Big Red up 4,139 vertical feet

The Jackson Hole Aerial Tram, known around here as Big Red, covers the largest continuous vertical rise of any lift in the country.

You climb 4,139 feet in about nine minutes and step out at 10,450 feet on top of Rendezvous Mountain. The current tram opened on Dec. 20, 2008, replacing the original that first ran on July 31, 1966.

It holds 100 passengers per ride. At the summit, you get 360-degree views of the Tetons, the valley floor and the surrounding ranges.

Corbet’s Cabin up top serves made-to-order waffles with brown sugar butter and bacon, and the line forms early.

Float the Snake River without lifting a paddle

Scenic float trips on the Snake River through Grand Teton have run since 1963, when river guide Dick Barker pioneered the route. You sit back while a guide rows, covering eight to 13 miles depending on the outfitter.

No paddling required. The stretch near Jackson Hole is one of the finest bald eagle nesting habitats in the lower 48 states, and the river holds federal Wild and Scenic protections. Keep your eyes on the banks.

Bald eagles, osprey, beavers, moose and elk show up along the water regularly.

Walk under arches made of 8,000 elk antlers

Four arches made entirely of elk antlers frame the corners of Jackson’s Town Square. Each arch holds about 2,000 antlers, all shed naturally by bull elk on the nearby National Elk Refuge each spring.

The Jackson Hole Rotary Club built the first arch in 1953 and finished the last one in the late 1960s, 13 years later.

Local Boy Scout troops collect the sheds, and every May, the town throws ElkFest, where antlers go up for auction to support the refuge.

The sidewalks around the square are raised wooden boardwalks that still feel like the Old West.

Sleigh rides put you 20 feet from wild elk

The National Elk Refuge covers about 25,000 acres just north of Jackson and has sheltered migrating herds since 1912. Every winter, thousands of elk come down from higher elevations to feed here.

From mid-December through early April, you can climb onto a horse-drawn sleigh and ride right through the herd, getting within 20 to 30 feet of the animals.

The rides last 45 minutes to an hour, and guides talk you through elk behavior and migration patterns. Bald eagles, coyotes, bighorn sheep, trumpeter swans and sometimes wolves show up along the way.

87 percent of park visitors spot wildlife

A National Park Service study found that 52 percent of Grand Teton visitors ranked wildlife viewing and natural scenery as their top reason for coming.

And 87 percent of those surveyed said they actually saw wildlife during their trip.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem supports grizzly bears, black bears, moose, bison, pronghorn, gray wolves and bald eagles. Bison herds graze the sagebrush flats and often wander along roadways through the park.

You need to stay at least 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 yards from bison, moose and all other animals.

A museum built into the hillside above the elk

The National Museum of Wildlife Art sits on a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, its 51,000 square feet wrapped in Idaho quartzite that blends into the rock behind it.

The design drew from the ruins of Slains Castle in Scotland.

Inside, more than 5,000 works from over 550 artists line the galleries, including pieces by Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, John James Audubon and Carl Rungius.

William and Joffa Kerr founded it in 1987, and Congress recognized it in 2008 as the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States.

A three-quarter-mile Sculpture Trail outside puts large wildlife sculptures against views of the refuge and the Gros Ventre Mountains.

Soak in a hot spring the CCC built in 1935

Granite Hot Springs sits at nearly 7,000 feet in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, right above Granite Creek Falls. The Civilian Conservation Corps built a concrete pool here alongside Granite Creek in 1935.

Water temperatures climb to 112 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and settle into the mid-90s by summer. Getting here in winter means snowmobile, dogsled, cross-country skis or fat bike along a roughly 10-mile trail.

In summer, a bumpy dirt road brings you in by car. Either way, you end up soaking in a pool fed by the mountain with a waterfall just below your feet.

Bucking broncos and a nightly shootout on the square

The Jackson Hole Rodeo runs every summer from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

You can watch bucking bronco riding, barrel racing, roping and other Western competitions in an outdoor arena that draws locals and travelers alike.

Ranching built this valley, and the rodeo keeps that cowboy heritage going.

Back in town, the Town Square Shootout fills the square on summer evenings with a staged gunfight reenactment that has been running for decades, making it one of the longest-running shows of its kind in the West.

Locals call Sunday night at the Stagecoach “Church”

The Stagecoach Band has played every Sunday evening at the Stagecoach Bar in Wilson since 1969. Locals call it “Church,” and for over 55 years it has packed the floor with swing dancers, regulars and first-timers.

Over on the Town Square, the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar sits you on saddle barstools and books live music most nights.

Bluegrass Tuesdays at the historic Wort Hotel’s Silver Dollar Showroom have held steady for more than 15 years. Small venues keep live music going year-round here, all rooted in the valley’s Western and Americana sound.

465 inches of snow and elk that still migrate the old routes

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort averages 465 inches of snowfall a year, and the 2022 to 2023 season broke records with 595 inches. But this valley is not just a ski town.

Thousands of wild elk still migrate through the same corridor they have used for centuries, one of the last places in America where that still happens.

Two national parks, a national forest, a national wildlife refuge and a small Western town all share the same valley floor.

You can ski it, hike it, float it, or just sit under the antler arches and watch the mountains turn gold at sunset.

Getting to Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Jackson Hole refers to the valley. The town inside it is Jackson.

You can fly into Jackson Hole Airport, which has year-round service from American, Delta, United and Alaska Airlines.

Once you land, the free START Bus runs routes connecting the town of Jackson, Teton Village and other spots around the valley, so you can get around without renting a car.

If you prefer to drive, Salt Lake City International is about 280 miles away, and Denver International is over 500 miles away.

Yellowstone’s south entrance is less than 10 miles from Grand Teton’s northern boundary, linked by the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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