My wife and I are planning a 5 day trip in July, planning on experiencing Grand Teton and Jackson. A few questions:

- Is 5 days enough time to get a good experience? we plan on doing day hikes, no camping.

- We'd like to stay both in the park and outside in Jackson. How many nights would you recommend for each?

- Any advice on locations? We'd like to splurge in Jackson, less so in the park (but don't need to be too thrifty there either).

Thanks for the help!

Have you already been to Yellowstone? I spent most of my vacation in that area at Yellowstone with its spectacular geysers.

Five days would be a good length if you don't venture into Yellowstone. Some places not to miss are off US 191 take Antelope Flats Rd to Mormon Rd for beautiful sunrise photo of old barns with peaks in background. A few miles farther north is side road to Schwabacher Landing. Beaver have dammed the creek forming pools which reflect the peaks and are frequented by moose. Near Jackson Lake Lodge (excellent base to work from) is Oxbow Bend, good for sunrise or sunset and wildlife. The lakes across from the lodge often times have swans on them. Signal Mt offers a high view point. Jenny Lake area has number of excellent hikes. Around String Lake and Jenny Lake to Inspiration Point, up Paintbrush Canyon or Cascade Canyon which are covered in wildflowers in July. A truly wonderful trip is take the boat ride across Jenny Lake walk up Cascade Canyon and pickup the Teton Crest Trail to at least as far as Schoolhouse Glacier. Gets you above treeline and behind the main peaks. A good book is Teton Trails by Katy Duffy and Darwin Wile. Have fun.

My compliments, photodog, on an excellent posting. You've really given thewolfes the best of the Teton!
Added comments:
Bring lots of film!
The Antelope Flats Road cutoff is also a great area for bison watching.
Make sure you take the hike up to Cascade Falls and Inspiration Point.
The String Lake and Leigh Lake area is great for hiking also.
Is five days enough? I guess so. We've spent 10 days over two trips and still want more!
I'd recommend Signal Mountain Lodge or Grand Teton Lodge for three nights and Jackson for two.

OMG, can't be that close and NOT see Yellowstone. Yellowstone is one of my favorite places on the planet. It is awesome and will take almost a whole day. We had a wonderful condo in Jackson and then drove up to Yellowstone. Saw the sites and then drove home. Long day, but so worth it.

And Jackson Lake Lodge is beautiful. Would love to stay there on my next trip.

We got our condo through Mountain Property Management. I will give them a plug since we were so happy with our accomodations and their service. Excellent.

Our trip was four or five nights and we saw about everything that we wanted to see.

God's country. It is beautiful.

Heavens

Everytime we went to Jackson and Grand Teton, it was never enough for me, so we went to Jackson for a month in June and rented a condo from Mountain Prop. Mgmt.,too.

They send you pix of the properties, etc., we picked one with no backdoor neighbors, just empty fields-well that was the best, had my own Moose every afternoon!!

It was very near the Ski Lodge-great for restaurants and the Moose-Wilson road-about 9 miles of gravel but it eliminated the main road to GTNP and lets you out at the Moose visitor center. Great bar and casual rest.

We went in June - cold- but loved to fish by the Snake river dam, etc.

For the 1 BR condo that slept 6 (bunkbeds &sofa&double bed), fireplace, etc. we paid $1300 but 5 yrs ago. Worth every penny.

Oops, a correction on my previous post: The hotel is the Jackson Lake Lodge, not the Grand Teton Lodge. Sorry!

In Jackson, if you want to splurge a little, highly recommend the Rusty Parrot Lodge. Situated on a back street, a hidden gem with 20-30 rooms, fantastic service, incredible breakfasts that come with the room, beverages always available, gourmet dining optional for dinner and the service is outstanding! Lastly, while staying in Jackson, we took the most fabulous horse riding trip that climbed to a vantage point in view of the awesome snowcapped tetons--great picture taking opportunities, the folks at Rusty Parrot can make the arrangements for you! www.rustyparrot.com

Hi everyone,

When is the best time during the summer months to travel here?

We're starting to think about destinations for our summer "road trip" this year, and this sounds wonderful!

Is it crazy busy in the summer months?
Temps?
Thanks much.

We also went on the boat across Jenny Lake and then the hike. It was stunning. Jackson Lake Lodge was also very beautiful. The view of the lake from the sitting room/ lobby is wonderful. We also enjoyed a scenic, whitewater trip with Barker Ewing on the Snake. I wouldn't go without seeing Yellowstone either. It is like a natural Disneyworld. We stayed in Flagg Ranch Village which is in between the two parks the night before. We left in the dark the next morning to arrive in Yellowstone before the crowds. We were at out first stop in Yellowstone at sunrise to share it with deer, fox, etc. We saw Old Faithful erupt by 7:00 a.m. We had stopped at all of the highlights by late morning when it was starting to get crowded so we were not in any hurry the rest of the afternoon. We only did the lower half on that trip but I think that is the best after doing the whole park on our next trip there.