Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Grand Teton with Kids

Another park worth visiting with kids is Grand Teton National Park (original post on visiting national parks). It is always mentioned in connection with neighbor, Yellowstone National Park (my post here). If you drive from Santa Barbara, you would probably want to start here. Here were my driving directions for our 2019 trip. We decided to fly after looking at the drive time (22 hours from Glacier NP to Santa Barbara!), but even though we ended up flying, I still made a plan). 

Drive Option
Day 1 Drive to St George, UT 8.5 hours
Day 2 Jackson, WY 8.5 hours
Day 3 Grand Tetons
Day 4 Grand Tetons
Day 5 Grand Tetons
Day 6 Drive to Yellowstone 1.5-3 hours
Day 7 Yellowstone
Day 8 Yellowstone
Day 9 Yellowstone
Day 10 Drive to Glacier 9 hours
Day 11 Glacier
Day 12 Glacier
Day 13 Glacier
Day 14 Drive to Idaho Falls, ID 8 hours
Day 15 Visit with family in Idaho Falls
Day 16 Drive to San Francisco 13 hours
Day 17 San Francisco
Day 18 Drive to SB 7 hours

This was our plan from Yellowstone: 
Day 1: Drive to Grand Tetons from Yellowstone (about 3 hours) and set up camp in the tent cabin at  Colter Bay Campground. This included the views from North Tetons Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.
Tent Cabin at Colter Bay (from website)
Day 2: Visit Colter Bay Visitor Center and walk the Lakeshore Trail. Rent a boat and explore the lake. 
Lakeshore Trail

Day 3: Hike trail to Hidden Falls (1.3mi) at Jenny Lake and take the boat back to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. View the Teton Glacier.

Hidden Falls
Day 4: Drive to Jackson and take a river rafting tour on the Snake River. Walk String Lake to Leigh Lake (2 miles) (some people do swim here). 
Rafting on the Snake River
Day 5: View Oxbow Bend. Drive though Morman Row. Visit Craig Thomas Visitor Center. Drive up Signal Mountain and tour the Rockefeller Preserve (3mi to Phelps Lake). 

Mormon Row
Other Teton ideas: a sunrise or sunset drive on the Antelope Flats Road to see wildlife, go swimming at Slide Lake, visit the town of Moose and its visitor Center, visit Teton Village for the tram and playground, Visit Chapel of Transfiguration, or take a Jackson Lake Boat Tour

Resources:
National Parks with Kids https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047018406X/
https://www.crazyfamilyadventure.com/grand-tetons-family-friendly/

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