Out West : Grand Teton National Park

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Our 4 top recommendations of what to do in the Grand Teton National Park click here. 

Our trip

This was our first trip “Out West” to visit Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! I thought visiting National Parks was more for RVing families or people who were hardcore campers and hikers.

We planned this trip with three weeks notice. That’s just the way we work as an airline pilot family! So, the perk was a direct flight from Cleveland to Salt Lake City! The downside was that we couldn’t go camping in the parks, as campsites are reserved months in advance!

Camping in the Park?

There are campsites you can reserve, like I mentioned above. You can also opt to rent an RV or tent camp at any open campsite within the park. These sites are on a first come, first served basis but I read that we would have to arrive at the campground in the early morning hours to *try * and get a spot. Ehhh, pass. We were already pushing our luck standing by for flights. You can also stay at some of the lodges in the park, but again, those weren’t an option for us because you have to reserve rooms well in advance. We found that the cost of the lodges in the park were around $300+/night.

Our Itinerary

We hopped on the direct flight from Cleveland to Salt Lake City. Thanks Delta! I thought I had come prepared for the flight with all the essentials of flying with 3 young children- snacks, coloring, playdough, WIPES and plenty of diapers. I should be a pro at this by now, right?

Well, Miss Lily decided that this was the time to let her bowels go free. Four poopy diapers on one four hour plane ride. FOUR! We changed her into the very last diaper, knowing she’d be fine until we made a Wal-Mart trip for essentials.

Once in Salt Lake City, we picked up our SUV to drive north. One of the worst parts about traveling with young children is lugging those awful car seats, am I right? Enter: BubbleBum inflatable booster seats (found on Amazon here)! Have you heard of these? I purchased two of these seats before our trip and this was our first time using them!

Read our review of the BubbleBum inflatable booster seats here. (coming within a couple weeks)

We arrived in Salt Lake around lunch time, so we made a quick trip to none other than In-and- Out Burger, since we don’t have those at home! When we were getting Lily out of the car, we noticed SHE HAD POOPED AGAIN. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

But, if you’re keeping tabs, we had no more diapers.

Planning fail.

Chris jumped in the car to go to the nearest store for diapers, while I, plus all the kids, ordered food. So, as I placed the order, holding a very smelly, squirmy baby, Selah grabbed my attention. I looked down to find Selah holding her nose, with blood streaming out around her hands, down her shirt, and onto the floor. Her first nose bleed of the trip. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

The 17 year old behind the counter was super helpful in handing me 2 whole napkins as I’m struggling to find the wet wipes from my backpack. I informed her there was a puddle of blood on the floor that she may want to have cleaned up, you know, for sanitary reasons. The growing line of people behind me seemed to be impatient, as they just wanted to get “in and out” with their food. I just left the blood on the ground, grabbed a high chair so we could just SIT for a hot second.

Chris returned to In-and-Out thinking he’s a hero for delivering the diapers, until he finds out the utter chaos that had ensued while he was away.

Back in the car, we made a stop along the way at the Great Salt Lake to test our buoyancy in the super salty water! We entered Antelope Island State Park and shortly thereafter had our first bison encounter!

We found a parking lot at Bridger Bay that was by the Island Buffalo Grill, which had a bathroom and shower area to rinse off and change afterward our dip in the lake. The walk from the parking lot to the actual water  was really long and not stroller friendly. We later found a parking lot at Ladyfinger that seemed to be a shorter walk to the water. If you’re following along on a map- it’s the parking lot at Egg Island Overlook Trail. However, I do not believe there are showers at this location.

We all loved testing out our ability to float in the salt water! Well… except Selah, who would rather float in her floaty.

We only planned less than 2 hours for this excursion which proved to be plenty of time for this quick detour. Floated in water, check! Saw some bison, check!

Back in the car, we had another 4 hour drive to our destination. With three weeks to plan the trip, there were slim pickings of places to stay. Places were either too far from the parks or too expensive for our budget. I found an AirBnB on a ranch near Swan Valley, Idaho. This location was about an hour drive to Jackson, WY and 1.5 hour drive to Grand Teton National Park!

Our AirbBNB

We stayed in the cutest little cabin at Granite Creek Ranch for 3 nights. It had everything we could’ve asked for! Granite Creek has a series of rustic cabins clustered close together and a shared community kitchen and firepit area. The kitchen is stocked with all sorts of breakfast foods, plus refrigerator, grills, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, and anything you could think of for cooking food. We enjoyed meeting and interacting with the other families staying there from across the world. Granite Creek also has a pond for fishing (no license needed) and canoeing. They are a working horse ranch, so horseback riding is available (for a reasonable charge) throughout their beautiful property. The cabin itself had a bunk bed (which the kids loved), queen bed and a single bed, PLUS they even had a pack and play for Lily! Each cabin also has it’s own private bathroom.

It’s away from it all. And man, the stars at night were so clear and beautiful in the open sky! Honestly we could have just stayed at the ranch all week and had an amazing vacation just on property.

Our first full day in Idaho…

We tried to get on the road by 10am (which is hard to do with 3 young kids!) so we could venture out to Grand Teton National Park. We bought the annual NP pass knowing we would be visiting there and Yellowstone multiple times throughout the week. It was $80 and worth every penny if you plan to visit at least 3 parks within the year! It was a good 1.5 hour drive just to the entrance of the park but the scenery along the way was so breathtaking we didn’t mind one bit! Once in the park, we made a stop approximately every 10 minutes for photos, which the kids were less than happy about. I was just IN AWE of the beautiful landscape!

Our main point of interest for the day was to visit Jenny Lake, do some hiking to Moose Ponds, and take the ferry to see Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls. We packed a picnic lunch, a small picnic blanket, and plenty of water and sunscreen. It was HOT!

It was also very crowded.

Take note: if you are visiting the parks in July and August… arrive early if you don’t want to hike a half mile from your car to the actual starting point. Lucky for us, Chris patiently waited and got a spot right by the trail start!

Our plan was to hike the Cascade Canyon trail leading to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. We planned to take the ferry across Jenny Lake to Canyon trailhead, which saves a 4 mile round trip hike. For families with little kids like us, this was worth it! You can catch the ferry at the east boat dock, and costs $15/adult – $8/child – $12/senior (and free for ages 2 and under) for a round trip ticket. You can also choose to do a one-way ticket and hike one way. The ferry departs every 10-15 minutes.

However…

We were really disappointed to learn that the trails to both Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls were closed due to testing on an rock with a big crack in it. Yeah, I definitely didn’t want the side of a mountain to fall on top of us, but man! We were bummed to miss out! (The trails reopened 4 days later…)

That’s okay! We went with the next thing on our agenda. We hiked to Moose Ponds! I had read somewhere in planning that moose tend to come to the pond earlier in the day when it is cooler and there was a good chance of seeing one. We even passed people on the trail who claimed they DID just see a moose! The anticipation grew stronger as we reached our destination. There it was! A moose AND her baby! Chris snapped some photos while the kids and I found a place along the pond to rest our feet. After a quick break, we attempted to move to another area to get a closer look at the moose. That was a failure, because by the time we got back- a family that was in our rest spot said they JUST saw a bear and her cubs run up into the trees. What are the chances?!

On our hike back, we stopped along the rocky shore of Jenny Lake to have a picnic lunch. The view from our picnic blanket was breathtaking, and the kids had a blast splashing in the water!

Back in the car, the kids were hot and tired, so we encouraged them to take a nap. A park ranger gave us a hint that there are usually bear sightings along Signal Mountain Road, only a short drive away. So on we went in search of bears!

No luck on the bears. But! We really recommend the drive up to Signal Mountain because it offers beautiful panoramic views on top! And, there is ACTUALLY cell service there. Maybe that’s why it’s called Signal Mountain?? Probably, not… haha!

On drive back to our cabin in Idaho, I happened to look out the window at the right time…and spotted a moose! Right on a hill on the side of the road. We quickly turned around and followed the moose up a road. I hopped out of the car and followed it into the trees (okay, not the smartest idea, but I kept a good distance!) Chris found an empty cabin property to park and got out of the car, camera in hand. We were amazed at how close we could get for some pictures! This was the first time the kids got to see a moose up close and personal. On a sidenote, remember the rules for wildlife there: stay at least 25 yards away from moose and bison. Bears, coyotes, and other predators need at least 75 yards.

Arriving back to the cabin right at dusk, we settled by the campfire to roast hotdogs for dinner with s’mores for dessert!

Day two …

We decided to have an easy morning at the ranch. We signed the older kids up for horseback riding which they’ve really never experienced. I thought it would be on a pony, but they got to ride a big horse! Selah rode for about 15 minutes and then Eli rode for about 25. Selah stuck to the trail and Eli got to do some fun things like walking over logs and going through trees. All in all I think it cost $45, and well worth it! Look at the views! For more experienced riders, they do trail rides through their expansive property. I was pleased that they were able to accommodate our small, inexperienced riders by leading them on an easy trail.

After horseback riding, we packed up the car and headed to Jackson Hole, WY. In the summer months, Snow King Mountain offers experiences to quench your thirst for adventure and thrill! They offer high ropes courses, alpine slide, coaster, bungee trampoline, and more! Since we had young children, we just did one ride on the Cowboy Coaster.

Selah and I were next in line to board to coaster, after waiting for about 10 minutes. As I was scanning the ticket, Selah utters, “Mommy! Blood!” I look down, and lo-and-behold, the child has blood pouring from her nose! The altitude was really doing a number on this poor girl! We got out of line, and made a bee-line to the bathroom. Come to find, the women’s bathroom was out of tissue and paper towels. Another “Are you kidding me?!” moment! We bravely visited the men’s bathroom to get the necessary tissue to clean her face. Luckily, the crowd that saw the fiasco let us go back in line right at the front.

Chris took Eli, and I took Selah on the coaster- switching off turns to hang with Lily in the stroller. If you’ve never done an alpine slide or coaster- it’s a must!! You have control of the brake on your car, so you choose your own adventure.

Next we headed into the cute little town of Jackson Hole. We had to take a family photo in front of the famous antler arches in Town Square! The arches are made entirely of antler sheds, and it’s quite impressive!

Then, we filled our bellies with the biggest slices of pizza we’ve ever seen at Pinky G’s Pizza. You know it’s good when the pizza slice is half the size of your 6 year old. Inside, they have a gigantic gumball machine where the bartenders and servers place bets on what the next color gumball will be as you put your quarter in!

At the days end, we gathered downtown to watch the Town Square Shootout! Every evening at 6pm in the summer months, there is a free performance of an old west gunfight. It’s touristy, yes, but we’re all about free entertainment! Our younger kiddos didn’t appreciate the loud bangs of the guns, however. We wrapped up the trip with some play time at Miller Park playground to let out any remaining energy!

Day 3 …

This was a “travel day” on our itinerary. We would make the almost 6 hour drive from our cabin in Idaho all the way north to our cabin in Montana- with plenty of stops along the way!

First stop: swimming in Jackson Lake! We stopped at Colter Bay Campground, which has excellent facilities for changing clothes and potty breaks! We brought our ENO hammock, picnic blanket, and snacks for a relaxing time by the lake.

TIP: Bring water shoes for yourself and the entire family! It’s really tricky and slippery to walk along the rocks in any of the lakes and rivers in the parks.

After about an hour or so of fun, we got dressed and headed on our way again.

And then we entered the next part of our trip: Yellowstone National Park.