Travel: Grand Teton National Park

 

In this roughly 40-mile long range of the Rockies, you’ll see nine peaks over 12,000 feet high, the highest being (no surprise) Grand Teton at 13,770 feet. They aren’t the tallest, but they rise without foothills and are some of America’s most scenic mountains.

The area became a national park in 1929. The park covers 484 square miles of land and water, and like most of the national parks in the western U.S., is a haven for sports enthusiasts. It’s located in northwest Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone National Park (Great American Things, December 28, 2009).

There’s biking, boating, camping… cross-country skiing, fishing, hiking… climbing, rafting, and snowmobiling. You can get a guide to show you the best places to fish. If you enjoy birdwatching, this is an especially diverse habitat for birds, with more than 300 species present. And there are more than 200 miles of hiking trails within the park as well.

By the way, it’s likely that the name “Tetons” was given the mountains by some lonely French trappers. Tetons means “breasts” in French…