Jackson WY, September and October 2025
We spent September and October in Jackson WY. The weather in September was pretty amazing but it started getting cold in October- particularly in the mornings. When we didn't have guests, we maintained a pretty steady routine of sleeping late (7am- a new luxury for us) and then either going to the Jackson Rec center to lift weights or going on a long hike in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). Occasionally we did both the rec center and a hike. We enjoyed having a kitchen that was usable and that we both fit into so we cooked many dinners at home, although we did sample many of the restaurants particularly when we had guests.
Hiking
Our goal in Jackson was to hike as much as we could. Most of the hikes were amazing. We almost always went to GTNP, although we did a few local hikes in Jackson. The views of the Tetons were always awe-inspiring and weirdly, different every day.
We hiked from string lake toward Trapper lake 6 times - it was just over 9 miles to Trapper Lake and back and once we added a side trail to Jackson Lake making it around 12 miles. The trail itself was relatively flat and fairly easy. It was a great first hike in the tetons, particularly if non-altitude adjusted. We have at least 8 pictures of this tree.
 Leigh lake- From one of our favorite hikes: String Lake, Leigh Lake, Bearpaw Lake and Trapper Lake One the most interesting sites on this hike is the diabasic dike in Mount Moran. Early in the season it was a prominent feature of this hike, but once the tetons had a dusting of snow it was less obvious.
The first hike we did - and another favorite- was Cascade Canyon. This one was more challenging than the lake hike with a few steep sections and included the famous "inspiration point". We tried to get through inspiration point as quickly as possible to avoid the crowds. (The second time we hiked this was after the government shutdown and was less crowded because the ferry across Jenny Lake wasn't running.) We had a few wildlife sightings on this hike - the first time we saw a black bear and the second we saw a moose. The moose decided he had first dibs on the trail and we gladly complied.  Black bear probably 1/4 mile from where we parked | ||
Filip's favorite hike was through Death Canyon - this was also the longest hike we did (>15miles) as included a slight detour for some moose viewing. The day started very cloudy and we could see almost nothing but the clouds eventually gave way and we were treated to beautiful views. Much of the hike we were hiking towards a flat top mountain that was stunning but we eventually had to turn around because we worried about running out of sunlight. We saw several moose on this hike, including a mama and her calf who wouldn't budge off the trial (we had to turn around) and a big bull trotting through the woods.     Micki's favorite hike was Paintbrush canyon, which was a 13.1 mile out and back to Holly lake. Holly Lake was nice, but the impressive part of paintbrush was all vivid colors along the way.     Many of our hikes started from the Lupin Meadows Trailhead, the first to Surprise Lake and Amphitheater Lake and then Garnet Canyon which took us to Middle Teton. We also added a hike to Delta Lake - which was likely the most technical hike we did during our stay. When we hiked to Amphitheater we had read on AllTrails that if you followed the path to the campground you had an amazing view of Delta Lake. This was probably the highlight of the hike, as it wasn't a sanctioned hike so we had it to ourselves and the view truly was impressive- and bright green!    Amphitheater Lake- where we had our lunch  The hike to Garnet Canyon shared the same trail as the one for Surprise Lake for the first several miles but then turned to the left. At first it was pretty flat and easy but then the climb started. We stopped at the point that it became a free-solo climb and enjoyed our lunch.  The trail to Delta Lake was just past the turnoff for Garnet Canyon so we decided to do that before going down to the trailhead. This trail was one of the most popular in the park but came with stern warnings about people getting lost and it being very technical. It wasn't a very long extension - perhaps 1/2 mile each way but it took us 2 hours to complete.  |
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| View Lake Jackson and Mount Moran - Swan Lake and Heron Pond Trail |
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| Our map of completed hikes (in black) |
Restaurants
Gather: We ate here once- our first night in town. It was good, although neither of us seemed to migrate towards going a second time. The Beet & Blue salad was a definitely a winner as well as the Ssamjang Marinated Ribeye (although very large). The Elk Bolognese, although popular, wasn't that great.
The Kitchen: We ate here twice - in our first week and our last week. We thought the menu was creative with very unique dishes and we enjoyed it both times.
Snake River Grill: This is supposed to be the best restaurant in Jackson. We ate here 4 times and after the 4th decided we would not go back. The food was good, particularly the appetizers but the atmosphere was loud.
Kampai: We are sushi fans and while Wyoming is landlocked, Kampai was pretty good. We love a good omakasa, although we were really disappointed in Kampai's omakasa where the chef just picked items off the menu rather than creating unique, creative dishes. But we gave it a second chance and it was much better when we were picking the dishes ourselves. Apart from the standard nigiri, which we always order, the gyoza and the crypto roll were both very good.
Teton Tiger: Teton Tiger was a fun bar with a bit of Asian street food flare. We ate here twice and enjoyed it both times. The music was very loud when we walked in - so loud we almost left, but at the tables beyond the bar it wasn't bad. The red curry with naan bread was definitely our favorite.
Figs: We ate at Figgs three times and it was definitely one of our favorites. It was very small, inside hotel Jackson. One of the two booths beside the bar was the best place to sit, and the hummus was great.
Liberty Burgers: Napa burger was a definite when and the skinny fries were the best side, although the sweet potato fries and the onion rings were both good, but the torches (roasted and fried stuffed jalapeño peppers were not so great).
Moos Gourmet Ice cream: The cashew brittle was great (we got the brittle several times) but the chocolate truffles were worth a skip. We got the ice cream twice - the first time it was great, the second, not so much. We stuck to the brittle after that.
Other Activities
Float tour down the Snake River- This was truly special. We booked a private boat and, with our friends Jody and Jeff, met our guide just outside the park entrance. We then drove about 15 miles north and launched the boat into the snake river to float downstream through the Tetons while our guide shared stories of Jackson and the Tetons. The weather was perfect, the peak fall colors were amazing and we saw several bald eagles (although no game)
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| The trees and the tetons along the Snake River |
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| One of several bald eagles we saw |
Jackson Hole Rec Center: While we have no pictures we were thrilled when we realized the full service rec center (including fitness facilities, pool, climbing wall, basketball courts, etc.) was just next door. We were able to purchase a 3 month pass which we definitely took full-advantage of.
Art Center: For a small town, the Jackson Art Center was a real treat. We went to two shows, the Manhattan Short Film Festival and the Brainstorm Speaker Series with Jia Torentino. Both events were entertaining and a nice way to spend the evening. The art center itself was small and cozy and allowed beverages inside the theater (to go with the bar serving drinks and snacks).
Yellowstone: While not quite as close as GTNP, Yellowstone didn't disappoint us. Old Faithful was right on time, we hiked to some mud pits, saw a grizzly (although far away), some elk, a coyote and even swung by Montana for a great barbecue lunch. Our friends Jody and Jeff joined us on this adventure as well.
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| Despite staying beside the Elk Reserve in Jackson we saw few elk. This one was in Yellowstone |
Rodeo: We caught the rodeo on the last weekend before it shut down for the season. We were glad we did it (it was my first rodeo), but not sure we would do it again. We mentioned to someone we had gone and they said, "Such a cute rodeo, you should go to Cheyanne if you want to see a real rodeo" We could appreciate this as some of the events were entertaining, but the cowboys were not very good (often failed before the real timer started).
Visitors
Perhaps the best part of our time in Jackson was our many visitors, who helped us explore Jackson, hikes and restaurants.
Jody and Jeff joined us mid-September and they were able to experience truly wonderful Jackson fall weather. We hiked, took a float down the Snake River and visited Yellowstone (including a barbecue lunch in Montana).
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| Float down the Snake River |
Hailey, Nicole, Colton and Nicolas (he-Nic) came the first weekend in October- and even though it rained most of the weekend we put on our rain gear and did the Trapper Lake hike. We also did a jigsaw puzzle and played a lot of cards.
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| Group Hug by Leigh Lake |
Ansel, Elise, and Amelia came the second weekend in October. We had a lot of snow but also put on our gear and did the Trapper Lake hike (among others).
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| In front of the Leigh Lake Tree |
Meg and Kevin came the third weekend and fortunately we had perfect hiking weather every day.
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| In front of Jackson Lake on the Trapper Lake Hike |
Ali joined us our last week, kindly allowing us to procrastinate any packing. We put on our gear again and dragged her to the Trapper Lake hike- only we were only able to show her the first two lakes as the path was too icy.
Overall, we continue to love Jackson and it is definitely a top contender for our ultimate retirement home!
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