Driving through Grand Teton National Park
Summary
Wowza – where did this come from!? We’d spent two days in the world-famous Yellowstone National Park (see this travel entry for tips – Campervanning through Yellowstone National Park) and then headed south to leave the park, not really expecting anything but a standard drive and more Big Sky country. We were then very pleasantly surprised to see the truly spectacular views of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park. The drive itself along the park is only about an hour and a half long, but you’ll take longer than that stopping and just gawping at the stunning range you see all the way along the road – a beautiful, dramatic mountain range that is as photogenic as it was surprising for us. A must if heading to Yellowstone, or if anywhere nearby
highlights
#1 That first amazing view as you turn out of Yellowstone, drive a short way and then are gobsmacked by the Teton range in the distance
#2 Taking way more time than you'd have expected, as you stop to gawp at the view at various stages along the road
#3 The drive itself as it winds for hours in parallel to the range. One of the most dramatic drives in the US
Travel Tips
- Stay on the 191 along the east coast of Jackson Lake; when you get near the Snake River, take the turn off for Teton Park Road until it again joins up with the 191. One of the most jaw dropping drives I’ve done
- Driving through Grand Teton National Park was all part of a whirlwind road trip around the Western US states. See the itinerary and tips for this adventure here – Rapid 2 week roadtrip around the US West Coast States
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Stunning Mountain Vistas around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone