Jackson Hole, WyomingOne of the major differences between trips to Grand Teton and other national or state parks, is the existance of such a major town so close by. Usually you can't get to a large grocery easily, but here you can. There are dozens of restaurants, kinds of hotels, specialty gift shops and headquarters for float trips, etc.
photo below used with permission from Ron Niebrugge: http://www.wildnatureimages.com/
The two main streets of Jackson run north/south and east/west as a +.
Parking and traffic gets tighter near the center of the +.
W. Broadway runs to the left of the center of the +, E. Broadway runs to the right.
At the furthest west of this + on W Broadway you will find 22 running north to Wilson. From there, Teton Village is 12 miles northwest of Jackson on the Moose Wilson road (390). The Moose Wilson road can be an alternate (in season) route into Grand Teton Park. At the same intersection, Broadway turns south and becomes highway 89/189/191 heading towards Hoback Junction.
N. Cache, the route to the airport (8 miles north of Jackson on 89) and the main route to Grand Teton Park, runs on the top of the + and S. Cache Street runs from the center of the + on the bottom leg.
Grand Teton Park begins about five miles north of Jackson on Highway 89 (N. Cache). An entrance gate and visitor center is at Moose Junction, 12 miles north. Another entrance is at Moran Junction, about 30 miles north of Jackson. The south entrance of Yellowstone NP is about 60 miles north on U.S. Hwy 89. Old Faithful is about 40 miles further, about 100 miles from Jackson.
At the northeast corner of the center of the + is Town Square with the arches of antlers. The Shoot Out Gang acts out an old west gunfight nightly, except Sunday, 6:15 to about 6:30 p.m. on the southeast corner of the town square. Traffic (pedestrian and vehicle) is worst in the vicinity of the Town Square, so be sure you see the map the Outdoor Club has of alternate routes through town before the trip.
______________________________
photo below used with permission from Ron Niebrugge: http://www.wildnatureimages.com/
A larger, wide angle view is at:
http://www.virtualjacksonhole.com/SceneViewer.aspx?VRLN=jackson_hole
______________________________
Maps of bikeways in town can be found at: http://www.tetonwyo.org/pathwy/topics/maps/100286/
Albertson's, with a Starbucks and a big deli/bakery/produce section is at the corner of 22 coming south from Wilson and the curve of 189/191 as it becomes W. Broadway. 105 Buffalo Way.
A couple of blocks south at Maple is the KMART.
Outdoor Club favorite Jackson Whole Grocer - 1155 south Hwy 89, on the west side of the highway, south of Stelleria and north of flat creek, (the creek, not the road)- 307-733-0450 has a huge bakery, taqueria, pizzeria and sandwich bar plus other ready-to-eat food, large selection of organic and conventional produce/groceries, deli, salad bar, (and of course, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, herbs, vitamins, fair trade coffees).
http://www.jacksonwholegrocer.com/about
Smith's grocery/pharmacy is further south at 1425 S Highway 89 on the west side of the highway at High School road.
__________________________
The UPS store is at 974 W. Broadway on the south side of W Broadway between Powderhorn and Scott
Radioshack and Stone Drug are a bit south of W Broadway (highway 89/26/191) at Virginian Lane.
Further south on Virginian is the Teton County library (on Virginian near Snow King).
The Ace hardware is on the north side of W. Broadway near Flat Creek.
At 532 North Cache Street on the right as you start to leave Jackson going towards Grand Teton National Park is the Wyoming State Information Center with the sod roof. This Jackson Hole Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center has public restrooms, phones for free local calls to that rafting company, restaurant, etc., hundreds of free brochures and dozens of souvenirs/books/posters for sale.
You can get your fishing license or National Parks pass.
It's usually open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the summer, 8 to 5 in the winter.
According to an article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide, the "Visitor Center ... offers maps, books, exhibits and answers to virtually any question... Children can crawl through a bear den and feel velveted antlers. Upstairs there are mounts of
bighorn sheep, elk, eagles, wolf and grizzly."
You can hold your hand up next to the grizzly's:
"... The center sits on the edge of a Flat Creek marsh on the National Elk Refuge. Visitors can walk out on a deck overlooking the swamp or use a spotting scope to identify duck species. The recorded screech of bugling elk draws people upstairs to a 22-seat television room, where videos on the history, flora and fauna of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are screened continuously."
St John's Medical Center (24 hour) is at 625 E. Broadway at Redmond (307) 733-3636. In an emergency in the park, call 911 as usual. For a problem you can't quite handle yourself, but short of an emergency, there is a medical clinic, (307) 543-2514, on the grounds of Jackson Lake Lodge, (usually open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer and fall), which is closer to places in the park. To find it, look for the black and white aerial photo at: Jackson Lake Lodge vicinity.
CITY PARKS Dogs are not allowed in city parks.
Mike Yokel Park, 455 East Kelly St, has a sand volleyball court and horseshoe pits. Miller Park, between Delony and Gill at 257 West Delony St has a tennis court and a basketball court. Fair Grounds at 351 West Snow King has two first come - first served tennis courts.
The Recreation Center with a gym / lunch hour basketball, a seven lane swimming pool, play pools, spa and one small and one huge spiral slide is at 155 East Gill Avenue. Open swim usually 1 - 7 p.m. +/- (Fees higher for non-residents, lower for seniors.)
4.5 acre Owen Bircher Park (aka Wilson Park) at 5650 West Main street in Wilson, Wyoming, (just west of Jackson on Highway 22, take Wilson Square Road (which becomes West Street/Phelps Ridge Road) north to Main Street), has a sand volleyball court, green open space for pick-up games, and a lighted arena with local equestrians, barrel races, ropers at practice.
  14,000 square feet Teton Co./Jackson skatepark, with four grind bays of varying difficulty (hey, bring a helmet/knee and elbow pads) is off Gregory. Take High School Road on the left off Highways 89/191 as they come into town from the south, then turn right on Gregory and between where Berger and Martin come in from the right, make a left on more of a driveway than a road to the skatepark. Hours 8 a.m. to dark when we were last there. (Grand Teton Park only allows skateboards, roller blades, skates in a few areas like developed campgrounds and the bike pathway.)
Phil Baux Park, at 10 E Snow King and S Cache has artificial climbing boulders. The main adult sized is 30 feet long at the base and 40 feet wide at the 12 high top. Another is kid sized. The park foam footprint was made of preconsumer recycled material.
The Center for the Arts (dancer's workshops, recitals, theatre company, art exhibits, classes, touring ballet/bands/choir/dancers/guitarists/pianists/blues/blues rock/funk/jazz/western swing/bluegrass/cowboy balladeer/hootennany/puppeteer/comedy) is at 265 S Cache, 2 blocks south of the town square. http://www.jhcenterforthearts.org/
Restaurants in Grand Teton National Park are non-smoking, most others in Wyoming and Montana allow
smoking. There are dozens of restaurants in the town of Jackson. They vary from burgers, Chinese, Mexican, sushi, pasta, Italian, steakhouse to four-stars with "an award-winning wine list". Most lean towards family or casual atmosphere. Grand Tetons restaurants describes the restaurants in the park and has links to menus of ones in town.
The drive from Colter Bay, (where most of us stay on our summer/fall trips), to the edge of Jackson is about 42 miles. A climbing school warns its customers:
"It is very important that you arrive on time, so please allow enough time for travel from wherever you are staying. Speed limits in the Park are low to protect wildlife and visitors, and rangers ticket offenders regularly. We want your entire experience here to be positive, so please do not speed."
You can park a big RV downtown here and there in a few major shopping area parking lots, at the Home Ranch Town parking lot at North Cache and E Gill, west of the recreation center or the lot on Milward, south of the Pearl Avenue Post Office and west of the Center For the Arts.
Jackson is at longitude W110.8, latitude N43.5.
The main trip information page for the De Anza College Outdoor Club trips to Grand Teton National Park is at Grand Tetons
Grand Tetons trip pages index has brief descriptions of most of the pages about this trip.
|
