Wyoming: Grand Teton & Yellowstone

Scenic River Float

Your guide(s) will meet you at the Lodge at Jackson Hole at 1:00 p.m. in the lobby. Your guide(s) will be wearing a Country Walkers shirt. You will start the trip with a picnic lunch and a float along the scenic Snake River. Come dressed for your float! Be sure to wear shoes that can get wet. A rain poncho will be provided. You will depart the lodge at 1:30 p.m.

If you are arriving after 1:00 p.m. or if your flight is delayed, you must make your own arrangements to reach The Lodge at Jackson Hole. Please note that our river float excursion departs the hotel at 1:30 p.m. sharp. If you arrive after this time, plan to meet your guides at approximately 5:30 p.m. at the lodge.

Guests driving to the tour should park their cars at The Lodge at Jackson Hole for the week (no charge; leave keys with the hotel front desk).

Your scenic float trip on the Snake River is guide-powered so you can relax and enjoy the scenery all around you—cameras and binoculars are welcome. Your late-afternoon float takes you approximately 13 miles downriver, with breathtaking panoramic views of the Teton Range. This stretch of the braided river is home to an array of wildlife and is especially rich in birdlife including bald eagles, osprey, herons, kingfishers, and mergansers.

After you disembark your raft, return to The Lodge at Jackson Hole in time to check-in. Dinner tonight will be at a favorite local restaurant.

*Please note: Each day presents the possibility that alternative trails of comparable terrain will be used in the event of trail closing due to wildlife activity or other circumstances.

Accommodation: The Lodge at Jackson Hole, Jackson
Included Meals: Lunch, Dinner

3 - 7 miles, easy to moderate

After breakfast at your lodge, you’ll travel by van to Grand Teton National Park and Jenny Lake, the main hub in the heart of Grand Teton. Board the Jenny Lake ferry, with the Teton Range towering above you as you make your way across the pristine waters. Multiple walking route options await upon disembarking the ferry. Trails range from flat walks around the lake to expeditions that take you to the heights of the Grand Tetons. Stay close to Jenny Lake, where there are incredible views of the Teton Range from the trail. Stop along the way at one of the many scenic overlooks to enjoy your packed lunch. Keep an eye out for wildlife in and around the lake as you make your way to String Lake.

From String Lake, you transfer to the Grand Teton National Park Visitor and Discovery Center in Moose, Wyoming. Get acquainted with the park at the Visitor Center, where you can get your National Park Passport stamped and pick up souvenirs. The center offers natural history exhibits, a relief map of the park, and an informational 22-minute film.

Later in the afternoon, you’ll return to the lodge where you may swim in the all-season indoor-outdoor heated pool, enjoy the hot tubs and sauna, go for a stroll in town, or choose one or more of the activities listed below. Your guides will be available to provide additional recommendations and support. The lodge is located just over a one-mile walk to the Jackson, Wyoming town square. Tonight, dinner is on your own.

Jackson, with its frontier-type atmosphere and backdrop of mountain peaks, blends city life with the wild west. The area is famous for skiing, hiking, and outdoor activities year-round, and Jackson boasts a range of restaurants, shops, and museums. Don’t miss the arches on Town Square, made of elk antlers from the nearby National Elk Refuge.

Guided – Flex Options include:
• The Town of Jackson has a bike-share program, and you can take one of their commuter bikes for a ride along the pathways through town, taking time to stop at one of the many museums or art galleries.
• View the popular Jackson Hole Town Square Shootout, presented by the Jackson Hole Playhouse. A Wyoming tradition since 1957, the Shootout begins at 6:00 p.m. and will surely be an entertaining start to your evening.
• Enjoy one of the many relaxing therapies and treatments offered at your hotel spa. Reservations are recommended. (Cost not included).

Accommodation: The Lodge at Jackson Hole, Jackson
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

1 mile, easy. Storm Point Loop Trail; 3 miles, easy

Wake up early this morning for a hot gourmet breakfast at the lodge. You’ll depart Jackson this morning, and make your way into Yellowstone.

Your transfer takes you north into Yellowstone National Park. Pause along the way to view wildlife or learn about the park’s fire ecosystem. This morning’s destination is West Thumb Geyser Basin, which offers a short interpretive walk and excellent opportunities to see a variety of thermal features, including colorful hot springs and hissing steam vents. Today’s lunch is a picnic under a canopy of evergreen trees.

Gather this afternoon with your guides for a loop walk to Storm Point through a landscape of meadow, forest, and coastal dunes. On this easy hike, you’ll pass by Indian Pond, rewarding you with magnificent views of the mountains over Yellowstone Lake.

You continue your journey via Hayden Valley, home to a variety of wildlife, to Canyon Lodge located on the east side of the park only half a mile from the famous Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and its Lower Falls. After checking into your room and enjoying your surroundings, you dine at your lodge’s restaurant.

Accommodation: Canyon Lodge, Yellowstone National Park
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

5 miles, easy to moderate, 1,384-ft. elevation gain

Today you venture farther into Yellowstone for a walk through lush forests and blooming meadows that give way to an otherworldly landscape. Along your trail are thick mud pots and bubbling hot springs created by Yellowstone’s subterranean geothermal activity. Soon, you arrive at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This 1,200-foot-deep chasm is layered with the bright red, yellow, and orange volcanic rhyolite, hydrothermally altered and cooled some 600,000 years ago. In fact, the name Yellowstone is thought to have evolved from the native Minnetaree name for the area “Rock Yellow River.” Translated by 18th-century French trappers, it was called roche jaune, which American trappers later translated into English—Yellowstone. The canyon is approximately 24 miles in total length, and you’ll follow a trail along the rim as the Yellowstone River rushes below. You pause at a lunch spot overlooking the spectacular Hayden Valley, famous for its congregations of big game. This valley, actually an old lakebed formed by glaciers in the last Ice Age, is home to swans, great blue herons, Canada geese, elk, deer, bison, and, occasionally, wolves, as well as both grizzly and black bear.

Yellowstone is a fascinating place to explore, and this afternoon you’ll have free time to choose from a variety of activities. Discover more of the park’s geothermal features, or learn about its unique history.

Guided – Flex Options include:
• Spend time at the Old Faithful visitor’s center, within viewing distance of the legendary Old Faithful Geyser. Here, you can browse educational exhibits and take part in ranger-led programs in the evening.
• Enjoy a free tour of the historic Old Faithful Inn, one of the most famous structures in the National Parks.
• Experience “Twilight on the Firehole” by reserving spots on a Historic Yellow Bus twilight tour of Yellowstone’s Firehole Valley (fee not included). More information can be found: https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/adventure/land-adventures/twilight-on-the-firehole/.

Accommodation: Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Yellowstone National Park
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

1 mile, easy. Fairy Falls Trail; 3 miles, easy. Upper Geyser Basin; 2 miles, easy

You depart after breakfast and shuttle along the scenic Grand Loop to the Midway Geyser Basin. Your footsteps take you along the trail to view the magnificent Grand Prismatic Spring. Notice the surrounding hillsides, still recovering from the great forest fires of 1988.

After visiting the Midway Geyser Basin, you’ll shuttle to Old Faithful. Arrive at Black Sand Basin and traverse a rustic path to the main boardwalks. Stroll around the Geyser Basin to learn about and witness some of nature’s grandest spectacles. Yellowstone National Park is home to nearly 50 percent of the world’s geothermal features.

Break in the afternoon for lunch on your own at one of several restaurants in Old Faithful Village. After lunch, choose a flat walk through the Geyser Basin or challenge yourself with a hike to the top of Observation Point for a view overlooking the vast Upper Geyser Basin. No matter which trail you choose, be sure to pause for an Old Faithful eruption, which occurs every 90 minutes or so.

Afterward, you might peruse the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, which opened in 2010. Or visit Old Faithful Inn—with its heavy timber construction, it is a significant example of classic “parkitecture.”

Tonight, you’ll toast your discoveries of Grand Teton and Yellowstone during a farewell dinner.

Accommodation: Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Yellowstone National Park
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Shortly after breakfast, say goodbye and depart the lodge by shuttle, arriving at the Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) at 11:30 a.m. Flights departing before 1:30 p.m. are not recommended. Country Walkers will offer a second drop-off at The Lodge at Jackson Hole, arriving at 12:00 p.m.

Included Meals: Breakfast