dust and starlightWyoming
Grand Teton National Park
Jenny Lake and Teewinot with snow still on the range in early May, moose in the timber, bison on Elk Ranch Flats, and Two Ocean Lake in July.
- Photographs
- 1
- Made
- May 2026
- Months
- May
- In the collections
Field notes
When to go
Most of our frames are from one early-May day in 2026, when snow still streaked the peaks and lay in the timber along the Jenny Lake trail. Teton Park Road opens to cars on May 1 (it's closed from November through April between Taggart Lake Trailhead and Signal Mountain Lodge), but the Jenny Lake shuttle boat doesn't start until May 15, and only once the ice is off; it runs through September 30. We came back in early July 2026 for Two Ocean Lake, under summer cumulus.
Getting there
As of 2026, entry is $35 per vehicle for seven days, and non-US residents 16 and over pay an extra $100 per person unless they hold an annual pass; the park doesn't take cash. Parking at Jenny Lake is limited, and in summer the lot fills and people park along the road, so pull fully off the shoulder. Two Ocean Lake is up Pacific Creek Road from near the Moran Entrance, then two and a half miles of dirt road that closes seasonally. Stay at least 25 yards from bison, moose and other wildlife, and 100 yards from bears and wolves. Check the park's Fees and Park Roads pages before you go.
Entry and passes
Entry: $35 per vehicle, 7 days. The $80 America the Beautiful annual pass covers it. Non-US residents 16 and over also pay $100 per person, unless they hold an annual pass. The Grand Teton annual pass is $70. The park doesn't take cash.
Our story
We drove in on Teton Park Road and spent the middle of May 3, 2026 at Jenny Lake, in hard midday light: the range rising straight out of the water with cumulus on the ridge, a boulder in the shallows, and Teewinot at 268mm, snow-plastered through the firs, from the trail above the lake.
Along the Jenny Lake Trail a cow moose fed in the trees, and a young moose lay bedded in the deadfall on old snow nearby. At the outlet, Cottonwood Creek held the spruces in still water, with a logjam, the snowmelt and the footbridge by the east shore boat dock. Later that afternoon, bison were spread across the sage on Elk Ranch Flats, south of Moran Junction, with snowy ranges far off to the northeast.
On July 3, 2026, heading north from Salt Lake City to Bozeman, we stopped at Two Ocean Lake, with reeds along the shore and a snow-streaked peak above the forested ridge, and caught the Grand Teton and the Cathedral Group from the north that same afternoon. A little farther north, on Flag Ranch Road, we photographed a red fox.
Nearest places
All placesAs the crow flies, from the center of Grand Teton National Park to the center of each.
