Yellowstone and Grand Teton: 7 Days from Jackson Hole

This is the two-park trip done the way the geography intended: one airport inside a national park, no rental-car backtracking, and seven days split between the Tetons’ peaks and the world’s first national park. The pair work differently and deserve both. Grand Teton is about scale and stillness, jagged peaks over mirror lakes, best at dawn. Yellowstone is about the planet’s plumbing: geysers, hot springs and wildlife so close you will hear bison snort through your car window. Both parks charge US$35 per vehicle, and both add a US$100 per-person surcharge for non-US residents aged 16+ unless the car holds the US$80 America the Beautiful pass. Run it between late May and mid-October, when every road is open.

Day 1: Land at Jackson Hole, Meet the Tetons

Jackson Hole Airport sits inside Grand Teton National Park, which means the mountain show starts on final approach. Pick up the rental, and drive fifteen minutes to the Mormon Row barns and the town of Jackson for the antler arches on the town square. If you land by early afternoon, take the first park pass at Moose (this is where your America the Beautiful pass pays off immediately) and catch the sunset at Schwabacher Landing, where the Snake River mirrors the whole range. Overnight in Jackson.

Practical tip: Buy the US$80 America the Beautiful pass before you arrive (digital at recreation.gov): it covers both parks’ gates and waives the US$100 per-person non-resident surcharge at both, per the parks’ own fee pages, which for a couple means it saves US$400 on the spot.

Day 2: Grand Teton: Jenny Lake, Hidden Falls, Oxbow Bend

Full Teton day. Take the Jenny Lake boat shuttle across (roughly US$20 return for adults, running May 15 to September 30, no reservation needed, see jennylakeboating.com), hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, and walk the lake shore back. Afternoon: the Chapel of the Transfiguration and Menor’s Ferry, then drive north for early evening at Oxbow Bend, where moose, beavers and the occasional bear work the shoreline at dusk. Second night in Jackson or Moran.

Practical tip: Oxbow Bend and Schwabacher Landing fill with tripods an hour before sunset; park in the formal pullouts only (rangers ticket shoulder-parkers) and bring the layers, because 40-degree temperature swings between noon and dusk are normal at this elevation.

Day 3: North to Yellowstone: Lake Country and the Hayden Valley

Enter Yellowstone at the South Entrance (a separate US$35 fee or your pass; the parks have no combined ticket, each charges its own). First stop: West Thumb’s geyser basin on the shore of Yellowstone Lake, then the lake’s village for lunch. Afternoon: the Hayden Valley, Yellowstone’s bison highway, where herds routinely stop traffic, and the Mud Volcano’s burping pools. Check in around Canyon or Lake for two nights.

Practical tip: Bison own the road here: stay in your car in a pullout, keep at least 25 yards from bison and elk and 100 yards from bears and wolves (the park’s posted rule), and never honk to hurry a herd, because goring a car door is a bison’s idea of feedback.

Day 4: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lamar Valley

Morning at the park’s postcard: the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Lower Falls drop twice the height of Niagara into a gold and red canyon. Artist Point for the classic view, Brink of the Upper Falls Trail if your knees agree, then over Dunraven Pass toward the Lamar Valley for the park’s best wildlife hour at dusk: bison herds, pronghorn, and wolves if you bring binoculars and patience. Return over the pass to Canyon for a second night.

Practical tip: The Lamar Valley is 60 to 90 minutes each way from Canyon, and twilight driving in wolf and bison country is slow by design: leave the valley before full dark, drive at posted speeds, and let the scheduled morning light do the wildlife photography instead.

Day 5: Geyser Country: Norris, Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic

Wake early and drive south to Norris Geyser Basin (the hottest, oldest basin, and emptiest at 8 a.m.), then continue to Old Faithful for early afternoon: predicted eruption windows are posted at the visitor education center and in the NPS app, so plan lunch around one. Walk the Upper Geyser Basin boardwalks past Castle and Morning Glory pools, then drive to Midway Geyser Basin for Grand Prismatic’s steaming rainbow and the short climb to the overlook for the full-color view. Overnight at Old Faithful (if you booked a year ago) or West Yellowstone.

Practical tip: In-park lodges sell out six to thirteen months ahead, so the moment your dates are fixed, book at yellowstonenationalparklodges.com; if the calendar beat you, West Yellowstone’s motels work, but add 30 to 45 minutes of driving to each geyser day.

Day 6: Firehole Morning, Tetons Afternoon, Jackson Evening

Morning: Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin, the geyser country’s quieter corners, then the Firehole Lake Drive loop. By early afternoon, run south: re-enter Grand Teton, stop at Teton Point and the Snake River Overlook (Ansel Adams shot here), and roll into Jackson by dinner. Spend the evening on the town square, where the elk antler arches glow and the cowboy bars pour; Wyoming beer prices will feel like a vacation from park prices.

Practical tip: Re-usable groceries are the move on this route: Jackson’s supermarket prices sting less than the park stores’, and a cooler turns trailhead lunches into your best meals of the week (tipping still runs 18 to 22 percent at the table; see our tipping guide).

Day 7: The Tram, the Elk Refuge, and Home

Last morning, pick your finale: the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram climbs to Rendezvous Peak at 10,450 feet (summer tickets have been running around US$85 in recent years, check jacksonhole.com; the view runs from the Tetons to the Wind Rivers), or the National Elk Refuge’s flat road for a last wildlife hour. Jackson Hole airport is fifteen minutes from town, and its departures lounge might be the only one in America with a mountain range for a departure window.

Practical tip: Book JAC departures for the afternoon: it leaves room for one more trailhead or the tram, and morning fog in the valley regularly shuffles the airport’s short schedule, which is no way to end a trip (and remember, three hours before flights, ESTA ready, see our entry guide).

Practical Notes

Intercity transport (rental car, Jackson Hole in and out)

Leg	Distance	Drive time	Notes
JAC airport to Jackson town	10 mi	15 min	Airport sits inside Grand Teton
Jackson to Jenny Lake / Moose	15-20 mi	30 min	Dawn is the point
Jackson to Old Faithful via South Entrance	90 mi	2-2.5h plus stops	All scenic, none dull
Canyon to Lamar Valley	45 mi	1-1.5h each way	Go at dusk, leave before dark
Old Faithful to Jackson via the Tetons	100 mi	2.5-3h	Geyser basins en route

The week totals roughly 450 miles, all paved; a standard rental sedan is fine. There is no train and no practical bus network inside the parks.

Season, fees and reservations (as of October 2026)

Roads: all Yellowstone roads typically open Memorial Day weekend through mid-October; only the North and Northeast entrances stay open all year (winter is a snowcoach and snowmobile operation, a different trip)
Yellowstone: US$35 per vehicle, valid 7 days; Grand Teton: US$35 per vehicle, valid 7 days; no combined pass, each park charges separately
Non-US residents 16+ currently pay a US$100 per-person surcharge at both parks unless the vehicle holds an annual or America the Beautiful pass (US$80, digital at recreation.gov or at the gate)
No vehicle reservation is needed at either park; the reservations that matter are lodging (in-park lodges sell out 6-13 months ahead at yellowstonenationalparklodges.com and gtlc.com) and the Jenny Lake boat needs none

Budget estimate (per person, 7 days, excluding flights to and from Jackson Hole, assuming two share car and fuel)

Backpacker: US$1,100-1,600. Jackson hostels and motel rooms, cooler-based meals, one tram ride
Mid-range: US$2,200-3,200. Three nights in Jackson plus two in-park or gateway hotel nights, restaurant dinners, the tram and boat
Comfort: US$4,000-7,000. Historic in-park lodge rooms, fine dining in Jackson, guided wildlife and photography tours

Note that Jackson is a resort town with resort prices and resort fees; run hotel quotes through our Real Price Calculator before you gasp.

Car vs plane vs train verdict

Fly into Jackson Hole (JAC) and rent a car, full stop. JAC’s flights are seasonal and pricey compared with Salt Lake City or Idaho Falls, but the alternative adds a half-day drive each way; if fares shock you, price the drive from Salt Lake City (about 4.5 hours) as the budget fallback. Trains do not come here. Inside the parks, distances are long, services sparse and wildlife on the road at all hours, so do not treat this like a city trip: carry water, layers and a full tank, rent or buy bear spray in Jackson and know how to use it, and travel with medical insurance, because the nearest major hospital is hours away and American care without coverage is a five-figure surprise (our health and safety guide covers what to carry).