Grand Teton National Park Camping
Within Grand Teton National Park, six campgrounds have first-come, first-served campsites. Full-hookup RV campsites, which should be reserved one year in advance, are at Colter Bay and Headwaters at Flagg Ranch. You can also reserve tent sites at Headwaters. Jenny Lake is for tent-camping only.
Grand Teton National Park is the eighth most visited national park in the country, so the onslaught of summer campers means that campgrounds fill up fast. Plan accordingly and reserve in advance when possible.
North Grand Teton Campgrounds
Only Colter Bay RV Park and Headwaters Campground take reservations. Make reservations a year in advance. All other campgrounds are first-come, first-served; these fill up by noon late June-August. All campsites, except in Colter Bay RV Park, include picnic tables, fire rings, drinking water, flush toilets, and bear boxes for food storage. ADA campsites and toilets are available. Bikers and hikers can share designated campsites ($10-12 person).
John D Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway
Headwaters/Flagg Ranch
Located at Flagg Ranch, Headwaters Campground & RV (reserve at 307/543-2861 or 800/443-2311, June-Sept., $75 RVs with hookups, $38 tents, $5 extra person over double occupancy) sits between Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Close to the Snake River, the large tourist center with a lodge, restaurant, grocery, and gas station offers guided fly-fishing, horseback riding, rafting trips, and interpretive programs. From the campground, you can fish the river, mountain bike Grassy Lake Road, and hike Polecat Loop Trail.
The forested campground with 175 campsites sits adjacent to the Snake River. Campsites vary from fully shaded under large spruces and firs to partly sunny with mountain views. RV campsites have gravel pull-throughs wide enough for slide-outs and awnings. The lack of understory yields little privacy. The eastern loops sit closest to the highway, but traffic dwindles at night. Facilities include RV hookups for sewer, water, and electricity, plus a disposal station, showers, and laundry. RV combinations are limited to 60 feet. The 2016 Berry Fire burned the forest surrounding Flagg Ranch, but not the campground.
Grassy Lake Road
In the first 10 miles of the primitive Grassy Lake Road (Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road), Grassy Lake Road campsites (first-come, first-served, 307/739-3300, June-Sept., free) spread out along an old wagon route. Fourteen primitive campsites are separated along the road in eight locations. Camps 1-4 command outstanding views of the Snake River and Teton Wilderness peaks, but all are prized for privacy and solitude. Facilities include picnic tables, vault toilets, bear boxes, and large spaces for tents. No drinking water is available, so you’ll need to bring your own. Some sites are suitable for small RVs. You can fish for trout from several campsites, and mountain bike the road. Improvements were made to parts of the road in 2014, making access to the primitive campsites in the parkway section accessible by any rig, but parking at the campsites is limited. At some sites, the 2016 Berry Fire scorched trees, but wildflowers and grasses have already covered the forest floor once again.
Lizard Creek
At an ultra-scenic location, Lizard Creek (first-come, first-served, 307/543-2831, early June-early Sept., $23) sits right on the north end of Jackson Lake. As an old-school campground, it still has some prime campsites overlooking the water and Teton Mountains plus walk-in campsites right on the shoreline. In early summer, fishing, launching canoes or kayaks, and swimming from the campground is prime. In late summer when lake levels drop low, huge mudflats surround the campground rather than rocky beaches. The campground has 43 RV or tent campsites and 17 walk-in tent campsites on a partly sunny hillside of spruce and lodgepole. An amphitheater has evening interpretive programs, and campground hosts are on-site. Many of the generator-free lower loop campsites overlook the lake and the Tetons. RVs are limited to 30 feet.
Colter Bay
Located at Jackson Lake in a lodgepole forest, Colter Bay Campground (Colter Bay Village, 800/628-9988) is built in two sections on a bluff above the lake. The RV park (mid-May-early Oct., $58-75, reservations accepted) has 112 pull-through campsites with hookups for water, sewer, and electricity. No tents or fires are permitted in the RV park, but you can use your own gas or charcoal grills. RV length, including rigs and trailers, is limited to 45 feet. The larger campground (late May-Sept., $30, first-come, first-served) contains 350 sites (no hookups), 9 walk-in tent sites, 11 group sites, and 13 ADA campsites (hookups, $52) for tents and RVs. Some loops are generator-free zones. Sites are assigned at the staffed check-in station. If you arrive after the station closes, a whiteboard lists available sites. Reservations are available for group campsites only. Winter camping (Dec.-mid-Apr., $5) is possible at Colter Bay in the plowed parking lot.
Colter Bay Village houses a visitors center, amphitheater for evening naturalist programs, general store, two restaurants, coin-op laundry and showers, gas, disposal station, boat launch, swimming beach, and a marina with motorboat, canoe, and kayak rentals.
Signal Mountain
On a bluff adjacent to Signal Mountain Lodge, Signal Mountain Campground (first-come, first-served, 307/543-2831, mid-May-mid-Oct., $52 RVs, $31 tents) commands one of the best panoramic views of the Teton Mountains from its perch on the west shore of Jackson Lake. The campground loops around a hillside, where some of the campsites yield million-dollar views of the lake and the Tetons. There are 81 sites for tents or RVs, 4 tent-only campsites, and an ADA site with electricity ($47). A mix of fir and spruce trees provides some shade, but most small campsites are sunny midday. Low brush and trees create partial privacy. The narrow campground road and parking pads can pose challenges for RV drivers unskilled in squeezing into tight spots; RVs are limited to 30 feet. Loop 3 is generator-free.
Adjacent to the campground, Signal Mountain Lodge houses a restaurant, convenience store, gas station, and marina with guided fishing and rentals of canoes, kayaks, and motorboats. A boat launch is nearby.
South Grand Teton Campgrounds
Two campgrounds (307/543-3100) offer diverse experiences. Facilities include picnic tables, fire rings with grills, bear boxes, drinking water, garbage service, and firewood for sale. All campsites are first-come, first-served. Shared hiker and biker campsites cost $12 per person.
Jenny Lake
The most-coveted campground in the park, Jenny Lake Campground (early May-late Sept., $28) has front-row seating with exceptional scenery right below the Teton Mountains. You can park the car and hike for days. Trails lead to Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, Leigh Lake, Cascade Canyon, and Paintbrush Canyon, plus peaks for climbing. Jenny Lake also has scenic cruises, kayak and canoe rentals, fishing, paddling, and the paved Multi-Use Pathway running south to Moose.
In a hilly, loose pine forest with big boulders, the campground has 49 tent-only campsites including several walk-in sites. RVs, pop-ups, trailers, truck campers, and generators are prohibited, and vehicles must be smaller than 8 feet wide and 14 feet long. Each site allows a maximum of two tents, one vehicle or two motorcycles, and six people. Bathroom facilities are vault toilets. Locate the campground by turning from Teton Park Road into South Jenny Lake and veering right. The campground fills by 9am midsummer, but you may need to start trolling for a site around 7am.
Moose
On the Gros Ventre River along the southeast national park boundary, Gros Ventre Campground (early May-early Oct., $28 tents, $52 RVs w/hookups) sits opposite the National Elk Refuge. Unfortunately, the Gros Ventre River often becomes a barren riverbed mid-July-September when water is diverted for irrigation, and Black Butte blocks some of the Teton Mountains. However, the campground is a haven for moose. Gros Ventre Road makes for mellow bicycling where you might see bison and elk. Because the campground sits 12 miles from Jackson, you can pop into town for dinner and watch wildlife on the return trip. Gros Ventre is often the last campground to fill in the park, usually by dinnertime. Stop at the office to get a campsite.
The largest campground in Grand Teton, Gros Ventre has 350 RV and tent sites plus five group sites. Amenities include flush toilets, a dump station, and an amphitheater for evening interpretive programs. Seven huge loops circle the flat, sagebrush plateau under large cottonwood trees that lack understory for privacy but provide shade. Each campsite can fit two vehicles, two tents, and six people. Ten ADA campsites are available. A limited number of campsites can accommodate large RVs and trailers; 36 sites have electrical hookups. Certain loops are designated for generator use. Make reservations (307/543-3100 or 800/628-9988) for large groups.
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