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✦ Accessible Itinerary

Grand Teton National Park

A scenic-drive and paved-path journey through the Tetons and Jackson Hole, gentle on the knees and easy on the lungs.

📍 Jackson, Wyoming 📅 3 Days / 2 Nights ♿ Paved paths & scenic drives

The Tetons rise nearly 7,000 feet straight from the valley floor, unbuffered by foothills. Which is to say — the mountain view is generously delivered through a windshield, from a lodge deck, or along a paved path, as it is from any strenuous trail.

This itinerary is built around Teton Park Road (43 paved miles at the base of the range, with a viewing pullout every few minutes), the multi-use pathway from Jackson to Jenny Lake, and the accessible visitor centers at Moose, Jenny Lake, and Colter Bay. Jackson town, at the southern edge, is walkable and full of galleries, history, and good restaurants for the between-drive hours.

♿

The Gentle Range

A three-day rhythm designed for visitors with limited mobility, those traveling with a wheelchair or walker, anyone recovering from injury, or travelers who simply want to take the Tetons slowly. Most of each day is spent behind a windshield, on a paved path, or on a deck with a mountain view.

Teton Park Road Multi-Use Pathway Accessible Visitor Centers Jackson Town Galleries
1

Arrive in Jackson & the Southern Park

Craig Thomas Discovery Center · Menor's Ferry · Snake River Overlook at sunset
▾
Morning
Arrive in Jackson. Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) sits inside the park itself — a rare thing, and it means you begin looking at the Tetons before you've claimed a bag. Check into accessible lodging. The Wort Hotel (historic, ADA rooms, right on Town Square), Rustic Inn Creekside Resort (accessible cabins with roll-in showers), and Snow King Resort each offer step-free access and ground-floor options.
💡 Request an ADA room directly when booking — online inventory sometimes hides them.
Midday
Lunch on the patio at Persephone Bakery (Town Square, step-free, warm pastries and wood tables under sun umbrellas) or at Snake River Brewing (casual, accessible, one of Jackson's most-loved kitchens). Take your time. The mountains will wait.
Early Afternoon
Drive north about 20 minutes to Moose. The Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center is fully accessible — level entry, wide corridors, accessible restrooms — and its 15-minute film about the range's geology is one of the best park orientations anywhere. The exhibit hall has hands-on displays about the animals of the valley.
🎥 Ask a ranger at the desk what has been seen this week. They keep an unofficial wildlife log.
Late Afternoon
Menor's Ferry Historic District, a short drive from the visitor center. The pathways here are paved and firm, connecting the Maud Noble Cabin, the old Menor's Ferry cable-crossing site on the Snake River, and the Chapel of the Transfiguration — a small log chapel whose picture window frames the Cathedral Group of the Tetons in place of an altarpiece. All buildings have level entry.
Evening
Sunset at Snake River Overlook — a paved roadside pullout with a viewing platform that faces the same bend in the river Ansel Adams photographed in 1942. No walking required. Return to Jackson for dinner at the Blue Lion or Café Genevieve, both step-free.
🌅 The Tetons face west, so the alpenglow lingers on the range for a good half-hour after the sun drops behind them.
2

The Teton Park Road

Cathedral Group · Jenny Lake · Signal Mountain summit
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Morning
Drive Teton Park Road, the 43-mile scenic road that runs at the base of the range. It has more accessible viewing stops than any park road I know — a pullout with a mountain view every few minutes, most of them step-free from the parking spot.
Stop — Windy Point Turnout
Roadside pullout, immediate view of the Cathedral Group (the trio of Grand, Middle, and South Teton). No walking. This is often the first "oh" of the drive.
Stop — Teton Glacier & Cathedral Group Turnouts
Teton Glacier Turnout is roadside; on a clear morning the Grand's small remaining glacier is visible. Cathedral Group Turnout has a short paved path (about 100 feet) to a viewing platform with interpretive signs.
Midday — Jenny Lake
The Jenny Lake Visitor Center is fully accessible, and a short paved path (about 300 ft) leads from the parking area to a lake overlook where the Tetons rise straight out of the water. Jenny Lake Boat Company's shuttle across the lake has ADA-accessible boats; if you can transfer, the ride to Hidden Falls trailhead lets you see the base of the range from the far side.
🚤 Call Jenny Lake Boating in advance (307-734-9227) to confirm accessible boat availability.
Afternoon — Signal Mountain Lodge
Continue north to Signal Mountain Lodge for lunch on the deck overlooking Jackson Lake, with the range across the water. The deck is accessible; the lodge itself has accessible restrooms.
Late Afternoon — Signal Mountain Summit Road
A 5-mile paved road climbs 1,000 feet to a summit viewpoint with paved viewing platforms and a 360° panorama of the range, the Snake River, and Jackson Lake. Everything is done from the car and from level ground. This is one of the great big-view moments in the American West.
🚙 The Signal Mountain Summit Road is closed to trailers and RVs. Standard cars and SUVs are fine.
Evening
Return south, pausing at Cathedral Group Turnout for late-afternoon light on the range — the same view looks entirely different when the sun is behind you rather than above. Dinner in Jackson.
3

Northern Park & Wildlife Drives

Oxbow Bend · Colter Bay · Willow Flats · Antelope Flats
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Morning
Drive north on Highway 89 (an alternate scenic road that parallels Teton Park Road). First stop: Oxbow Bend Turnout — a paved pullout with a viewing area that faces Mount Moran across a slow bend in the Snake River. Early morning is when the water is still glass and the reflection is complete. This is one of the great photographs in the park system, and it's step-free from the car.
🦌 Moose feed in the willows around Oxbow at dawn. Sit quietly for ten minutes with binoculars.
Late Morning — Colter Bay Village
Continue north to Colter Bay Village. The visitor center is fully accessible and houses the David T. Vernon Indian Arts Collection — a small but exceptional museum of Native American art and material culture, free with park entry. The lakefront path outside is paved and level.
Midday
Lunch on the deck at the Colter Bay Village Restaurant, facing Jackson Lake and the range beyond it. Accessible entry; the deck sits directly over the lakeshore.
Afternoon
Head back south and stop at Willow Flats Overlook — a roadside meadow that is one of the most reliable elk-viewing spots in the valley, especially in September during the rut. Then Jackson Lake Dam, where a paved area lets you walk the dam edge with the mountains behind you.
Late Afternoon — Antelope Flats Road
Turn east onto Antelope Flats Road — an unpaved but firm dirt road (fine for regular cars) that crosses sagebrush flats where bison herds and pronghorn range. All viewing is from the car. The road passes Mormon Row, where the T.A. Moulton Barn sits weathered against the Tetons in one of the most photographed compositions in America.
Evening
Farewell dinner in Jackson. Blue Lion, Café Genevieve, or the Silver Dollar Bar inside The Wort Hotel — all step-free, all worth the visit. If it is your last night, sit longer than you meant to. The range will still be there in the morning; the light on your table won't.

The route at a glance

Jackson sits at the southern edge of the valley. Teton Park Road runs 43 paved miles along the base of the range, from Moose to Jackson Lake Junction. Colter Bay and Oxbow Bend sit to the north.

Jackson · Teton Park Road · Jenny Lake · Signal Mountain · Colter Bay

♿ Access Notes & Practical Tips

One more honest note

Grand Teton is a driving park. Unlike Zion, there is no shuttle system and no fully paved trail on the scale of Pa'rus. What Grand Teton has instead is a road that runs at the foot of the range with a viewing stop every few miles, most of them step-free — and a range so unbuffered by foothills that the view from a pullout is essentially the view from a trail. Plan generously for road time, use the pullouts liberally, and let the mountains do the work.

The park's official accessibility information is at nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm, or call ranger dispatch at (307) 739-3300 — they are helpful for planning specific needs.

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