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TRAIL 41: Grand Teton National Park
Phelps Lake
TRAIL USE
Hike, Backpack, Horse
LENGTH
4.0 miles, 2–3 hours
VERTICAL FEET
±420 to overlook, ±850 to lake
DIFFICULTY
2
TRAIL TYPE
Out-and-back
SURFACE TYPE
Dirt
FEATURES
Child friendly
Lake
Stream
Autumn Colors
Wildflowers
Birds
Wildlife
Cool & Shady
Great Views
Photo Opportunity
Camping
Swimming
Geological Interest
FACILITIES
Restrooms
Horse Staging
Beyond the scenic overlook of the park’s fourth-largest lake, this rewarding route provides access to a group of three charming lakefront campsites that feel miles from the trailhead. Wildflowers, trout, moose, and black bears are abundant. Reserve campsites as far ahead as possible for this popular, family-friendly overnighter.
Best Time
Snow usually disappears from the trail by mid-June. Wildflowers appear soon after the snowmelt, and bird-watching is most diverse in early summer. Autumn colors peak in late August and early September. There’s enough shade to make the trail pleasant any time of day.
Finding the Trail
From south of the park in the town of Jackson, head 1 mile southwest through town on US 26/89/191 to the WY 22 junction. Turn right and go west 4.5 miles to WY 390 (Moose Wilson Road). Turn right and go 7 miles north, past Teton Village and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Continue north through the park’s Granite Canyon Entrance Station, where the road turns to dirt; proceed 5 miles north, past the Granite Canyon trailhead, and turn left on a paved road signed for Death Canyon. Bear left after 0.3 mile: the pavement ends after 0.5 mile, and the rough, one- lane dirt road (no trailers or mobile homes allowed) gets worse for the next mile until it passes a larger parking area (best for low-clearance vehicles). There are parking spots all along the road until it dead-ends soon after at the crowded trailhead parking area near the White Grass Ranger Station.
From the north, look for the junction with Teton Park Road across from the Moose Visitor Center. Drive south 3 miles on a narrow, winding, paved but scenic stretch of Moose Wilson Road and turn right at the signed Death Canyon Trailhead Road junction.
Trail Description
From the Death Canyon trailhead (6,780 feet) near the seasonal White Grass Ranger Station, keep left at the signed Valley Trail T-junction, 0.1 mile beyond the parking area.
For the next 0.8 mile, the well-beaten path—once a popular horseback-riding route for dudes staying at the White Grass Ranch—rises gradually through meadows, mixed-conifer forest, and colorful groves of aspens, crossing a couple of streams flush with thimbleberries. Ignore all the unmarked horse trails that intersect the trail as it climbs to the overlook.
Once atop the lateral moraine—deposited more than 15,000 years ago by a mass of ice pouring out of Death Canyon—there are nice picnic spots tucked among the boulders to the left, and good views over the lake to the Jackson Hole valley from the Phelps Lake Overlook (7,200 feet).
For an easy, hourlong outing, some folks prefer to turn back here and return to the trailhead. To experience the variety of habitats around the lakeshore and for a better look up the glacial, U-shaped canyon, follow the switchbacks down the steeper, southern face of the moraine 0.7 mile to the Death Canyon Trail junction.
The spur trail for the three lovely campsites perched above the lake’s northern shore branches off to the left from the Phelps Lake Trail just beyond the Death Canyon Trail junction. For fishing access and some good bird-watching, continue south along the western lakeshore after crossing Death Creek on a footbridge, and follow a side trail down to the shore and inlet of Phelps Lake. Retrace your steps back to the trailhead parking area.
