Visiting Jackson Hole can be prohibitively expensive. We want to help you make it manageable if you’re on a budget. Here’s what to do for free and cheap in Jackson Hole:
Visit the National Elk Refuge
The Elk Refuge is just outside town towards Grand Teton National Park. It’s one of the only places in the world you’ll see thousands of elk in one place. And it’s free.
Conveniently, Flat Creek Inn is just across the street. Flat Creek sits right at the cross section of comfort and affordability and could be the perfect fit for such a budget excursion.
Hike the Parks if you have a Pass, hike Gros Venture if you don’t
Grand Teton or Yellowstone National Parks have unlimited beautiful hiking and sightseeing, but in order to get in you need a US Parks Pass, which is currently $80. Some groups can obtain discounted passes. Either way, you can still visit other natural wonders, including Gros Ventre Wilderness, essentially across the valley from the Tetons, which provides incredible less-traversed views in its own right.
Visit the town (this can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want)
With this option there are certainly ways to make it expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. You can visit the legendary antler arches or see wild west reenactments in town square. You can visit neat bookstores or old-timey western stores. You can buy delicious bagels or delectable sandwiches. You have options.
Check out a Mountain Man Rendezvous
These don’t happen all the time so you have to be a little more selective in when you visit to find one of these, but think of a farmer’s market with Wild West flare, and this is what you get—bear traps and knives for sale, archery target practice, and baby cannons firing candy—the sort of things you might not get other places.
Go for a drive
When there’s as much beauty as you can find in the Jackson Hole area, you don’t have to try very hard to find it. Any direction you drive from Jackson Hole, there’s pretty scenery, but one option is to drive Teton Pass—a windy road traversing the mountains, and you may end up taking this particular route to arrive in Jackson Hole if you are coming from the West in Idaho. Don’t pass up stopping at the top to take in the sight of distant valleys, smell of pine, and taste of brisk mountain air.
Growing up, Dillon could see the Grand Teton from his house on a clear day. His family took him to nearby national parks so often that he took the parks for granted. It took the rigors of life to teach him how good he had it, and he now spends as much time in the mountains as possible.
Photo by Byron Johnson on Unsplash
