Winter in Jackson Hole, WY
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My brother- and sister-in-law moved to Utah a few years back, so Jess and I decided to drive out and meet them in Jackson Hole, WY. We’d heard so much about it and wanted to see what all the fuss was about – plus, the National Elk Refuge is there, and I’d been wanting to visit it so I was pretty excited!
What’s the Difference Between Jackson and Jackson Hole, WY?
I was so confused – turns out, Jackson is one of the towns in the Jackson Hole valley. We stayed in Jackson – that’s mostly what people are referring to when they go there. But Jackson Hole also encompasses Teton Village, Moran Junction and a few other towns.
Jackson is a town of a little more than 10,000 people with restaurants, bars, shops and fun sites, but you’ll end up covering the Jackson Hole area while you’re there if you do any sort of site-seeing outside of town.
How Do You Get to Jackson, WY?
We drove from Nebraska to Jackson via I-80. It was an 11+ hour drive and it was winter, so we stayed the night in Rawlins on the way and got into Jackson around noon. Then we drove home on Highway 26 – the scenic route. If you want to fly, you can fly into the Jackson Hole Airport – it’s the only airport located inside a national park! But it’s really pricey and you don’t have a lot of options. You’re better off flying into Salt Lake City (4.5 hours away) or Idaho Falls (2 hours away) and renting a car to drive the rest of the way.
What is There to Do in Jackson Hole?
Jackson Hole is actually a great year-round destination with access to unparalleled natural landscapes and wildlife. It’s within an hour of Yellowstone National Park, and it’s literally minutes from the entrance to Grand Teton National Park. The National Elk Refuge is just outside of town. There are three ski resorts in the area, as well as numerous outdoor activity options.
The Bridger Teton National Forest (3.4 million acres) makes up the area surrounding Jackson, Grand Teton and the Greater Yellowstone area – and Shoshone National Forest (2.4 million acres) butts up to that. We saw a large herd of Big Horn Sheep next to the road driving home through the Shoshone National Forest – it was so neat!
The town square is really cute and has tons of shops, art galleries, bars, restaurants and is just fun to walk around and window shop. You’ve probably seen the famous antler arches at the town square – did you know there is a live webcam set up? You can tell your friends to log on when you’re going there, and they can see you live when you pose under the arches - pretty cool! You could also check out the weather conditions before going. And, in the winter, they set up an ice-skating rink in the square.
When’s the Best Time to Go to Jackson, WY?
That depends on what you want to do when you go. For us, I really wanted to visit the National Elk Refuge. The Refuge is where the elk congregate when they come down from the mountains in the winter – so they are seen there December-April typically. We decided February would be the best time – right in the middle of that season.
You can access the National Elk Refuge gift shop and walk the boardwalks for free. The tours have a fee, but they are so worth it. You can take a horse-drawn sleigh or wagon ride out to see the elk more up close – but these are not tame elk, they are completely wild. They just know they are safe there. There wasn’t enough snow on the ground when we were there, so we were on a wagon, but it was an awesome experience.
Ski season is Thanksgiving through early April. The ski resorts also offer tram rides year-round. In the summer you can go mountain biking and hiking – among other things. And there is so much natural beauty, just taking a drive is worth it.
With two national parks nearby, you can visit both of those year-round (winter in Yellowstone is limited, more about that later). Temperatures in the Jackson area in the winter top out around 30 degrees and in the summer at 80 degrees. Summer is by far the busiest time to visit – and the most expensive. Although, it’s an expensive destination at any time.
Where Should You Stay in Jackson Hole?
Jackson is a town of a little more than 10,000 people. Private land is limited because 97% of the land in the county is federally owned or state operated. So, lodging is limited – and it’s a busy destination. You’ll definitely want to plan in advance.
Room View
When we were looking for places to stay, we kept seeing Airbnbs in Idaho that said they were about 45 minutes away. They were much more affordable than the hotels we found in Jackson. We finally figured out why – you have to go over the pass to get to them. In the winter, the pass can be gnarly and gets closed if the weather and roads get bad. So, be forewarned.
Since we were going in the winter, we didn’t want to risk not being able to get to town or do the things we wanted to, so we stayed at Homewood Suites – it’s less than a half mile walk to the town square so it was perfectly located. The staff was friendly, the rooms were nice, and we really enjoyed staying there.
It’s not a very big town so no matter where you stay, it shouldn’t take long to get around – although traffic can be busy. You’ll want to just search and see what suits you and if you’d rather be able to walk places from your lodging or drive, and what’s available.
Where Should you Eat in Jackson?
The first place we visited for drinks and light food was Snake River Brewing. I don’t remember what we had but I remember that it was good and the atmosphere is great – it was really busy but it was a fun, upbeat crowd – definitely recommend going there.
One night we got back from our tour late and we tried to eat at the Gun Barrel Steak and Game House, but the wait was too long and we were starving. We ended up just finding some pizza to go somewhere. One must-try stop is Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream – it’s near the square and we walked over one night – everything is delicious!
For drinks, you have to stop at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. I will be honest and tell you the drinks were crazy expensive – coming from our Nebraska-priced perspective – and it is just a bar. But, they have stools that are made of saddles at the bar and stuffed game animals so it’s go a lot of ambiance and is a really fun photo-op. We also were there in the middle of the day during the week, I imagine it gets pretty busy at night and may have more of a bar feel – if that’s what you’re into. Either way, when you’re in town, you need to go to say you went 😊
Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park in Winter
I’d been to both parks in the summer but not winter and since we were already there, we had to go. Grand Teton is literally right next to Jackson, so we just drove around. There isn’t a lot going on in the winter, but Jenny Lake was completely frozen over and being able to walk on the frozen lake is such a cool experience.
There were bison everywhere, and we saw some moose laying down out in the fields. There are limited services in the winter but plenty of tours you can book still. Check out more info about Grand Teton in the winter here.
Yellowstone is about an hour away and mostly open only to commercial tour groups in the winter. It can be really dangerous if something happens to you while you’re in there so the road between the North and Northeast entrances is the only one open to automobiles year-round. You can find out more about visiting Yellowstone in Winter here.
We booked a snowcoach bus tour with Yellowstone Vacations from West Yellowstone. We saw tons of bison, some elk, a coyote – we got to stop frequently and when we got out at one stop, the snow went up to my thigh!
I will say, we are not group tour kind of people and hated that we had to be stuck doing/waiting/dealing with a group. We actually would book the snowmobile tour if we were to go again – we saw tons of people doing that and it looked like a blast. If we did another bus tour, we would book a private tour so we had more flexibility. But the company we booked through was great and we had a good time.
We got to see the hot springs and Old Faithful in winter and it was really cool – no pun intended, haha! Seeing both parks covered in snow was absolutely magical and something I look forward to doing again.
Is Jackson Hole Worth the Hype?
Definitely! It’s not easy to get to but totally worth it. If you like beautiful landscapes, seeing wildlife in their natural habitat and experiencing small town charm with nice amenities, I highly encourage you to book your trip for this February. If you’re looking for a warm-weather February destination, check out my Swimming with Manatees in Florida post - it’s a bucket list experience!
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