Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (1,300 km2), the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park, to which it is connected by the National Park Service–managed John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Along with surrounding national forests, these three protected areas constitute the almost 18-million-acre (73,000-square-kilometer) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the world's largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems.
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Discover the magnificent landscape & wild communities of Grand Teton National Park. Here the Teton Range rises abruptly from the high mountain valley known as Jackson Hole. From bare alpine rocks to lush meadows & floodplains, the national park is home to bald eagles, grizzly bears, river otters, & bison.
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The National Elk Refuge
In the high country, deep November snows cause elk to migrate to their winter range on the National Elk Refuge. In strings of 200 or more, thousands of elk arrive, some after traveling more than 65 miles from southern Yellowstone National Park & surrounding national forests.
Settlement & development eliminated nearly three-fourths of the elk's natural winter range. The 23,000-acre National Elk Refuge was established in 1912 to protect the remaining winter habitat. Throughout the year, several different national & state agencies manage the herd & its habitat.
*The elk (properly called wapiti) leave the Refuge in April when winter snows begin to melt. Calves are born in late May & June as the elk migrate to their summer ranges.
*The winter herd on the National Elk Range exceeds 7,500 animals. About one-half of these elk summer in Grand Teton National Park. The elk are not confined; the Refuge fence protects them from the road.
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The Teton Range towers over Jackson Hole. Powerful forces began stretching this area less than 10 million years ago cracking the Earth's crust to form the 40-mile long Teton fault. Movement on this fault generates massive earthquakes up to magnitude 7.5. Each earthquake hinges the mountain block skyward & drop the valley-block leaving no foothills.
Ancient granite & gneiss, 2.5 to 2.7 billion years old, form the core of this youthful range. These rocks resist erosion but over time wind, water & ice slowly shape the landscape. Ice, in the form of glaciers, carved & sculpted the dramatic landscape forming jagged arêtes, U-shape canyons & deposited moraines.
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