Phelps Lake Loop Hike

Grand Teton National Park is a great hiker’s park. The deep canyons and abrupt rise of the Teton Range means that hikers can quickly get into the interior of the mountains, though this also means that many of the trails are steep. One excellent longer day hike that doesn’t have a lot of vertical rise, but still has great scenery, is the loop trail around Phelps Lake.

The trail begins at the Rockefeller Preserve parking lot and heads northwest through the woods, across Moose-Teton Road and uphill to the Phelps Lake ledge. This 1-mile hike to the lake outlet is very popular and an easy, short hike for families. The Phelps Lake loop can be taken in either direction: Going clockwise, the more challenging half of the trail comes earlier; going counter-clockwise, the views of Avalanche Canyon are in front, rather than behind. Either way is great.

Highlights of the hike are the short spur trail to Huckleberry Point with its great views, the nice beach at the top of the lake near the backcountry campsites, the jumping rock on the southeast shore, and the nearly-continuous wonderful lake and mountain views along most of the route. This is a good area for wildflowers in summer and beautiful colors in late September.