Enthusiast I
Hey everyone I’m new to the Jackson hole are and wondering if anyone knows any good trails for a weekend warrior?
Overlanding trails near Jackson, WY
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I lived just south of JH in Star Valley (in Etna on the north end) from 2006-2015. Best suggestion is to download the MVU maps for the national forests in the area (Bridger-Teton, Targhee, etc). There are tons of forest service roads in the area that'll take you pretty much all over the state, and into and thorough Idaho as well, on dirt if you plan it right. I was a Sheriff's Deputy in Lincoln County when we were there (retired now) and did forest patrols in the summer, so I got pretty familiar with treks down the Wyoming Range while getting paid to do it on my days off, lol. One of my favorites was from Alpine down to Labarge and Kemmerer over the course of a weekend with the family. There is also a several hour drive (if you take your time) down Grey's River Rd. from Alpine to Afton that you can use to get your feet wet, so to speak. Plenty of disbursed camping along with some developed campgrounds if you want those too. About the only drawback is that there is practically no dirt to be had in either Grand Teton or Yellowstone, so those two are pretty much out of the question.
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Contributor I
Ru, I live in MS (actually from South Louisiana). I am taking a family trip in June to YNP and will be coming up from Utah. I discovered Grey's River and FSR 10138. Right now I'm planning on taking 10072 to 10138. Do you have any tips or info that you could share that would help out? Approx. how long would it take for me to travel that route from just South of Smoot back through to Alpine? We may stop for a night or 2 and do some camping along the way. Do you have any spots that you could share.
Thanks for any help. Feel free to PM me.
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I answered this in a PM to James, bit I'm also going to post the response here in the thread in case it has value for anyone else in the future.....
Sorry for the delay in responding. Its been a busy couple of days. First off, I'm kinda envious over your trip. I really miss living in Star Valley and Western Wyoming in general. We lived just north of Etna and I dearly miss being able to just walk out the door and vanish for a day or two in less then ten minutes, lol. My wife is still an employee of the hospital in Jackson (works remote in Accounting) and she gets to go back once or twice a year for in-services, but I haven't had the chance since sick parents on both sides forced a move back down here in 2015. ME making the trip at some point is on the bucket list, though if I can ever make my work schedule line up with one of her training trips.
Anyway, as far as the Grey's River loop, just doing the straight through drive from south to north (Smoot to Alpine) generally takes 4-5 hours, but you can take as long as you want to run it. Honestly, you can drive pretty much all dirt from I-80 to Jackson and Pinedale if you wanted to take the time to do it, but in June there could still be areas that are closed or snowed in with down trees depending on how deep the snow pack was this winter. Grey's is generally open around the 1st week in May, so it should be ok by the time you get up there.
There are numerous pull offs where you can set up camp for a day or three if you can find a spot that a local hasn't left their trailer to "claim" the spot and, unfortunately, it is pretty common for that to happen. The FS does enforce the 14 day limit, but it can be spotty if the ONE LE Ranger is busy, because they've got a big area to cover. There are also three "developed" campgrounds along the route, those being Forest Park, Moose Flat and Murphy Creek IIRC. At least one has potable water and one or two charge a nominal per night fee. I don't remember the details right off hand, but if you go onto the Bridger-Teton NF website there should be links to the campgrounds. I used to just boondock in the pullouts if I wanted to spend a couple of days in the woods vs. at the house on my days off. I didn't really have any "special" spots. The whole area is beautiful and you really can't go wrong no matter where you decide to stop.
Once you come out in Alpine, you'll be about 45 minutes from Jackson and another 35-40 from Yellowstone. Its all pavement, so the only hangups would be the amount of traffic headed the same way. There are also some beautiful pull outs along 89 as you go up Snake River Canyon from Alpine towards Hoback Junction, so be sure to stop and take in the sights if time allows.
The main thing is to just be prepared for the unexpected since forest road conditions in the whole are are dependent on how bad the winter has been. I do recall there was a landslide near the Alpine end a year or two ago, but I'm pretty sure they were able to reroute around it and the road was reopened. Regardless, have a blast!
Sorry for the delay in responding. Its been a busy couple of days. First off, I'm kinda envious over your trip. I really miss living in Star Valley and Western Wyoming in general. We lived just north of Etna and I dearly miss being able to just walk out the door and vanish for a day or two in less then ten minutes, lol. My wife is still an employee of the hospital in Jackson (works remote in Accounting) and she gets to go back once or twice a year for in-services, but I haven't had the chance since sick parents on both sides forced a move back down here in 2015. ME making the trip at some point is on the bucket list, though if I can ever make my work schedule line up with one of her training trips.
Anyway, as far as the Grey's River loop, just doing the straight through drive from south to north (Smoot to Alpine) generally takes 4-5 hours, but you can take as long as you want to run it. Honestly, you can drive pretty much all dirt from I-80 to Jackson and Pinedale if you wanted to take the time to do it, but in June there could still be areas that are closed or snowed in with down trees depending on how deep the snow pack was this winter. Grey's is generally open around the 1st week in May, so it should be ok by the time you get up there.
There are numerous pull offs where you can set up camp for a day or three if you can find a spot that a local hasn't left their trailer to "claim" the spot and, unfortunately, it is pretty common for that to happen. The FS does enforce the 14 day limit, but it can be spotty if the ONE LE Ranger is busy, because they've got a big area to cover. There are also three "developed" campgrounds along the route, those being Forest Park, Moose Flat and Murphy Creek IIRC. At least one has potable water and one or two charge a nominal per night fee. I don't remember the details right off hand, but if you go onto the Bridger-Teton NF website there should be links to the campgrounds. I used to just boondock in the pullouts if I wanted to spend a couple of days in the woods vs. at the house on my days off. I didn't really have any "special" spots. The whole area is beautiful and you really can't go wrong no matter where you decide to stop.
Once you come out in Alpine, you'll be about 45 minutes from Jackson and another 35-40 from Yellowstone. Its all pavement, so the only hangups would be the amount of traffic headed the same way. There are also some beautiful pull outs along 89 as you go up Snake River Canyon from Alpine towards Hoback Junction, so be sure to stop and take in the sights if time allows.
The main thing is to just be prepared for the unexpected since forest road conditions in the whole are are dependent on how bad the winter has been. I do recall there was a landslide near the Alpine end a year or two ago, but I'm pretty sure they were able to reroute around it and the road was reopened. Regardless, have a blast!
