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Wyoming 2023 Trip➤

In September of 2023, my husband I set out to explore some National Park units in the state of Wyoming. We visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, The John D. Rockefeller Parkway, and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. In Grand Teton National Park, we visited Signal Mountain.

Grand Teton National Park➤

The Tetons are the youngest of all the mountain ranges in the Rocky Mountain chain. Most other mountains in the region are at least 50 million years old but the Tetons are less than 10 million and are still rising. The Jackson Hole valley is of the same age and continues to sink. The tallest peaks tower almost 7,000 feet above the valley floor, already at an elevation of about 6800 feet. With no foothills, the resulting landscape is dramatic and breathtaking.

In the 1920s, John D. Rockefeller Jr. agreed to acquire thousands of acres around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and then donate this land to the government for a national park. At the urging of Horace Albright, then director of the National Park Service, Rockefeller formed a company called the Snake River Land Company to buy up property around the Snake River in secret. Rockefeller wanted to keep his name out of it to keep the price lower.

Meanwhile, in 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed the act creating Grand Teton National Park, at half its present size. The park only protected the Teton Range and 6 lakes at the foot of the mountains. Rockefeller encountered resistance from locals when he tried to donate his land to expand the park.

In 1943, Rockefeller told President Franklin Delano Roosevelt he would sell to the highest bidder if the government didn’t use his land for the park. Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act and declared additional land in the valley to be Jackson Hole National Monument. The two units were combined to become the present Grand Teton National Park in 1950.

Signal Mountain➤

Driving up Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park was a journey in itself, with each winding turn building the anticipation of what views might await us at the top. The five-mile road led us through a forested landscape that gradually opened up, revealing the grandeur of Jackson Hole Valley below. We stopped at two overlooks along the way, stepping out into the cool mountain air, cameras ready. From the first viewpoint, we looked down on the Snake River, tracing its way through the valley like a ribbon, its waters shimmering in the afternoon light.

At the next overlook, Jackson Lake stretched out before us, a brilliant blue expanse nestled among jagged peaks and thick forests. Signal Mountain stands apart from the Tetons, its origins rooted in volcanic ashfall and shaped by ancient glaciers. This makes its summit an ideal spot from which to see much of the park. That sense of isolation, of standing on a peak that formed in a different era, gave us a unique perspective on this wild, unspoiled landscape.

Grand Teton Posts➤

• Snake River Overlook
• Lakeshore Trail
• Jackson Lake
• Oxbow Bend
• Schwabacher Landing
• Jenny Lake
• Teton Wildlife Sunset Tour
• Signal Mountain
• Hidden Falls
• Mormon Row
• National Elk Refuge
• Taggart Lake
• Chapel of the Transfiguration
• Menors Ferry Historic District
• Jackson National Fish Hatchery

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Location: Signal Mountain Rd, Moran, Wyoming
Designation: National Park
Date designated/established: February 26, 1929
Date of my visit: September 29, 2023