Hi Danny,

Static Peak Divide is around 10,700 feet, about as high as Paintbrush Divide in the park, and often has snow well into July, sometimes late July. Depending on a lot of factors, including how much snow fell the previous winter and spring and how warm the spring and early summer are, there’s a good chance of snow still covering the ground up there in mid-July, requiring ice axes and crampons for safety. You could check with rangers at a visitor center for current conditions before taking the hike.

Good luck.

Hey Tom, yea, those mosquitoes in Yellowstone are mean at this time of the summer. The Tetons, well, not many places compare. I’m surprised you guys haven’t been there yet. You should remedy that oversight soon!

Have fun. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hi John-Mark,

I’m sorry to hear you weren’t able to reserve a Grand Teton National Park backcountry permit. Frankly, GTNP has one of the most chaotic permit systems of all the major national parks. I think the page gets overwhelmed with applicants and can’t process all those simultaneous submissions effectively. It really doesn’t have to function that way—other parks have much smoother functionality on rec.gov simply by instituting a more sane procedure. GTNP has several examples of large, popular national parks that employ a permit system that’s much easier to navigate and less frustrating for users.

To answer your question, yes, there is certainly a risk to traveling a long distance to the Tetons in the hopes of getting a walk-in permit: You might not succeed. That said, the park issues 75 percent of its available backcountry camping through first-come, walk-in permits, up to a day before you want to start a trip. That’s a much higher percentage devoted to walk-in permits than any other park that I’m aware of. Show up at least a couple hours before a visitor center with a backcountry desk opens to get a spot near the front of the line and I believe you will have a good chance of getting the itinerary you want.

At the least, by getting there early (I’d go three hours before it opens, personally), you should be able to get a permit for backpacking somewhere in the park and it will likely be beautiful and a great adventure. A ranger will show you what’s available for your dates and give you a sense of the hike’s difficulty and distance and you can choose from the options available. Having six people obviously changes the math; a smaller group would have a better chance.

It comes down partly to your willingness to take the risk, even with pretty good odds—and how early you are willing to get out there and stand in line. Bring warm clothes, a hot beverage, a camp chair, and something to read.

I hope that helps. Good luck.

So I got ready to book a trip to the Tetons at 8am mountain time this morning. And within minutes all backcountry sites are gone. So bummed!

I’m curious, in your experience, what’s the likelihood of getting walk-in permits for a family of 6?

Our family is doing their first backpacking trip together and I don’t want to overwhelm them with 9-mile+ hikes for their first trip. We have the flexibility to show up a couple days early to stand in line. But if we went all that way and didn’t get permits, that would be really disappointing. We’re located in Southern California. What advice would you give?

Hi John and Elora,

Thanks very much for the nice words about my Custom Trip Planning and Talk to Michael subscription. I’m very much looking forward to helping you plan your next great backpacking trip in the Wind River Range.

John and Elora, Minnesota

In the Tetons, like most Western mountain ranges, you’ll typically find the ground solidly snow-covered in June, at least above 7,000 to 8,000 feet or so—which includes many trails in the Tetons. While it’s melting quickly by then and there’s a lot of variability throughout the month and depending on the previous winter’s snowpack, even late June is usually still quite snowy. Mid-July is normally the beginning of summer in bigger Western mountains. And new snow could fall in June.

In a normal mid-June, you could hike partway up the eastside canyons but probably be postholing in snow—with the depth variable, depending on sun exposure—before reaching a camping zone. I’ve done that in the Tetons in April (at lower elevations, long story) and it’s pretty miserable. Friends of mine tried backpacking the TCT in early July a couple summers ago and ran into a lot of snow that forced them to bail early.

Wait at least until mid-July. August, of course, is often ideal.

Hi Floor,

Thanks for purchasing my e-guide “The Complete Guide to Backpacking the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park,” I think you will find it very helpful.

There’s a lot of competition for walk-in permits in Grand Teton National Park, but midweek may be a little less busy than Friday through Sunday. I have successfully gotten a walk-in permit in GTNP in the past. I suggest you show up at least three hours before the visitor center opens to get a spot near the front of the line. Bring warm clothes, a hot drink, and a book.

Good luck with your permit application. Please let me know how it goes.

Thanks for your reply Michael! With the help of your e-guide I think I pieced together a good route for the fam. In case we miss out on the advance permit, would you have an idea as to when to line up for the walk-in permit? It would be for a mid-week start in late July. Do people sleep on the doorstep of the office or is it more leisurely?

Hi Floor,

Thanks for asking a question that’s probably on the minds of many parents and congrats on getting your kids out on some great wilderness adventures.

First, I think different kids are ready for bigger adventures at different ages and many guidebook authors and publishers are writing with novices in mind. But it also sounds to me like your kids have good experience already on multi-day wilderness hikes and are very probably ready for a multi-day hike on the Teton Crest Trail, especially given that they’re going to be 11 and 13 this summer and the TCT is largely a good trail with moderate grades. Our kids were 10 and 8 when we backpacked a four-day hike on a section of the TCT with them and they did great, including a day over 10 miles with about 3,000 feet of uphill. Our kids had several backpacking trips under their belts by then and we adults carried most of the food and gear weight, but they were also younger than yours.

I think my e-guide “The Complete Guide to Backpacking the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park” would be very helpful to your trip planning; it includes multiple suggested itineraries. And I can help you plan that trip (as I have for many readers). See my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how.

You’ll also find many stories relevant to taking kids backpacking by simply typing “kids” into the search box above.

Thanks for the good question and keep in touch.

I read your article on the best backpacking trips in the Tetons and I have a question. Bill Schneider writes in his book that only hikes categorized as easy or moderate should be attempted with children. But all the multi-day hikes are categorized as difficult. On the other hand, he also seems to think that you need to stay at the same altitude when your walk with kids, which is not at all our experience. In fact, we find that kids get bored quickly on easy paths.

Our children will be 11 and 13 this summer and have hiked a 5-day tour on Kungsleden (using huts) 3 years ago when the little one was only 8yo, and 3 days in Jämtland (tenting, full packs) last year. On that occasion, I unfortunately had to admit that despite being a relatively fit 46-year-old, my kids are now faster than me (I’ll weigh down their packs a bit more next time 😋). My husband is still ahead of them. 

Of course, in Sweden, water is never an issue, you only need to bring half a liter or so, and I guess we’ll need more in the Tetons.

So our question is: can we hike a (portion) of the Teton Crest trail? Or should we believe Bill Schneider & is that really irresponsible? We were thinking to spend 4, maybe 5 nights on the trail in late July & hike 6 to 8 hrs per day. 

Thanks for your advice!

Floor

Sounds like a great adventure, Melissa, and a reminder that snow can fall in September and if the weather improves after the storm, trails may become passable again. Thanks for sharing that.

Sounds like a good trip to me, Barry! Thanks for sharing.