JACKSON HOLE Itinerary

We did our first adventurous family vacation this summer in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it was the most picturesque naturally beautiful place I’ve ever been. We have traveled to a lot of beautiful places, but Wyoming was unbelievably breathtaking. Pictures and videos barely did it justice. This is only our second year taking our kids on trips so we are still figuring things out and we learned a lot about our kids on this past trip.

Firstly, we were gone for 9 days (we went to a family camp out in Wisconsin first), which we learned was way too long for Walker (who is only 3YO). Capri, on the other hand, thrives on any type of vacation. Second, there are a lot of age restrictions on the things we wanted to do. Of course we researched ahead of time, but definitely looking forward to returning with the kids a bit older so we can do even more activities. In case you’re wondering, kids needs to be 6 or older to horseback ride, river raft, or stay at a dude ranch.

I have been craving an outdoor nature trip during the summer with the kids for months and this location checked all the boxes. I also think we will come back in the winter when the kids are bit older to experience it covered in snow. Since the flight in from San Diego was only 2 hours (direct flights!!), we will definitely be coming back. Also want to call out that the airport landing is an easy one (aka not scary like the Aspen or Telluride landing), and I imagine they don’t experience as much weather issues with flights since it’s not a precarious landing.

We stayed at the Rustic Inn (per all your recommendations) and found it to be an ideal location. It’s right in town and each room stands on it’s own so you don’t feel cramped together with others. Since we booked the hotel last minute many rooms were sold out and we had a pretty small room for the 4 of us. Would encourage you to book well in advance so you have more options.

Renting a car is a must. While the town is walkable and there are many shuttle services available, if you plan to explore Teton National Park, you’ll want a car to get around. We also drove aimlessly while the kids napped in the car to see other parts of the town.

Here is our full itinerary:

Day 1: Arrived; check into hotel, explored town, and ate a casual dinner at a gastropub with no line. The food was all excellent, even the ones we walked into without a reservation.

Day 2: Snake River boat trip; there are a lot of companies that offer this. We opted for a private one that took us down the river early in the morning to see wildlife. At the end of the boat ride, they brought us to a private camp site with a breakfast, “magical” carriage ride with the kids, and time to enjoy the site. This was a 10/10 experience. That night we ate at Gloriette for dinner, which was amazing. Definitely make a reservation for that spot.

Day 3: Teton National Park; we drove there early in the morning and started at Jenny Lake, where we took the boat / ferry over to the other side. From there we hiked up to Hidden Falls, which was a very short hike. The kids would beg to differ. We wanted to continue hiking to String Lake but it was approximately 5 miles and there was no way the kids were going to last. We ended up driving there (parking gets super full so you must go early) and scoping out exactly where we wanted to come back with paddle boats. That night we went to the Jackson Hole Rodeo and the kids absolutely loved it. It was my first time at the rodeo and the experience did not disappoint.

Day 4: Snow King Mountain; this was super fun for both us and the kids. It’s pricey, but worth the fun and screams. They have a “roller coaster” that you drive all the way down the mountain, a slide, and a gondola ride up to the planetarium. We did all 3 activities and loved each one. This day we walked around town, made a hat at Kemo Sabe, then enjoyed an early dinner at Orsetto. Delicious Italian with a cute vibe.

Day 5: String Lake; since we knew exactly where it was and what to expect, we came back to String Lake with paddle boats we rented in town and got a parking spot early. We paddle boarded with a kid on each board all the way to Leigh Lake. It was 4 hours total on the boards and everyone had an absolute blast. The only reason we even left was because the kids were hungry and we couldn’t really bring snacks. They are very strict about bringing food due to bears. We held them off as long as we could on meat sticks and bars but eventually we all needed food lol. That night we ate dinner at The Local, another amazing meal.

Day 6: Fly home

Not included in my itinerary but noteworthy:

Since we had the kids we couldn’t actually go into the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar to have a drink. I walked through to see it but unfortunately didn’t get to fully experience it this time around. Obviously stop in if you’re just with adults.

I absolutely LOVED Cowboy Coffee. Every morning I would go grab us coffee and banana bread there. The line is always out the door but it moves fast and it’s well worth it. Everyone raves about Persephone Bakery, but I preferred Cowboy Coffee.

The shopping in town is so cute! Even the little souvenir shops had the best graphic tees and random finds. I would definitely dedicate a day to shop and explore in the morning / afternoon since there are a lot of hidden little spots everywhere. They all seemed to close early (by 6PM) so I missed so many stores since we were usually out all day and only in town for dinnertime.

The overall vibe was very casual and Western. I felt you could wear pretty much anything even to dinners. I love knowing this type of information when I travel somewhere new so thought I would mention it 🙂