Destination: Tetons

A Statement of Style and Longevity

This is a playlist for your guests; not a playlist of music for your reception, but rather some suggestions about how you and your wedding party can best take advantage of all this area has to offer. Starting at the Antler Arch, anyone can circle the Square, discovering the best of Jackson’s shopping and art galleries, but this quick-list of key words to Google offers family and friends a vacation-worth of “must see and dos.”

Modify this playlist as you see fit. Fax it; mail it. Roll and be-ribbon it for dinner place cards or pillow-top favors.

Visitor packets are available online for both sides of Teton Pass (Teton Valley, Idaho, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming). Their chamber sites—www.tetonvalleychamber.com and www.jacksonholechamber.com—are excellent, posting links to web cams, event calendars and local weather, as well as detailing member businesses.

Online, outdoors people can check out hang-gliding opportunities; download maps for Continental Divide and Wyoming Range snowmobile trails; access canoe, raft and kayak sites for whitewater and scenic river trips; visit sites for outfitters of pack trips and hunting camps; explore Teton Mountaineering and Exum School of Mountaineering links designed for experienced or student climbers; and learn about winter skiing and summer music festivals at Snow King, Jackson Hole Mountain and Grand Targhee Ski and Summer resorts (all the ski areas offer summer chairlift or tram rides for accessing high-country views and hiking trails).

History

Jackson’s landmark Wort Hotel and Silver Dollar Bar served the Hole’s early cowboys and gamblers; historic Mormon Row’s Moulton Ranch Cabins are steps away from “America’s Most Photographed” Moulton Barn; Triangle X Ranch, the only working guest ranch and year-round concession in Grand Teton National Park, offers trail rides, pack trips and outfitted hunting camps; and century-old Flat Creek Ranch (on the National Register of Historic Places) is a secluded fly-fisherman’s paradise.

The Jackson Hole Historical Society Museum serves as a summer resource, showcasing Jackson Hole artifacts and sponsoring tours of downtown landmarks, the Miller House, early ranches and film sites for classic Hollywood westerns.

Parks

Walking the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve’s trails segues naturally to entering the area’s two national parks.

Grand Teton National Park (www.nps.gov/grte/) spreads across most of Jackson Hole, and its art-studded Moose Visitor Center and bookstore provides a stunning introduction to the park’s beginnings, natural history and activities. Seasonally, bike, hiking and cross-country ski trails provide an intimate gateway to Teton country, with summer’s ferry across Jenny Lake accessing additional trail hiking and rock scrambling.

Optimum park visits will include the view from Jackson Lake Lodge (which hosts the world-class Wildlife Film Festival each autumn), the jewel-like Native American beadwork displayed at Colter Bay Museum, and a docent-led tour of the (Olaus and Mardy) Murie Center, home to America’s conservation movement and many wilderness programs and lectures.

Grand Teton National Park’s immediate neighbor to the north is Yellowstone National Park (www.nps.gov/yell/). Full Yellowstone information can also be obtained at www.xanterra.com, including reservations for summer lodging, snowcoach tours from Flagg Ranch, winter stays and cross-country skiing. The Bechler, or Cascade Corner, is Yellowstone’s lesser-known southwest corner. A roadless area, it includes 21 of Yellowstone’s 41 waterfalls. For further park enjoyment, check Yellowstone Institute Association’s online catalogue for courses such as wildflower identification, wolf- and grizzly bear-watching or wilderness snowshoeing.

Wildlife

In 2008, Congress designated Jackson’s own National Museum of Wildlife Art as “The National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States.” With its permanent fine art collection, active calendar of touring exhibits, and special art shows, lectures, and film screenings, the museum is a masterful introduction to regional wildlife and related artwork.

Double H Bar (also known as the Bar T-5) gives winter sleigh rides on the National Elk Refuge north of Jackson, and visitors driving through Kelly frequently see bison, antelope, moose and coyotes, and occasionally, bighorn sheep. Wildlife Expeditions of Teton Science Schools and JH Wildlife Safaris also offer sightseeing and photographic tour options led by trained naturalists. Visiting The Raptor Center in Wilson and attending other Teton Science School programs enhance area wildlife experiences.

Local Indulgences

These include spa days at Teton Village resorts; wine on Dornan’s deck in Moose; downing a drink while seated on a saddle or taking Western Swing lessons at The Cowboy Bar; and Sunday-night two-stepping at Wilson’s Stagecoach Bar.

The Bar J Wranglers (on the Village Road) deliver true-west cookouts and cowboy music throughout the summer months; Bar T-Five Chuckwagon Dinners serve up entertaining wagon rides; and alone or with dinner, Jackson Hole Playhouse (off the Square in Jackson) presents fun, family musicals nightly.

Timing

In planning your wedding date, you may want to coincide it with something special happening in Jackson so you and your guests can participate; other things you might want to avoid, completely! Do be aware that regularly scheduled events may involve street closures or affect hotel or flight availability; you wouldn’t want to unknowingly let such minor details put a crimp in your celebration.

Those with a competitive bent should be aware that Jackson has become a mecca for athletic endeavors, from hundred-mile bike rides to countless series of skiing, running and endurance races like Pole, Pedal, Paddle. Two main community philanthropic events (Old Bill’s Fun Run in Jackson and the Tin Cup Challenge in Teton Valley) offer a chance to run with the area’s most outstanding athletes (as well as to raise money for local causes).

Check rodeo and county fair dates, as well as festivals and crafts shows on both sides of Teton Pass. Jackson’s Center For the Arts presents a full calendar of professional performances; in summers, the Grand Teton Music Festival showcases renown musicians from across America. Grand Targhee’s music festivals and Music on Main (summer weekly concerts in downtown Driggs) are huge draws for music fans; and the Fall Arts Festival and Western Design Conference (held the second week of September at multiple venues in Jackson) attract artists, designers and art-lovers nationwide.

Regardless of when you come or what you do, this playlist will give your guests an idea about all the area has to offer, in addition to your very own Grand Wedding.-