Grand Teton National Park

Currently Exploring U.S. National Parks near Rexburg, Idaho

These are huge, rugged mountains. There are over 200 miles of hiking trails, river rafting on the Snake River.

Grand Teton National Park was established in both 1929 and 1950? The original 1929 park protected the mountain peaks and the lakes near the base. The boundaries were later expanded in 1950 to include much of the adjacent valley floor.

The range began rising about 10 million years ago. A large fault lies at the base of the Teton Range. Every few thousand years earthquakes up to a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter Scale signal movement on the Teton fault, lifting the mountains skyward and hinging the valley floor downward. Numerous earthquakes released tension along the Teton fault building the mountains one step at a time. Each large earthquake breaks the ground by about ten feet dropping the valley floor three to four times as much as the mountains rise.

The largest of the group of mountains is the Grand Teton at 13,770 feet. It towers about 7,000 feet above the valley floor suggesting the offset across the fault is up to 30,000 feet. The lack of foothills is due to the presence of the Teton fault.

Grand Teton National Park is home to the largest bird in North America. The Trumpeter Swan weighs 20-30 pounds and lives in the valley year-round in quiet open water.

An animal called the Pika lives in the park and harvests grasses to survive the long cold winter. These small members of the rabbit family do not hibernate, but instead store their harvest as “haystacks” under rocks in the alpine environment.

Content attributed to the National Park Service.

  • Grand Teton National Park
Phone(307) 739-3300
WebsiteGrand Teton National Park
LocationWestern Wyoming
Coordinates43.790633, -110.681731
Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park
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