Flora & Fauna

Flora & Fauna

Grand Teton's short growing season and arid climate create a complex ecosystem and hardy plant species. The dominant elements are big sagebrush, which gives a gray-green cast to the valley, lodgepole-pine trees, quaking aspen, and ground-covering wildflowers such as bluish-purple lupine, arrow leaf, arnica, scarlet gilia, balsamroot, and Indian paintbrush, Wyoming's state flower. In spring and early summer you will see the vibrant yellow arrow leaf, balsamroot, and the delicate blue camas, a plant prized by Native Americans for its nutritional value. The growing season in Jackson Hole is short, but gives rise to spectacular, though short-lived displays of wildflowers. The best time to see these natural displays are mid-June to early July, although the changing of the aspen and cottonwood leaves in early fall can be equally spectacular.

Your best chance to see wildlife is at dawn or dusk, along forest edges. The best place to view elk in summer is on Teton Park Road because some of the animals summer in the area. During winter they migrate out of the surrounding mountains, and about 7,500 spend the winter south of the park on the National Elk Refuge. Oxbow Bend and Willow Flats are good places to look for moose, beaver, and otter any time of year. Pronghorn antelope and bison appear in summer along Highway 26/191/89 and Antelope Flats Road. Occasionally, the animals are on or crossing the road; remember in all cases they have the right-of-way. On almost any trip to Grand Teton, you will see bison, antelope, moose, and coyotes. Rarely will you see a black or grizzly bear or a mountain lion or wolf. Because bears and lions live in the park, campers should always follow safe-camping practices by storing food in bear-proof containers and never in their tents. The park's smaller animals, yellow-bellied marmots and golden-mantled ground squirrel, as well as a variety of birds and waterfowl, are commonly seen along park trails and waterways. Watch for elk along the forest edge. Black and grizzly bears inhabit the forests, but are rarely spotted. Seek out the water sources -- the Snake River, the alpine lakes, and marshy areas -- to see birds such as bald eagles, ospreys, ducks, and trumpeter swans.