I’ve been lucky enough to go backpacking on the Teton Crest Trail two times with a group of my girlfriends. We all met while working at REI together, and we try to do one backpacking trip a year together. The itineraries for our Teton Crest trips were pretty similar, but our final nights had different permits, so they felt very different.
In this post, I’ll give a brief overview of my two trips, then share information to help you plan (permits, bear food storage, best time to go, etc.). If you want more detailed recaps of my two trips, you can find their individual posts linked below:
- 2024 Teton Crest Trail, Teton Village to Leigh Lake
- 2025 Teton Crest Trail, Teton Village to String Lake
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Looking for something specific? Jump ahead:
- Overview of itineraries
- Info to help plan your trip (permits, bear storage, best time to travel, etc)
Overview of my Itineraries
2024 Teton Crest Trip
Dates: August 19th-22nd, 2024
Where: Teton Crest Trail, Teton Village Tram to Leigh Lake
Total Mileage: 40 miles
Total Ascent / Descent: 8,704 ft / 12,157 ft
Peak Elevation: 10,759 ft
Trip Synopsis:
- The day before we start: Pick up permits at the Grand Teton National Park visitor center. Drop off our extra car at the Leigh Lake trailhead parking lot, get dinner in Jackson, and camp at Gros Ventre Campground.
- Day 1: Drive together to Teton Village, take the tram up, and enjoy some waffles at the top before we start. Backpack 9.4 miles to Fox Creek and set up camp.
- Day 2: Backpack 7.6 miles to Sunset Lake in Alaska Basin and hang out around the campsite for the rest of the day!
- Day 3: Pack up camp and prep ourselves for the longest day of the trip, 14.7 miles total (with 4,274 ft of ascent)! Start up Hurricane Pass, stop and have lunch at Lake Solitude, and work our way up the Paintbrush Divide. Set up camp at Upper Paintbrush, make dinner, and hit the hay immediately after.
- Day 4: Have a slow morning and enjoy the campsite now that we’re recovered. Hit the trail before 9 am and backpack 7.2 miles down to the Leigh Lake trailhead parking lot.
Leigh Lake Trailhead Parking on Google Maps
Teton Village Parking on Google Maps
2025 Teton Crest Trip
Dates: August 5th-8th, 2025
Where: Teton Crest Trail, Teton Village Tram to String Lake
Total Mileage: 33.4 miles
Total Ascent / Descent: 5,021 ft / 8,509 ft
Peak Elevation: 10,573 ft
Trip Synopsis:
- The day before we start: Pick up permits at the Grand Teton National Park visitor center. Drop a car off at the String Lake parking lot, get dinner in Jackson, and camp at Gros Ventre Campground.
- Day 1: Drive to Teton Village and take the first tram up, and get waffles at the top (it was the last year to do this!). Backpack 9.6 miles to Fox Creek and set up camp.
- Day 2: Backpack 7.1 miles to Sunset Lake in Alaska Basin and hang out around the campsite for the rest of the day!
- Day 3: Pack up camp, backpack up Hurricane Pass (take pictures with the Tetons!), and hike a total of 9.2 miles to our next campsite: Cascade North.
- Day 4: Wake up early and hit the trail before 6 am. Backpack 7.5 miles down and around the northwest side of Jenny Lake to the String Lake parking lot. Load up in the car, go back to the other car at Teton Village, and hit the Bunnery for breakfast before driving home!
String Lake Parking Lot on Google Maps
Teton Village Parking on Google Maps
Again, if you’re looking for a more detailed recap on our itineraries, you can read them in their individual posts:
- 2024 Teton Crest Trail, Teton Village to Leigh Lake
- 2025 Teton Crest Trail, Teton Village to String Lake
Info to Help Plan Your Trip
Permits
Permits and reservations are required. The permitting system opens in early January (the exact date changes year-to-year. To know what permits you’ll need, you should map out your trip. Come up with an ideal plan: how many days do you want to go, which campsites are you interested in, and what dates will you be at each campsite? Have some backup plans, because you aren’t guaranteed to get the permits that you want.
I also found this Interactive Teton Crest Planner that can help you plan your trip. The button link above is more descriptive and gives you options for what routes to take, whereas the interactive planner is better if you already know where you want to stay. Both can be useful when planning, so play around with it!
When you know which permits you want, add the date permits go live to your calendar. You’ll want to get online the moment they’re available because they go fast! You can check availability or the date they will be available here.
You can get a day-before permit at the Grand Teton Visitor’s Center, but those are first-come, first-served. We snagged one for our 2025 trip, so it’s worth asking if you’re open to a last-minute change!
Best Time to Travel
August is the best month to go backpacking on the Teton Crest Trail, but you could get away with doing it in early September. I’ve always done it in August, so I think that’s the peak month, depending on snowfall from the previous winter.
When I’ve gone in early and late August, there were virtually no bugs, the weather was perfect, and the wildflowers were in full bloom. I think we got lucky both years with the wildflowers, but truly, August is a great time to experience it. If you wait until September, nighttime temps could drop pretty low, so just take that into account when packing.
Thru-Hike Info
Most likely, you’ll be backpacking the Teton Crest as a thru-hike, meaning you’ll end somewhere different than where you started. Because of that, you’ll need at least two cars, depending on your group size. One car should be left at your ending point, and the other car will take everyone to the starting point.
We like to drop off our “ending point car” the night before we start, and then squish in our “starting point car” in the morning and drive together to our start location.
Bears & Food Storage
This is bear country! While backpacking the Teton Crest Trail, every person in your group will need to carry their own bear spray, and you’ll need bear vaults. All food and scented items must be stored in a bear vault when inside the park limits. This isn’t a recommendation; it’s a rule, so make sure you have a bear vault. Permit holders are allowed to check one out, free of charge, with their permit, so if you don’t have your own, you can rent one from the visitor’s center.
Packing for the Trail
Get together with your group and talk about whether you’ll be sharing gear, like tents, stoves, or water filters. To make sure you’ve got everything covered, you can use my backpacking checklist.
I’ve always gone with a group of 6 on this trail, so we share tents and bear vaults (at least; at most, we’ve also shared stoves and water filters). We’ll have three people carry the tents, and three people carry the bear vaults. That helps us keep the weight as even as possible.
Whatever works for you and your group will be great; just be sure to test out your gear before heading out to make sure everything works!
Best of luck with planning your trip and securing permits! Backpacking the Teton Crest will always be one of my favorite trails. The Tetons hold a special place in my heart (my mom grew up by them and my grandparents still live there), so it’s very cool to experience them while backpacking.
