It is still a cowboy town, but there’s a flourishing cultural scene here too, with a glittering array of art studios, galleries and top-notch giftware stores that also tout authentic indigenous works. My brother-in-law bought some gorgeous jewellery here for my sister, crafted by Navajo artists.
Saddle up! The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is a Jackson Hole staple, a classic slice of Americana, with its roots dating back to 1937. Crowned by a rotating rooftop neon cowboy on a bucking bronco, the Wild West theme continues with the cowboy décor in this honky tonk bar.
History is at the heart of The Wort Hotel, which first opened its doors in 1941. Another staple in downtown Jackson Hole, the 55-room property encompasses the idea of timeless hospitality.
On entering the lobby, you’re greeted by a grand timbered staircase, roaring fireplaces, and an assortment of Western art and photographs. The hotel’s Silver Dollar Bar is a Jackson Hole institution, named for the 2032 silver dollars inlaid in the bar. Opened in 1950, the bar was built by a German cabinet maker using the uncirculated Morgan silver dollars from the Denver mint.
Wild game abounds in Jackson Hole, with restaurants seducing the experimental palate. Breakfast with a difference? Try the buttermilk biscuits and wild game gravy at the Wort Hotel’s Silver Dollar Grill. Shaved and diced bison, elk and boar float atop a thick, salty gravy, obscuring two very large biscuits. Strong, but not at all gamey, the meats mix with accompanying flavours to create a sharp, tangy taste experience. Just across the hall, have a dabble with the elk sliders and buffalo meatballs at the Silver Dollar Bar. Also try The Gun Barrel Steak and Game House, which offers up everything from elk chops to buffalo ribs and a venison bratwurst. Also on the tourist trail, check out the Jackson Hole Playhouse. The rustic performing arts theatre offers a stellar dinner and a show, both with an Old West feel.
Part of what makes Jackson Hole so special is its direct access to some of the nation’s best national parks. Grand Teton National Park, home to the magnificent Teton Range, sits just north of town. Within the park, you’ll find beautiful alpine lakes, hundreds of miles of trails, and plentiful wildlife, including bears, moose, and elk.
Tucked off the Antelope Flats Rd is Mormon Row, a collection of abandoned structures like the photogenic Moulton Barn that date back to the 1890s when Mormon settlers first traversed the area. Continue to Moose-Wilson Road which is often where you will see moose and bears down in the willow flats. Oxbow Bend is another go-to wildlife spot, where you might strike it lucky to find moose wading in the wetlands, river otters, pelicans and bald eagles.
Hiking trails lace the park like spaghetti. One of the most popular spots within Grand Teton National Park is Jenny Lake. Dubbed the park’s centrepiece, this dazzling turquoise lake is easily accessible from the eastern shore, with a lakeside loop trail serving up a dress circle perspective on the serrated peaks of the Tetons, including the Cathedral Group, which are the tallest bunch of peaks in the Tetons.
I was transfixed by this mountain range, which runs the full length of the national park. The Teton fault line pushed the peaks upward before huge glaciers sculpted the range into the rugged rocky spires you see today. Theodore Roosevelt once remarked that this spectacular range “is what mountains are supposed to look like”. Reminiscent of the piercing, fanged majesty of Queenstown’s Remarkables, what accentuates the Tetons’ stature is their soaring height, with a long necklace of peaks all thrusting 4000 metres above sea level, which is the elevation of Aoraki/Mt Cook.
