Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park

Jenny Lake fills a basin scooped out by a glacier that once flowed down Cascade Canyon and spread onto the valley floor. As the ice melted back, it left behind a curving ridge of rock and rubble, a moraine, that dammed the meltwater and created the lake. The steep, forested slopes that ring the shore are the walls the glacier left behind.

Because the lake sits right against the mountain front, the peaks of the central Tetons rise directly from its western edge. On a still morning the whole range can appear doubled in the water, and the clarity of the glacial melt gives the lake a cold, deep blue that changes with the light through the day.

Across the lake, Cascade Canyon opens into the heart of the range, and the trails that climb from its mouth are among the most rewarding in the park. A short, steep walk leads to Hidden Falls, where Cascade Creek drops through the rocks, and continues up to Inspiration Point, a rock ledge with a wide view back over the lake and the valley of Jackson Hole.

Beyond Inspiration Point the trail continues up Cascade Canyon itself, following the creek between towering walls toward the high country of lakes and passes. Hikers with more time can climb deep into the range, while those looking for a shorter outing can turn back at the falls or the viewpoint.

A small shuttle boat runs across the lake in the warmer months, carrying visitors from the boat dock near the visitor center to the west shore trailheads. The crossing cuts a couple of miles off the walk to Hidden Falls and gives an on the water view of the peaks that is hard to match from land.

For those who would rather stay on foot, a trail loops the entire lake, winding through pine and fir forest along the shoreline with the peaks overhead. It can be walked in either direction, combined with the canyon trails, or simply followed partway for a quiet stretch of water and mountains.

The lake takes its name from Jenny, a Shoshone woman married to Richard Leigh, a British born trapper and guide who lived in the region in the mid nineteenth century. When a government survey party mapped this part of the range, they named the lake for her and the larger lake to the north, Leigh Lake, for her husband.

The pairing of the two names on the map is a small record of the people who knew this country before it became a park, and of the mixed communities of Native and newcomer families who lived and traveled through Jackson Hole in that era.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.