Snake River Overlook
Snake River Overlook, Grand Teton National Park, WY
Moran, WY
The bend of the Snake River below the whole Teton Range, the scene Ansel Adams turned into one of the most famous photographs in America.
The Snake River Overlook is one of the most famous viewpoints in the national park system, the spot where the photographer Ansel Adams stood in the 1940s to make his celebrated image of the Tetons rising over a great S-curve of the Snake River. That photograph helped fix the Tetons in the American imagination and even traveled aboard a spacecraft as a portrait of Earth.
From the overlook the land drops to the winding river and then sweeps up in one unbroken view to the entire Teton Range, the peaks standing sheer and jagged with no foothills to soften them. It is a place that rewards a slow look, especially in the first light of morning when the summits catch the sun.
What Guests Love
- The classic, sweeping view of the entire Teton Range over the Snake River bend
- Standing where Ansel Adams made one of his most famous photographs
- Golden light on the peaks at sunrise and the river winding below
- Wildlife along the river corridor, from eagles to the occasional moose
Worth Knowing
- The trees along the river have grown taller since Adams' day, so the exact framing has changed
- Sunrise gives the best light on the east-facing peaks; the overlook can be busy then
- It is a quick stop right off the road, easy to pair with other park pullouts
- Keep a safe distance from any wildlife and never approach animals near the river
Details
Moran, WY
Learn about Snake River Overlook
The photograph that made it famous
Ansel Adams, one of the great landscape photographers of the twentieth century, made his image The Tetons and the Snake River here in the 1940s while working for the national parks. The photograph, with the river curving through dark forest below the towering range, became one of the most recognized landscapes in America.
So enduring is the image that a copy was included on the golden record carried aboard the Voyager spacecraft, sent out of the solar system as a sample of Earth's beauty. Visitors have come to the overlook ever since to stand where Adams stood, though the cottonwoods along the river have grown taller and changed the exact framing over the decades.
The Tetons and the Snake
The Teton Range is one of the youngest and most dramatic mountain fronts in the Rockies, thrust up along a fault so that the peaks rise abruptly from the flat valley of Jackson Hole with no foothills in between. That sheer, sudden wall is what makes the view from the overlook so striking.
Below, the Snake River winds down the valley in broad meanders, fed by mountain snowmelt and lined with cottonwoods and willows. The river is the lifeblood of the valley, carving the foreground of the famous scene and drawing wildlife to its banks.
The valley of Jackson Hole
The overlook sits at the edge of Jackson Hole, the high mountain valley that cradles the Snake River beneath the Tetons. Long a summer hunting ground for Native peoples, later a haunt of trappers and then ranchers, the valley was gradually protected as part of Grand Teton National Park through the twentieth century.
That protection preserved not only the peaks but the sagebrush flats, river bottoms, and sweeping foregrounds that make views like this one possible. From the overlook the whole composition, river, forest, and range, lies open as if arranged for a painting.
Wildlife, light, and seasons
The Snake River corridor below the overlook is rich with life, including bald eagles and ospreys fishing the water, moose in the willows, elk and pronghorn on the flats, and beaver working the banks. Early and late in the day are the best times to see animals moving.
Photographers favor sunrise, when the east-facing peaks glow and the valley is still. Summer brings green flats and long days, fall sets the cottonwoods and aspen ablaze in gold beneath the gray peaks, and winter blankets the scene in snow, when the range stands stark and white above the frozen river.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Grand Teton National Park
Oxbow Bend
About 6 miles north
A quiet river bend that mirrors Mount Moran, one of the park's premier wildlife and photo spots.
Jackson Lake
About 10 miles north
A large glacial lake beneath the Tetons, with boating, lodges, and grand mountain views.
Jackson
About 25 miles south
A lively mountain town with the elk antler arches, galleries, and gateway access to both parks.