Five of the Best Free Camping Areas Near Grand Teton National Park
Are you planning a camping trip to Grand Teton National Park? Having a hard time finding where to camp? This is a busy park and campsites in the area book quick. While there is camping available inside the park, it’s first come first served and we’ve seen people in line at 6 am waiting for campers to leave to nab their spots. You can check camping options inside the park here, but don't be surprised if it's full and overpriced. However, there is some good news for the desperate camper at GTNP. There are tons of amazing campsites outside of the park; some are just 30 minutes out while others are an hour or so. But it’s a National Park and usually to find camping spots around NPs requires a good deal of driving. Here is a list of our favorite spots around Jackson and the Tetons.
None of these spots have toilets; so be prepared with a shovel and dispose of your TP properly. I don't want to have to take this post down.
Shadow Mountain - (43.70418, -110.62170)
Camping at the base of Shadow Mountain provides incredible views of the Teton range. All the campsites are at the base of the mountain. Be careful if it has rained; it can be impassable. We almost got stuck in some nasty mud leaving one day. Here at Shadow Mountain, there are probably about 10 spots at the base, these spots will go the fastest. It sometimes helps to carpool into the park and leave a vehicle at your spot. If you leave your spot it will be gone almost immediately. There are more options up the mountain and these will provide better views, but the road can be treacherous so enter at your own risk.
Free National Forest Camping - (43.76777, -110,54171)
This is dispersed camping fairly close to the north entrance of the Tetons. It’s really just a large dirt lot with more options if you continue to follow the road. We used this spot as more of a desperation camp when we left the park too late to find a good spot at Shadow Mountain or elsewhere. The road in is manageable but can be very rutted out so larger older vans will have to take it easy.
Buffalo Valley - (43.85031, -110,34161)
If you want to escape the madness of the National Parks in this area Buffalo Valley is a great place to boondock for a few days or even weeks. This is a bit further away but you will be able to find peace and quiet as the other spots are quite overrun. We stayed out here for a few days and drove into the NP at the north entrance and it was about an hour drive into the Park. There are plenty of awesome spots; you can even score a spot right on the river.
Curtis Canyon- (43,52167, -110.62763)
These dispersed campsites are closer to Jackson than they are to GTNP and is a great place to stay if you need a place to camp near Jackson, WY. The road up to Curtis Canyon starts just east of Jackson and is fairly convenient. We will note that it’s a very bumpy ride in here, so if you don’t live to take your rig on rough roads you may want to skip this spot. There are plenty of spots and the views here are incredible. We posted up on top of the mountain for a few days and enjoyed the scenery and peace and quiet before we headed back to the park for some adventures. We did camp a few nights in Jackson and had no issues, the town seems overran by vans and RVs anyways.
Granite Creek - (43.31147, -110,45902)
This is an amazing spot worth checking out! While it’s not really close to GTNP or Jackson, it was one of our favorite places to camp in the area. The road up Granite Creek is very bumpy but it can be done in any vehicle. We saw plenty of RVs driving this road. There is also a paid campsite with a hot spring at the top of the road. We stayed at this place for over a week. We stopped over after climbing the Hobuck Shield. The Granite Creek area has lots of recreation options from hiking, fishing, and even kayaking. We took our buddies pack rafts down the creek a few times and had a blast! We highly recommend a stopover here just to unwind from the crazy scene that's going down in Jackson every summer.
There are plenty more options for camping in this corner of Wyoming. We also highly recommend checking out Alpine, WY. There’s a nice reservoir with plenty of options for camping. We hope this was helpful! See you kookz on the road!
