Best Tent Camping near Bridger-Teton National Forest

Campground Review:

Does waking up to Teton views, colorful wildflowers, and the chorus of all types of birds sound up your alley? Well, this is the place!

Just outside Grand Teton National Park in Bridger-Teton National Forest, these sites are a little quieter and a little more spacious than the hustle and bustle below. They are first come, first serve and no amenities, but the experience makes up for it. Numerous hiking options are nearby: Blacktail Butte, the Shadow Mountain trail, or head to the park. On the way to the site from Jackson or Grand Teton, it is very likely you will see pronghorn, bison, elk, or even a moose.

This area is popular for a reason. Get there early - these sites fill up. Getting there on a weekday will help secure the choice spots. One downside is the air traffic; this overlooks the Tetons as well as the Jackson Hole airport.

Product Review:

As a review Ranger for TheDyrt, I am honored occasionally to test and evaluate products. On this trip, I tested the ICEMULE Pro XL cooler.

What makes this cooler unique is not only its backpack style; but the ability to add insulation (and buoyancy, as we found out) by inflating the sidewalls through a valve. It's a bit similar to how a sleeping pad works. Without ice, I threw a few cold ones and some sandwiches into its cavernous interior for a day hike in Bridger-Teton. After a few hours of hiking when we were ready for lunch, they were as cool as the moment they went in. The pack itself is fairly comfortable for a short hike, with padded straps and holes to allow some air circulation.

On the way home, we decided to paddle our favorite river and decided to test the Pro XL's floatation abilities. Why my husband chose the deepest spot to throw it into the drink I will never know, but lucky for me it stayed on top of the water. Because its sealed like a dry bag, no river water got in either. Our sandwiches and gummy bears were safe!

Pro: easy access, right off the highway. Con: right off the highway, traffic noise. Located right off Hwy 189/191 about 8 miles from Hoback Junction the WEST side of the highway. I camped here for 1 evening before a Grand Teton summit trip. I chose this campground for decent proximity to GTNP (45 minutes away) and the availablity and easy access of sites. I believe there were 12 sites that all had picnic tables and fire rings. There were several other cleared sites, some without tables and grills, that had alpha identifiers other than the 12 numeric sites. Not certain how many alph sites, but looked like tent only sites. They were all $15 nightly and an additional $7 for extra vehicle. They had one site with electricity, right next to the camp host. this one site is $25 a night. The campground has pit toilets, bear boxes, water, dumpsters. The Hoback Runs next to several of the campsites. I would highly recommend getting as near the river as possible to drown out the noise from the highway. Camp hosts were very nice! I only had a $20 to pay my fee with. They brought $5.00 in change back to my campsite after I placed it in the depository. They have firewood for purchase for $6.00 a bundle. I was a runner up in a Dyrt camping contest last month. with my REI gift card I purchased the Big Agnes MountainGlo tent lights and a Sea to Summit sleeping bag liner. Fun to try these out!

Imagine camping under the Grand Tetons... for FREE. This campsite is part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. You go down some long gravel roads to the entrance, where there are some campsites at the base of the mountain. There is a road that goes up the mountain- which is pretty rough. You probably don’t need 4 wheel drive to get up, but a higher clearance would make it less stressful. I still have no idea how my Honda Civic made it up... but she did. The views were worth the stress. The Tetons were right there, right across the valley from us. Gorgeous. Absolutely amazing views. All around.

WARNING Although this is National Forest this area is designated camping only!! There are only a handful of sites at the base and along the road. The rangers are super strict about this as well. We had a Ranger come up to us (right before dark) and tell us we weren’t in a designated campsite. She was super kind about it, and thankfully the folks next to us at a designated spot let us join them! So make sure to get there early folks!!! So worth it!

Gros Ventre is close to the southern end of Grand Teton National Park entrance. It's a large mixed use campground with lots of RV and tent sites. They get busy as do all of the campgrounds in or near the park, so get there early to get a site. Even getting there at 11am, we got stuck pitching the tent on an RV loop. Sites all had fire pits and picnic tables and were level. The campground is next to the Gros Ventre River and across the street from Antelope Flats. We were duly warned about bears and food storage (keep your cooler in the car), and bison have been known to wander into the campground in the past. No showers on site, but you can visit one of the other park campgrounds or just drive into Jackson and go to the Recreation Center. For less than $10 you get a day pass that gives you access to the showers, pool, etc.

Absolutely gorgeous campground with amazing hosts especially Ben the cat!!! Super quiet and sites are spacious and far enough away from others you still feel secluded. It is incredibly dark at night, I've never seen so many stars in the sky! No light pollution at all. I really wish I had brought my telescope. Very nice park approved fire rings at each site and firewood available for sale at the host lot. Also large bear resistant food boxes and large picnic table available at each site. Water is available to fill your fresh tank but there is no where to dump grey or black tanks so be mindful of that especially when you have to travel 8 miles down a rough dirt road. Hosts did however reccomend we could empty a couple buckets of grey water in the vault toilet if we had to and even offered to let us use one of their buckets. There are vault toilets available and bear resistant dumpsters. Also no cell service at all but I didn't mind. Beautiful waterfall and hot springs you can walk or drive to. Many beautiful trails to walk as well. This is real camping folks; no hookups, no wifi or cell service ...only fresh water and firewood available. Make sure to bring everything you need as it's nearly an hour from town. Generators allowed until 10pm. $15 a day and I believe it was a 16 day limit. First come first serve, no reservations.

Stayed at Pacific Creek campground Aug 13-15. There are 8 dispersed campsites and 6 (I think) “official” sites. The cost was $10 per car.

We stayed in spot #4 of the official sites because there was a fire ban in place unless you stayed in a campsite with a metal fire ring.

It was a nice alternative to the larger campsites within Grand Teton Park. Because it was slightly out of the way it was much quieter and didn’t fill up as quickly.

Our site had a picnic table, metal fire ring, and bear box for storage. The site also had a communal bathroom. Nearby was a creek and a small trail. There also seemed to be a company doing trail rides not too far away.