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The out-and-back hike to Amphitheater Lake alone is just over 10 miles with 3,000 feet of up and down. Hiking only out-and-back to Garnet Canyon (not including Amphitheater Lake) is one of the park’s premier dayhikes, about nine miles round-trip from Lupine Meadows with about 2,200 feet of uphill and downhill. Amphitheater Lake and Garnet CanyonĬombining the hikes to Amphitheater Lake and Garnet Canyon (lead photo at top of story), forming a “Y” from Lupine Meadows Trailhead, marries two moderate dayhikes into a roughly 13-mile day that follows mostly good trails and isn’t as hard as others on this list.

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Sign up for my FREE email newsletter now.ĭave Simpson on a late spring hike in Garnet Canyon. Start early for cool temps on the ascent of Paintbrush Canyon, where the lower section can get hot. Do it counterclockwise because the descent of Cascade inflicts less pounding than going down Paintbrush. I’ve dayhiked and backpacked it both are worthy and different experiences. Offering the convenience of a loop from one trailhead, with no shuttle needed, this loop attracts a significant number of fit dayhikers and trail runners.

(See my e-guide to backpacking this loop.) It crosses one of the highest points reached via trail in the park, 10,720-foot Paintbrush Divide, where the panorama that takes in a huge swath of the Tetons, and passes Lake Solitude on the descent through the stunning North Fork and main stem of Cascade Canyon. The 19.7-mile Paintbrush Canyon-Cascade Canyon loop from String Lake Trailhead, with nearly 4,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, ranks as probably the park’s most popular backpacking trip and possibly the second-most popular long dayhike. Click photo to learn how I can help plan your next trip.

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Learn “ How to Backpack the Teton Crest Trail Without a Permit.”ĭavid Gordon hiking the Teton Crest Trail toward Paintbrush Divide in Grand Teton National Park. Please share your thoughts or questions about any of these hikes or your own favorites in the Tetons in the comments section at the bottom of this story. Several hikes described below are free for anyone to read, but reading the entire story-like most stories about trips at The Big Outside-requires a paid subscription (which costs as little as six bucks). Use this story as your guide and you will see the best scenery in the Teton Range that’s accessible on one very big day of hiking. These picks draw from my numerous trips dayhiking, backpacking, and climbing all over the Tetons over more than three decades, including 10 years I spent as a field editor for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Click here for my e-guides to classic backpacking trips.

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This list of the 10 best big dayhikes in the Teton Range includes popular spots like Garnet Canyon, Lake Solitude, and the Paintbrush Canyon-Cascade Canyon loop, as well as some trails and peaks you may not have heard of-some of which see little traffic. Thanks to a unique combination of the trail network and trailhead access, hikers capable of knocking off 15 to 20 or more miles and 3,000 to over 4,000 vertical feet in a day can explore virtually the entire range on one-day outings-holding enormous appeal for hikers and trail runners seeking that level of challenge or fit backpackers who fail to obtain a highly coveted Grand Teton National Park backcountry permit for a multi-day hike. But while backpackers flock to the Teton Range for multi-day hikes and these peaks offer numerous five-star dayhikes of “normal” length, they also harbor some of the best long dayhikes in the country. The Tetons stand out for many reasons, most of all that iconic skyline of jagged peaks and spires that invites comparisons to cathedrals-although these cathedrals reach over 12,000 and 13,000 feet high.

Paintbrush canyon