Hiking boots on? Binoculars out? Now you’re ready to head to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks – where you can spend every day outside searching for grizzly bears, wolves, elk, bison, and more, all with stunning scenery as your backdrop. Here’s your plan for a week of walks, wildlife, and wonder.

One quick note before you go: I’ll provide more animal tips at the end, but please know that while you may hope to encounter large mammals in these parks, they can be dangerous. Be prepared, keep your distance—lots of it—and respect their natural environments.

There are many different ways to explore Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone, but one of the easiest is to plan your visit as a loop, starting and ending in Jackson, Wyoming. This route lets you experience mountain trails, geothermal wonders, and plenty of wildlife — all without backtracking.

Day 1: Taggart Lake & Moose Ponds

This first day keeps you within Grand Teton National Park’s southern area, with easy drives from Jackson or Moose.

Start early with a drive to the Elk Ranch Flats Turnout or nearby Wolff Ranch Road – you’re likely to spot your first herd of bison grazing in the golden morning light.

Your next stop is the Taggart Lake Trailhead, the start of a three-mile out-and-back hike. Don’t worry – while this is one of the longer walks on this itinerary, it’s well trodden, often crowded, and relatively easy. You’ll begin in the trees (which truly glow in autumn)…

… then emerge onto open mountainsides …

… and finally walk down, down, down a hill to the perfect reflections of Taggart Lake.

This is an excellent hike for stretching your legs and getting familiar with the Tetons. You’ll see a great mix of forests, streams, and an alpine lake – and you might also luck into an otter spotting. We ended up sharing our lunch rocks with some too-friendly chipmunks!

After an afternoon rest, head to the Moose Ponds Loop Trail just south of Jenny Lake – ideally, just before dusk.

Moose Ponds is listed as a 2-mile out-and-back or a 3-mile lollipop loop, but you can easily shorten this by hiking to the first pond you see and waiting. And waiting some more. Bring your patience along – wildlife spotting often involves more sitting than actual spotting. But if you’re lucky, you’ll spot a blurry moose in the distance about the size of your pinky nail. Still, it’s a moose!

Day 2: Oxbow Bend, Heron Pond & Swan Lake, and the Snake River

Wake up early to get a parking spot at the iconic Oxbow Bend Turnout. This is a prime place for sunrise and sunset photography – and for spotting large birds (think Trumpeter swans and pelicans), otters, and beavers. On an autumn morning, you’re also likely to hear elk bugling in the distance. It’ll be hard to tear yourself away as the sun turns the mountains pink, and then craggy gray, over the calm waters of the Snake River.

Once you’ve had your fill of sunrise views, drive north to Colter Bay, where miles of flat, forested lakeside trails await. From here, it can be a choose-your-own adventure outing – trails wander for miles through trees and along coastlines. But I would recommend the easy 3-mile Heron Pond-Swan Lake Loop Trail, starting at the southern end of Colter Bay Village. You’ll begin with wide-open views out over Jackson Lake …

… and eventually make your way to the wetlands of Heron Pond and Swan Lake.

This is another good place for birdwatching, and we were lucky to run across a mule deer fawn.

For a change of pace in the afternoon, leave your hiking boots in the car and grab a life jacket. It’s time for a leisurely float down the Snake River.

A gentle float will give you a whole new perspective on the park – and will give you the chance to sit back and scour the banks for bald eagles, osprey, and moose.

Even if you don’t see any wildlife – we didn’t – this trip is still a fun adventure. It cost us a pretty penny, but our roughly two-hour outing with Solitude Float Trips was a highlight of our week. Our guide was a wealth of information on the park, its history, and its four-legged inhabitants.

Day 3: Willow Flats to West Thumb

You’ll be leaving the Tetons today – but before you do so, be sure to stop by the Willow Flats Overlook. This turnoff will give you an expansive view out over hundreds of acres of pristine wetlands. You may see birds or herds of elk far out in the distance. If it’s early in the morning, take a walk down into the flats, another good place for spotting moose.

Now it’s time to head through the northern section of Grand Teton National Park and out onto the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway (Rockefeller was instrumental in the 1929 establishment of the Tetons as a national park). This highway will lead you directly to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park. From here, you’ll want to continue up to the spectacular West Thumb Geyser Basin.

There are two walks here: an inner boardwalk of 1/4 mile and an outer boardwalk of 1/2, both gently sloped. I would recommend doing both for maximum impact, because you won’t want to miss a single one of the hot springs, thermal pools, or dormant geysers that dot the shore of Yellowstone Lake. The colors and bubbling earth make you feel like you’ve walked out onto another planet.

You never know where you might spot wildlife along your journey, but we were lucky to see elk grazing right along the edge of the West Thumb parking lot.

Day 4: Grand Prismatic Overlook & Fairy Falls

You’ll be doing more walking today, but I promise the effort will be worth it. First, join the throngs of people hiking just over half a mile from the Fairy Falls Trailhead to the Grand Prismatic Overlook.

What an amazing spot! The trail is quite gradual until the last hundred yards or so, which suddenly turn into a steep uphill. Then you’ll have to patiently wait your turn for that perfect photo spot.

Don’t follow everyone else back to the parking lot just yet – instead, you’ll want to continue through the lodgepole pine forest along the gentle, wide Fairy Falls Trail. Keep an eye out for small birds, especially the Canada jay. Also known as the gray jay, this bird has earned the nickname “camp robber” for its habit of stealing tasty snacks from picnic tables and campsites.

You might also spot a chipmunk darting across the forest floor, pausing to gnaw on a nut.

The walk to Fairy Falls is roughly five miles round trip, but it’s an easy one with minimal elevation gain. And you won’t want to miss the 200-foot-high falls, one of the tallest in the park.

Always keep your eyes peeled once you’re back in the car — we spotted this bison not far from the Fairy Falls parking area.

The earlier you head out on this walk, the better – the parking lot can become a mob scene, and it’s nicer to have the lookout mostly to yourself.

Day 5: Yellowstone’s Geothermal Walks

You’ll be in and out of the car today as you strike out on multiple short walks at Old Faithful, Black Sand Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring, and Fountain Paint Pots. It’s easiest to start at the perennial geyser favorite, Old Faithful, and then go from there.

Several boardwalk options lead out from Old Faithful; the shortest is a bit over half a mile long, while the longest takes you out on a two-mile loop. Whichever you pick, you’ll be wowed by more small geysers, thermophilic bacterial mats, and thermal pools.

The next stop is the nearby Black Sand Basin, where a half-mile boardwalk will lead you past more colorful pools …

… and riverside geysers.

Next you’ll head to the nearly one-mile Grand Prismatic Spring boardwalk, another easy walk past turquoise pools to the grand colors of Grand Prismatic. This is a very different perspective from which to view Yellowstone’s largest pool, because the colors are now right up close.

The steaming, aptly-named Firehole River at the start of the walk is another highlight …

… and we saw another solitary bison bull right across the road.

Your final walk of the day will be at the Fountain Paint Pots. Don’t miss this one – if you catch the long-running Clepsydra Geyser in action, it’ll be a real high point.

This is also one of the best spots in the park to see mudpots – hot springs filled with bubbling, boiling mud. It’s incredible to watch the earth in action.

Up for more geothermal walking? You could add the one-mile Artist’s Paint Pot trail to your journey if you’re feeling ambitious.

Day 6: Mammoth Hot Springs & Lamar Valley

This is a day of travertine terraces – tiers of steaming, colorful rock pools – and wildlife roaming Yellowstone’s open spaces.

It’s time to leave the heart of the park and head north to Mammoth Hot Springs. You never know what you might see along the way – a wolf popped out not twenty feet from us when we stopped for a quick look at Gibbon Falls. Yellowstone never fails with wildlife surprises.

We only got a glimpse, but it was an unforgettable encounter.

Your real morning goal is a short walk up, down, and around the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces.

Depending on which route you take, this walk can be up to two miles long – but you can shorten it by driving between the upper and lower parking areas rather than walking the whole way. Unlike previous boardwalks, this one involves a lot of stairs. You’ll have to do some real climbing to view the formations closest to the upper terrace.

These terraces closer to the base parking lot require fewer stairs, but you’ll still have some elevation gain.

All of the up-and-down travel is entirely worth it – these are some of the most famous travertine terraces in the U.S., and rightly so. Make sure to drive the narrow, curvy, one-way upper terrace section as well, where you can continue to marvel at unusual formations and the steam rising from the earth.

After lunch, you’ll have a beautiful one- to-two-hour drive. By early afternoon, the road opens into the vast plains of the Lamar Valley.

Sometimes called “America’s Serengeti,” people flock here to look for wildlife in the wide-open fields that stretch out for miles on either side of the Lamar River. You might see dozens or hundreds of elk, pronghorn antelopes, or bison …

… sometimes right up close.

The frustration of wildlife searching, of course, is that you may see nothing at all. But if the valley floor is empty, this is a lovely place to get out and take a walk through the grasses, hearing nothing but the wind and the distant bugle of elk.

Lamar Valley is often an amazing spot for grizzly bear sightings, but Yellowstone surprised us once again. We didn’t see any bears in Lamar Valley – and then, as the sun dipped low in the sky, we suddenly saw one high in the hills of Mount Washburn.

Day 7: Yellowstone Falls & Hayden Valley

Get ready for waterfalls and more wildlife viewing!

You’ll start the day at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, a canyon that runs for 24 miles and drops down a dramatic 800 to 1,200 feet to its narrow floor. You won’t have to walk that far – but this morning’s walk will have you descending 600 feet on the Brink of the Lower Falls Trail. This won’t be the longest walk of the week – it’s less than a mile round trip – but it will be the steepest. Your legs will feel it! But you’ll be rewarded with views of both the drama of the canyon itself …

… and the top of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone.

Wow, to hear these falls roar! You can spend a lot of time at this overlook marveling at Yellowstone’s many wonders – the power of the water, the spray of the falls, and the deep layers of the gorge walls.

As a reminder that wildlife can appear at any time and in any place, these two mule deer were waiting for us near the top of the trail.

It hardly counts as a walk – more like a few dozen steps – but do make sure to stop at Artist Point to check out the paintbox colors of the canyon walls.

It’s a short drive from here to Hayden Valley, the smaller cousin of Lamar — it’s seven miles long compared to Lamar’s twenty-nine. This is another good spot to look for all sorts of animals, including large herds of bison and elk. Without ever leaving our car, we saw a wolf hunting in the high grass, a herd of bison crossing the road, and this grizzly bear digging for ground squirrels.

Now it’s time to start winding your way back down toward the Tetons. If you find yourself with extra time in the late afternoon, you can stretch your legs with a bonus stroll along the start of Grand Teton National Park’s Granite Canyon Trail.

You don’t have to go too far; this is an out-and-back as far as you want, just to stretch your legs and take in the views one last time.

There are few places in the U.S. that offer such a rich mix of mountain trails, geothermal features, waterfalls, and wild animals. It’ll be hard to say goodbye, but what a trip!

Tips for Grand Teton and Yellowstone Wildlife Encounters

• The best time for wildlife spotting is at dawn and dusk.
• Bring binoculars – and if you want the best photos, you’ll be happiest using a camera with a zoom lens.
• Stay at least 100 yards from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards from bison, elk, and moose.
• Be bear-prepared: talk loudly or wear a bear bell when you walk, and always carry bear spray. Make sure the bear spray is easily accessible – not buried in your pack.
• Don’t feed any animals – not even the cutest chipmunks – and don’t leave food lying out anywhere.

It’s not always easy, but the best wildlife encounters are the ones in which the animals never know you’re there.

Further Reading: National Park Walks & the National Museum of Wildlife Art

I you’re feeling inspired by these walks through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, you might also enjoy exploring my posts on three short hikes at Crater Lake National Park and two stunning hikes at Joshua Tree National Park. And Acadia National Park will always be one of my favorites.

Staying in Jackson? Don’t miss the amazing National Museum of Wildlife Art — you can read more about whether it’s worth a visit and reflect on how we see animals.