Can art protect wildlife? Actually, it has, we learned at the unique National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Thomas Moran’s paintings of mountains, canyons, and geysers helped convince Congress to establish Yellowstone as the United States’ first national park in 1872. Jackson Hole is the southern gateway to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. John Jacob Audubon’s portraits of birds helped inspire the formation of the Audubon Society in 1896, which helped prevent the slaughter of millions of water birds whose feathers were in high demand to decorate hats.
We think of Jackson as a place for winter sports—three ski areas, including the iconic Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at Teton Village, just 10 miles north of Jackson and a few miles south of Grand Teton National Park. Families come here for a glimpse of the cowboy mystique, as well as to explore two of the United States’ most popular national parks to see wildlife, in winter and summer.
The museum can be a good place to start (or visit on a bad-weather day). Have lunch at Palate restaurant located at the museum and overlooking the more than 24,000-acre National Elk Refuge where, starting in October, deepening snow will push the elk down from high-elevation summer ranges to seek food and shelter here. (Take a sleigh ride through the refuge in winter.) Palate focuses on locally sourced dishes (perhaps an elk meatloaf wrap or a bison gyro: There is a kids’ menu, too.)
The museum, the only one in the country dedicated solely to wildlife art, is particularly kid friendly with a .75-mile outdoor paved sculpture trail with larger-than-life sculptures of bison, elk, birds, and more, plus the brightly colored Prismatic Menagerie: origami-inspired sculptures by Hacer.
Inside the Children’s Discovery Gallery at the museum, the full circle expedition has kids’ artwork on display and encourages kids to dress up as animals and create their own art exploring natural textures, patterns (can you find patterns in the natural world?), and sculpture. There are cards to engage visitors as they wander the galleries. (Where will you look for animals next? one asks. If you could give this artwork a new title, what would you name it?)
The National Museum of Wildlife Art Collection features more than 550 artists and more than 5,000 cataloged items of animal art from ancient times to the present and serves as a great introduction to the wildlife families could see in the national parks.
We based our fall stay at Teton Village, splitting our time between Alpenhof, which opened in 1965 with its pitched roofs and balconies, reminiscent of Austrian and Swiss ski lodges, and Gravity Haus, just a little more than a year old. The Alpenhof has plenty of charm but clearly needs some updating, but the proximity to the tram, restaurants, and shops will encourage guests to forgive any problems.
We love the casual vibe at Gravity Haus (inquire about memberships), the comfortable rooms and big outdoor heated pool, and that the hotel is dog friendly. At the hotel restaurant, Wild Pine, we enjoyed trout, steak, and lamb ragu for dinner. Wild Pine is also open for breakfast and lunch. The hotel can also curate experiences, whether you want a guided bike tour in Grand Teton National Park, a tour of Yellowstone’s Lower Loop, stargazing, a whitewater raft trip, or more, as well as at the other Gravity Haus hotels in ski country.
We are just steps away from Mangy Moose Restaurant and Saloon, another Teton Village icon, popular since 1967 for its good eats (delicious bison burger), drinks (great margaritas!), and live music. Another good bet, with or without kids, is the Il Villaggio Osteria, whether you want pasta or pizza. The pizza was so good that we opted to have it as takeout our last night. And while in town, just across the street from the Town Square with its famous elk arches, is the new and affordable Code Red Tacos where, they say, an LA-style taqueria meets the West. (Think veggie, green chili chicken, or elk carne asada, among the choices.)
Grand Teton National Park is open all year (snowshoeing, photography, and skiing are popular in winter), but the lodges and visitor centers close. Come in October and you might hear the elk bugles in the park where bull elk gather herds of cow elk and challenge the other males to establish dominance by bugling and sparring. You might also see bison making their fall migration.
Most roads in Yellowstone National Park are closed to cars in the winter but open to limited snowmobile and snow coach travel from mid-December to mid-March. Park partners, concessioners, and authorized businesses offer a variety of guided tours throughout the park during the winter months. (The Old Faithful Snow Lodge & Cabins and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel have terrific winter packages with activities.)
We opted for a wildlife safari in Grand Teton with the family-owned Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris. The company does Yellowstone tours, photography tours, and winter trips, as well, including a Yellowstone Snowshoe Tour, a Grand Teton photography workshop, and a three-day winter wolves and wildlife safari in the Northern Range of Yellowstone National Park.
The expert guides help us to better understand the geology, history, and ecology of the 10 million-acre Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. They also know the best spots to see wildlife. Another plus: By taking six to eight people in one vehicle, two to three vehicles are taken off the national park’s roads, reducing traffic.
But we quickly learn that there are no guarantees what we will see or when. “The thing about wildlife,” our guide Jeremy Hutchinson told us, “they come and go.”
As they should. This is their house, after all.
American bison resting near Jackson Hole. Dreamstime/TCA
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