The restoration of the Jenny Lake area of Grand Teton National Park protected the landscape and improved visitors' views/Ryan Sheets

“The walk up to Hidden Falls has been my path of roots metaphorically and, in the last decade or so, physically,” author and conservationist Terry Tempest Williams said at the Jenny Lake ribbon cutting celebration in early July. “This path of roots is now a path of pilgrimage. Restored in place, built with vision and care, stone by stone…and it is beautiful.”

After years of planning and fundraising—and thousands of hours of labor—the Jenny Lake Renewal Project is completed. The outcomes that were accomplished are well beyond what anyone anticipated when Grand Teton National Park Foundation launched the Inspiring Journeys campaign in 2012.

“If you have not had the chance to see the end result of this partnership, it will blow your mind,” National Park Service Deputy Director David Vela said at the ribbon cutting in July. “It was as if the Civilian Conservation Corps came back and built these assets, but current generations built them. And they were built to last lifetimes.”

Jenny Lake’s trails, bridges, key destinations, and visitor complex have transformed into a portal for discovery and now allow people to more easily connect with the park in meaningful, memorable ways. National Park Service crews dramatically improved access to favorite destinations like Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls by building new stone steps, smoothing and leveling trails, and ensuring better drainage for rainwater and snowmelt.

Work completed also reduces congestion and ambiguity by creating suggested directional trails, larger boat docks, increased restroom facilities, and designated areas to rest and take in the stunning views.

The restoration project restored footbridges, covered tree roots with soil, and rebuilt stone staircases/Ryan Sheets

Most importantly, hands-on interpretive elements like bronze 3-D relief maps, new signage, peak identifying scopes, and a mobile application blend both traditional and modern platforms to enrich the Jenny Lake experience for visitors of all ages and abilities.

The project received the 2018 National Park Service Architectural Design Achievement Award for superior accomplishments in advancing park opportunities for persons with disabilities. All of the elements in the frontcountry were designed and constructed with universal accessibility in mind. Trail crews also realigned pathways and made paved trails less steep. The route now clearly circulates and orients visitors to Jenny Lake with a series of unique overlooks, plazas, and access points at the water’s edge. Areas of existing shoreline erosion are now accessible lakeshore viewpoints, enabling people with a wider range of mobility a chance to enjoy the iconic views of Grand Teton National Park.

“This project at Jenny Lake is at the heart of this magnificent park,” Terry Tempest Williams said. “Diversity. Inclusion. Restoration. These gifts are now in full view. Something beautiful is being modeled here—the leadership of care.”

Backcountry Trail Transformation at Jenny Lake from GTNP Foundation on Vimeo.

By offering an enhanced understanding of the people, place, and preservation efforts that shaped Grand Teton, the Foundation and park hope the outcomes achieved in this project will inspire the next generation of park supporters and stewards for years to come.

“Thank you to our partners and friends who supported us and worked with us to make this vision a reality,” Grand Teton National Park Foundation President Leslie Mattson said. “We could not have accomplished this without you, and for that, we are incredibly grateful.”

The area near the Jenny Lake Visitor Center was made over/Ryan Sheets

Jenny Lake Renewal by the Numbers:

Quantity of materials purchased for trail and masonry construction: 2,575 tons

Total square footage of dry-stacked stonewall completed: 5,271 cubic feet

Total miles of trail reconstructed: 5.5

Total number of stone drains installed: 70

Total cubic feet of stone cause finished: 4,738

New bridges built: 5

Historic structures rehabilitated: 3

Total NPS trail crew hours worked: 118,000