#43 best destination in the world

 

Grand Teton, Grand Teton National Park

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Best time to travel: mid May-late Sept
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Mountain that is a classic destination for mountain climbers
  • It reaches a height of 13,775 ft
  • Within the Snake River drainage basin, which feeds by several creeks and glaciers

Snow King Mountain, Jackson

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Best time to travel: Jan-March, Dec
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Summer and winter resort, the mountain is Jackson’s original 1936 ski hill, and was the first ski area in Wyoming
  • Offers skiing, hiking, and an alpine slide
  • Hiking trails are offered all over the mountain with no charge, and when people hike up, the Summit Gondola ride down is free, which has been a cherished system since the early 2000s

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park

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Best time to travel: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Cone geyser named in 1870 during the an expedition and was the first geyser in the park to be named
  • It is a highly predictable geothermal feature and has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

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Best time to travel: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Walk difficulty: Easy
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world
  • Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration
  • Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism
  • The bright, vivid colors in the spring are the result of microbial mats around the edges of the mineral-rich water

Devils Tower, Crook County

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Best time to travel: July-Sept
Walk difficulty: Easy
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock
  • First declared United States National Monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt
  • 1% of visitors have climbed the tower
  • Piles of broken columns, boulders, small rocks, and stones, called scree, lie at the base of the tower, indicating that it was once wider than it is today, but has eroded over time

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park

Best time to travel: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Walk difficulty: Easy
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine
  • It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate
  • Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas

National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole

Best time to travel: April-May, Sept-Oct
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Museum located in Jackson Hole that preserves and exhibits wildlife art
  • The building was inspired by the ruins of Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
  • Located on a bluff in the midst of a real wildlife habitat, the institution overlooks the National Elk Refuge
  • The core of the collections reflects traditional and contemporary realism
  • In addition to 14 galleries, the museum has a sculpture trail, and children’s discovery gallery