Situated deep within the Gros Ventre Mountains east of Jackson and Hoback Junction, Granite Creek - the campground, the waterfall, and the hot springs - are pure Wyoming outdoors magic. Sure, the mountains here don't captivate you with their granite-tipped titillation, and there aren't the glacial lakes that you'll be mesmerized by in Grand Teton National Park, nor will you mistake this area for the magnificent Wind River Mountains, the Bighorns, or the Snowy Range, but my oh my, Granite Creek is one pretty, pretty piece of nature.
The USFS campground is one of the best I've found in the northern Rockies, with great sites overlooking the creek and sheltered by pines and awash in wildflowers from mid-June to August. The Granite Creek Falls are powerful to behold: not ethereal like Yosemite or awesome like Niagra or Multnomah, but what they lack in vertical elevation and volume they make up for in up-close-and-personal intimacy. You can literally dip your toes in the raging white torrents that fall from above into a creek that is so pure and clean that moose, elk, bear, and cranes simply love to stay here. You'll also find a superb CCC hot springs up the road, where you and your friends/family can soak in bliss while enjoying easy access to the Gros Ventre wilderness a mere mile or so up the main trail that follows the creek to its source.
If you are in the Jackson Hole area, a side trip to Granite Creek - on dirt and gravel roads well maintained by the Forest Service - offers you another glance at Wyoming's wild lands that you won't find at Grand Teton. The falls are a great side trip, as are the hot springs, and the campground is well suited for car campers and RVers alike. All in all, this is a part of the Cowboy State that I never tire of seeing, season in, season out. Who needs to stay in Jackson for hundreds of bucks when affordable, adorable places like this are so close and enticing? read more