Guide: CDT Teton Route

This is a no-nonsense guide to get you into the Tetons and then back onto the CDT.

Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming is just south of where the Continental Divide Trail(CDT) takes you. Instead of continuing out of Yellowstone National Park towards Dubois, you can enjoy another national park on this rewarding side trek then reconnect back to the CDT along the Wind River Range.

I think this "re-route" should be official CDT but who cares what I think.

I've split the route up into pieces so you can decide what you want to do.

Suggested route (class 1-5 terrain):
Blue line -> Yellow line

"Safest" route (class 1-2 terrain):
Blue line -> Red line -> Blue line -> Yellow line -> Green or Pink line

Refer to the map to see notes on the difficult sections of the routes.

• KMZ file of all tracks
• ZIP file of GPX tracks

I hiked Blue line -> Yellow line as follows:

1. Resupply @ West Yellowstone/Island Park for 6 days. Make sure to get your Yellowstone permits!
2. Day 1 wild camp at Yellowstone western boundary along CDT. ~19mi(30km)
3. Day 2 reach Old Faithful Village for lunch. It is possible to send a mail package here, refer to FarOut for details. Camp at Upper Firehole Campground(OA2). ~23mi(37km)
4. Day 2 leave the CDT, camp at Sheridan Creek Campground(8H2). ~28mi(45km)
5. Day 3 two river crossings and exit Yellowstone via southern boundary. Get to Flagg Ranch for lunch. It is possible to send a mail package here and I would recommend it! Wild camp south of Glade Creek Trailhead. ~23mi(37km)
6. Day 4 enter the Tetons! Webb's Canyon -> cross country to connect to north Teton Crest Trail. Hike past Dead Horse Pass and wild camp. ~29mi(47km)
7. Day 5 cross country via Littles Peak -> class 3 down climb to Lake Solitude -> Hurricane Pass -> Alaska Basin -> Sunset lake -> wild camp between Fox Creek Pass and Marion Lake. ~29mi(37km)
8. Day 6 Teton Crest Trail -> Phillips Bench Trailhead -> road walk to Jackson. ~21mi(34km)
9. Resupply @ Jackson for 3 days. I stayed two nights in Jackson @ Super 8, $336(after 10% discount) a night for double queen bed in 2023...
10. Day 7 hike out of Jackson -> Granite Creek Campground. ~26mi(42km)
11. Day 8 Cache Creek Trail -> Steamboat Peak -> cross country and class 4/5 climb to Tosi Creek Trail. ~30mi(48km)
12. Day 9 walk to Green River Lakes Campground and reconnect to the CDT! ~21mi(34km)
    NOTE: We had a friend bring us our food resupply here. Instead you could hitch to Pinedale( (~51mi(85km)). It's far away but people have done it since the single dirt road and all its traffic must go there(lots of Wind River hikers coming and going). The alternative is to carry more food from Jackson and hike into Pinedale(+30mi(48km) on the CDT and +11mi(18km) along Seneca Trail to reach trailhead). So just carry more food from Jackson to do the extra ~41mi(66km).

Of course you may not want to do ~28mi(45km) days so here is what I would suggest for slower paces:

1. West Yellowstone/Island Park -> Flagg Ranch is roughly ~90mi(145km) so divide that by your pace to determine food and Yellowstone permits.
2. Mail resupply to Flagg Ranch to greatly alleviate the food carry. Flagg Ranch -> Jackson is ~80mi(129km) so divide that by your pace. The best CDT town to send a package from is unfortunately far behind in Darby MT. You could try to send one from Leadore ID or bounce a box forward.
3. Jackson -> Green River Lakes Campground is ~80mi(129km) if you hitch from there or have someone bring you food. Otherwise food carry for ~121mi(195km).

If you follow the "safer" route then take into account the longer distances you'll be travelling but it should still end up being roughly two 6 day carries.

Other resources

• Francis Tepon CDT Tetons blog
• Seeking Lost's gpx file which I originally used

Questions? Comments? Contact me directly!