Quick View Itinerary

Distance: 35 miles, point to point

Time: 4 days, 3 nights

Difficulty: Very Difficult (4.5/5)

Highest Elevation: 10,738 feet

Ascent: 9,644 ft

Descent: 9,549 ft

Day 1: Death Canyon Trailhead to Death Canyon Shelf Camping Zone. ~ 10 miles
Day 2: Death Canyon Shelf Camping Zone, through Mount Meek Pass, down into Alaska Basin to Sunset Lake, through Hurricane Pass, down into South Fork Cascade Camping Zone ~ 10 miles
Day 3: South Fork Cascade Camping Zone to Lake Solitude, through Paintbrush Divide, to Lake Holly Camping Zone ~ 8 miles
Day 4: Lake Holly Camping Zone to String Lake Trailhead ~ 6 miles

Good to Know

Be bear aware. The Tetons are home to both Grizzly and Black bears. Carry bear spray, use an approved bear canister (they are required in the Tetons!), and travel in groups when necessary. Check out the NPS Safety in Bear Country page for more info.
Grand Tetons - Plan your Backcountry Visit
You need a reservation to camp in the park. Once you have your reservation you can camp anywhere in the designated zones as long as you are 100 feet away from another campsite and 100 feet away from any water source. If you have a large group, you’ll need to reserve the group sites. These come with bear lockers, which is very nice.
Water is available throughout the hike. In the Death Canyon zone water flow can be seasonal - check with the ranger to assess conditions beforehand. Pack water up into the shelf from the creek in the canyon if necessary.
Weather can change in an instant in the mountains. Prepare for hot days, freezing nights, beating sun, and high winds.
Thunderstorms can pop up quickly in the mountains. If you find yourself caught in a storm, stop hiking, take shelter in trees or under rocks, and do not touch anything made of metal.
Elevation sickness can strike anyone, no matter how fit. The best cure for elevation sickness is to descend.
Depending on the time of year there may be snow in the passes. Check with the ranger station before you depart, and bring along ice axes and crampons if needed.
Paintbrush Divide can be treacherous. Use caution and ensure you are prepared for the conditions.
Decent clearance is needed to park at the Death Canyon Trailhead. Vehicles with lower clearance can make it partially down the road; to get to the trailhead, however, you’ll want at least something like a Subaru Outback or a vehicle with similar clearance.

Day 1 - Death Canyon Trailhead to Death Canyon Shelf Camping Zone ~ 10 miles

We rolled out of our campsite at the Gros Ventre campground early in the morning. A layer of mist covered the land. We had driven into the Tetons the previous day from Yellowstone, and a pallor of rain had completely covered the mountains, obscuring them from view. With the mist hanging heavily around us, it looked like we wouldn’t catch a glimpse of the peaks today either. It added a bit of mystery to our trip, not being able to see the famed Tetons before we immersed ourselves in them.

After doing the hiker’s song and dance of shuttling vehicles to our ending point, we headed down the rugged road to the Death Canyon Trailhead. As we arrived at the trailhead, several people came to our vehicle and informed us that there was a black bear sitting at the trailhead. We drove up a few feet, and there he was! Not 20 feet from the car, he gave us a quick glance and dashed into the woods. We hadn’t even started our trek and we had already seen a bear - that’s a good omen if I’ve ever seen one.

We wasted no time hitting the trail, stopping at the Phelps Lake overlook to admire the first of many views to come. The first day on the trail would be straightforward - up, up, up, to the Death Canyon Shelf campsite. Most of the way we followed along a beautiful stream, soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the mountains. The sun was shining as we stopped at a small pond to fish, catching a couple of brook trout. Their beautifully patterned skin gleamed in the sunlight before we released them back into their pristine alpine homes.

As we neared the end of the valley, we neared the hardest part of the day. Over 1,000 feet of elevation gain over less than a mile faced us. What’s more, the ranger station had informed us that the availability of water at our site could be questionable, and they recommended stocking up before we reached our site. The last reliable water source we could find was at the start of our ascent, so we reluctantly loaded up with as much water as we could carry, and pushed our way to the top of Death Canyon Shelf.

The crest of the hill led us to the crossroads of the National Park and Jedidiah Smith Wilderness Area. We forged on toward the Death Canyon Group site, passing by a bull moose peacefully grazing among the grass and trees. The sheer cliffs we had gazed up as we hiked through the valley now fell away to our right. To our left, giant boulders were strewn everywhere, as if a massive child had peeled them off of the mountain and carelessly left them lay where they fell. Our group rolled into the group campsite around 4 pm, which gave us plenty of time that night to enjoy the absolutely unbelievable views.

Day 2 - Death Canyon Shelf to South Fork Camping Zone, Cascade Canyon ~ 10 miles

The sun rose over the valley we hiked up the previous day, illuminating the cliffs high above us long before the sun ever reached our level. We watched the light’s slow progress down the shelf wall, basking in its warmth when the rays finally found their way to us.

Our second day would take us on an up and down journey through the mountains. Our first traverse would be through Meek Mountain pass, which we crossed through without really even knowing it where it started and where it ended - our beginning elevation was almost identical to the pass’s altitude. The trail shifted downward, and we descended into Alaska Basin, a beautiful boulder covered alpine tundra with a clear stream running through it. We stopped for snacks and water at the stream, them made our final push to Sunset Lake, where we took our lunch.

Our bodies rested and our bellies full, we again shouldered our packs and headed into the fabled Hurricane Pass. After several challenging switchbacks, we ascended to the second highest point of our trip. Hurricane Pass sits at about 10,300 feet, and from it you get a front row view of all of the Tetons with Schoolroom Glacier in the foreground. This was more than enough to persuade us to stick around for a bit and enjoy the views. Eventually we descended down into Cascade Canyon, towards our campsite in the South Fork Zone. We soon learned why it was called Cascade Canyon - countless rivulets of glacial water trickled down into the middle of the canyon, feeding the flowing Cascade river. Lush forests of pine trees and meadows of wildflowers greeted us as we got closer to our site. Within a mile or two of our site one of our group members turned back and calmly muttered “Bear right there, off the trail.” and kept walking on. The rest of us, slightly more concerned than he was halted our hike, and gave the fellow a wide berth on the trail. He basically wanted nothing to do with us, his (or her) head buried in a log, eating a tasty bear snack.

It is not something we had considered possible, but our campsite in the South Fork Canyon was even more stunning than the Death Canyon site. Unreal mountains rose on all sides of us, looking like something out of a painting or a computer animation. The creek gurgled below us, announcing its ever constant presence. It’s amazing to me how bodies of water have such a straightforward, singleminded task. They never cease, never take a moment off. Even with that tenacity, they aren’t working towards any specific task. They just do what they are doing, and the results come as a result of their actions. It’s a good reminder of the way that we can live our lives, how we can work our way towards our goals by sticking to our tasks day by day.

Day 3 - Cascade Canyon to Holly Lake ~ 8 miles

As the sun rays shot over the top of the Tetons we packed up our camp. Our third day would take us down to the valley of Cascade Canyon, onward to the famous Lake Solitude, and up, up, up to Paintbrush Divide, the highest point of our trip at 10,700 feet.

The clear Cascade River followed us as we made our way down, descending elevation that we knew we would need to to make up shortly afterward. The sun was shining, the air was clear and smelled of pines; we were in heaven. We stopped and sipped clear mountain water and made our way along. Eventually we started going up, and as we went up, the landscape changed. The trees grew thinner, replaced by rocky fields and short stubby wildflowers and mountain grasses. Just off the trail a large bull moose sat grazing in the tall shrubs, his massive velvet antlers swaying back and forth as he fed on the leaves.

By now the sun beat down on us hot and harsh and hot. The sweat began to fall as we hiked up to Lake Solitude. The view was astounding - mountains shooting up all around us, the lake sitting in a bowl in the middle, white snow resting at the top of the mountains. Despite the lakes name, there was a fair number of backpackers and dayhikers dotting the shore. Regardless, we set down our heavy packs and sat down for a nice, long lunch. Relaxing, sun-tanning, fishing, napping, and good conversation followed. It was difficult to leave this pristine location; even more so because we could see the trail we would be following switchbacking up through Paintbrush Divide.

All good things must come to an end, and we packed our supplies and started up the trail. The view of Grand Teton, the river, glaciers, and lakes was unmatched from our vantage point. We ascended to the divide, stopping frequently to enjoy the Teton rising in the background. Eventually we crested the divide; in front of us and on all sides jagged mountains shot up. Veins of quartz and sandstone shot through the darker granite, giving the impression of lightning shooting through the behemoths. Several lakes hovered below, fed by the glaciers we could see near the peaks. We spent some time soaking in the views, then descended down the treacherous path towards Holly Lake. Loose rock and thousand foot drops made use double check each step as we headed down. Eventually we crossed over a slippery snow patch to relatively safer trails, and made our way to Holly Lake. We hung out on the shores of the lake, soaking up the sun and exploring the rockfall. We ambled our way to our campsite - we snagged on of the best spots on the site, right next to an incredible overview of the valley and into the flatlands that housed Leigh, Holly, String, and Jackson Lakes. We took our chances with the rain and decided to take our rain fly off and sleep under the stars.

Once everyone was setup and we all had dinner in our bellies, we set off to check out the small lake near the Holly Lake group campsite. A large log provided ample space for seating as we reveled in our incredible environment. The sun began to set, so we took off for the overlook near our camp. We could see several lakes from our vantage point, and we all perched on a large rock as we watched the sunset in the mountains.

Day 4 - Holly Lake to String Lake Trailhead ~ 6 miles

Our final day of hiking was straightforward and relatively uneventful. Most of us had been camping for several weeks, so we were ready to get out of the brush and back to civilization. We hauled the completely downhill 6 miles in two hours, spotting a lone black bear feeding on berries on our way down. Immediately after we made it to our cars we headed to Kelly’s Cafe for the biggest sandwiches we had ever had in our lives - you’re supposed to share, but I was so hungry, I wolfed my whole sandwich down without any second thoughts.