Mention winter in the valley of Jackson Hole, Wyo., and most ski enthusiasts think of the steep runs and adventurous terrain of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort or the backcountry skiing popular within the craggy folds of the Teton Range. But there’s another side to skiing in this mountain area: Within an hour of Jackson, the valley’s central town, lie nearly 200 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails. Whether you’re looking to ski through secluded forests or wide-open meadows with stunning views, you’ll find it here.
“One of the things I love about the Nordic skiing here is how much variety we have,” said Abby Warner, the executive director of the Jackson Hole Nordic Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes cross-country skiing in the area and offers a comprehensive guide to local trails.
So, on a recent trip to town, instead of riding the tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain, I drove straight past the turnoff for the downhill ski area to the Trail Creek Nordic Training Facility, about nine miles from the town of Jackson. The training center has 10 miles of trails groomed for classic and skate skiing that loop around meadows and into the adjacent Bridger-Teton National Forest ($20 daily fee). After meandering through a meadow on my cross-country skis, I herringboned up the aptly named Grunt Hill, a short but abrupt climb.
In the forest, pine trees stood like sentinels, some with seafoam-green moss draping their branches. I could faintly hear cars along the highway headed to the east side of Teton Pass. Low clouds shrouded the peaks around the pass — an extremely popular backcountry skiing venue — and the temperature was in the 30s, warm for Jackson in mid-January. Going clockwise around the Woolsey Loop included a fun, consistently pitched and not too steep downhill section. As I closed the loop, one other skier skated by in the distance.
Trail Creek isn’t always this empty. On weekday afternoons, kids from the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club train here, as it’s the club’s primary Nordic facility. Youth races may take place on weekends, and the trails are groomed daily.
Hitting the Local Trails
Many of the hiking and mountain biking trails on public lands around Jackson become Nordic playgrounds in the winter. Not all are groomed, requiring skiers to use metal-edge backcountry Nordic skis with sturdier bindings — and sometimes avalanche safety gear — to navigate the deeper snow and often more rugged terrain. But the Game Creek Trail, six miles south of town, is groomed twice weekly for the first 3.3 miles. I skied it one morning with a few friends (and one happy dog) — three of us on classic cross-country skis and one on the shorter, more nimble skis designed for skate skiing.
After fueling up with egg sandwiches at Picnic in Jackson and stashing a slice of chocolate hazelnut banana bread for later, we enjoyed a moderate uphill ski as the trail followed the creek up a valley bordered by rounded mountains. Even though it was a Saturday, we didn’t see more than a few other skiers. What we did see were a moose and her young one hoofing it up a low ridgeline above the trail.
Closer to town, the Cache Creek Trail is where many local skiers head for a quick workout. With access just a mile east of Jackson’s Town Square, this wide trail is groomed three times a week for the first 2.5 miles and provides a gentle but steady elevation gain. It’s also popular with hikers, fat-tire bikers and dog walkers, so don’t expect a pristine skating surface. On Mondays, however, the upper section — another two miles — is also groomed, and the quality of skiing increases as the number of other trail users decreases the farther you ski.
Another popular local option and one good for novice skiers, Emily’s Pond Levee (sometimes called the Dike), follows a flat, groomed trail for a little more than two miles along the Snake River. In addition to seeing unimpeded views of the Tetons, you may spot a bald eagle or two.
A Ranch for Skiing and More
Turpin Meadow Ranch, about an hour’s drive northeast of Jackson, offers a gorgeous setting for both novice and experienced skiers ($25 day pass, $35 to $40 daily ski rental, $125 per person for a two-hour lesson). More than 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of groomed trails form seven loops, designed by the two Olympic biathletes who formerly owned and restored the ranch. I had stayed there before, in one of the 1930s-era log cabins that had been renovated into rustic-chic comfort (from $330 nightly, with a two-night minimum in winter), but I hadn’t fully explored the winter trail system.
On this visit, I drove up from Jackson with a friend for the day. We spent an hour or so in the morning cruising easily around the meadows of the Summer Homes and Riverside loops, pausing to soak in views of the 13,775-foot-high Grand Teton and its craggy neighbors in the distance, as they played peekaboo with a cloud bank. For lunch, we skied to the ranch house and dried out by the rock-lined fireplace before replenishing calories with a Gorgonzola cheese tart with polenta crust ($13), a loaded kale salad ($22) and a bison cheese steak ($27) at the excellent Trails End restaurant.
The trails of the Lower Pasture and Mule loops behind the ranch house provided enough climbing and rolling terrain amid the pine forest that we soon worked off lunch. On the drive back to Jackson, we needed to pause for several minutes for a Teton traffic jam — a herd of bison crossing the highway — to clear up.
Into the Tetons
Scott O’Brien is an owner of Skinny Skis in downtown Jackson and has worked at the Nordic retailer for more than three decades. After a boom during the pandemic, he said, the Nordic ski communities in Jackson and the neighboring Teton Valley in Idaho, on the western side of Teton Pass, have experienced measured but steady growth. Mr. O’Brien attributes an increase in skate ski sales and rentals at the store to more groomed trails in the area.
For those looking to hone their skate technique, or maybe try cross-country during a day off from downhill skiing, the Teton Pines Nordic Center, four miles south of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, offers lessons (from $80 to $95 per person for an hour). Sixteen kilometers (about 10 miles) of flat to gently rolling groomed trails loop around the golf course at the Teton Pines Country Club, with panoramic views of the mountains ($28 day pass, $40 to $50 daily ski rental). Cody Downard, who owns the Nordic center with his wife, Colleen, also wrote a guidebook to cross-country skiing in the area that is a great source of information.
I had saved one of the most iconic ski routes for my last day: the Teton Park Road, which takes you into Grand Teton National Park and which the park service grooms three times a week for more than 14 miles from the Taggart Lake trailhead north to Signal Mountain Lodge. (Beginners might consider a half-day, naturalist-led ski tour with EcoTour Adventures, from $198 per person.) The road parallels the Teton Range to the west, and on a cloudless day, snow-shrouded peaks like Teewinot Mountain, Mount Owen and the Grand Teton are almost startling in their intensity, their jagged silhouettes against the deep-blue sky.
About two miles in from the Taggart Lake trailhead ($35 park entrance fee), one of my ski partners and I took a short detour off the groomed route to the historic Lucas-Fabian cabins, built in 1913. The original homesteader, Geraldine Lucas, had an adventurous spirit; in 1924, at age 58, she became only the second woman to climb the Grand Teton, guided by the renowned mountaineer Paul Petzoldt.
We skied for almost nine miles, until I alone veered off to the shore of Jenny Lake before we all turned around. In summer, the lake is chockablock with visitors. On this day, the parking lot, visitor center and ranger station were muffled in a thick blanket of snow, and I had the landscape to myself.
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